Plant of the month – Nepeta
July is a month for heat, colour and drama in the garden. Many of the shrubs have done their thing but the herbaceous keep going, rewarding us gardeners with more flower’s day after day. It can be a dry month too. To keep plants performing well its essential to keep them well fed and watered. Ideally this is done less often but for longer – giving the plants a really good drink rather than just splash is a better way to keep your plants happy and hydrated.
 
If I could only grow a handful of perennials in my garden, I would choose nepeta as one of them. It’s a early flowerer but that doesn’t mean the flowers are gone before you know it, they last for ever and with a quick chop back mid-summer they throw even more flower at you for autumn too.

Nepeta is native to several habitats, so is less fussy about where it grows. It will grow in sun or partial shade and in both moist and dry soils. If you are looking for a similar colour scheme to Lavender, but conditions are too wet, Nepeta is a good alternative.  The genus contains roughly 250 species of herbs native to Europe, North Africa, and temperate parts of Asia. Nepeta is in the mint family (Lamiaceae) which is apparent as soon as you look at the 2-lipped flowers or smell the leaves, some of which have a minty scent. Its common name, Catmint, derives from the love our feline pets have with Nepetas aromatic leaves.
 
Once planted Nepeta is really easy to establish. It has the added bonus of being very attractive to bees and pollinators and is easy to look after too. Some of the  larger species create massive sprawling clumps of flower which can sometimes go a bit weak at the crown. To avoid this you can give it the Chelsea Chop, reducing its size earlier in the year.  This will delay flowering slightly and make for a more compact plant.

Once the first flush of flowers are over Nepeta can be cut back again. Its best to just cut back the old foliage only leaving the new growth as this will produce a small late flush of flowers in the autumn.
 
Catmint blends well with many plants because of its soft blues flower spikes. Nepeta looks good with Hemerocallis , contrasts well with Alchemilla and can also be planted similarly to lavender repeated throughout the border.  Cat mint mixes well with roses, and most other cottage garden plants too. One of my favourite combinations would be a simple planting of Nepeta walkers low, Salvia carradoanna, Erigeron karvinskianus and Rosa Felicia – this combination provides you with flowers, pretty much, all summer long.

Jobs to be Done July:
Ornamental Garden:
• Continue to deadhead herbaceous perennials and roses as flowers go over.
• Weed!!!
• Continue to edge borders.
• Cutback oriental poppies once flowered.
• Divide bearded irises if flowering is declining – re plant the youngest rhizomes.
• Deadhead roses.
• Rim evergreen hedges.
• Turn compost heaps.
• Cut back spent flowers of climbing hydrangea.
• Weed dahlias/cannas etc.
• ake cuttings of clematis.
• Sow biennials.

Vegetable Garden:
• Thin dessert and cooking apples.
• Sow spring cabbages and plant out winter cabbages.
• Water courgettes consistently to encourage a good crop.
• Mulch long term crops like brassicas.
• Water fruit tree/bushes.