Growing Hellebores in Winter
Hellebores bring a lot to the garden at a time of year when many plants are taking a break. Their flowers appear through winter, often brightening up parts of the garden that spend much of the year in shade.
The classic placement is under deciduous trees: bare branches let winter light through when hellebores are flowering, then the leafy canopy returns in summer to give them protection from the heat. Helleborus x hybridus is the garden favourite, with nodding flowers ranging from white and pink through to claret and near-black. If the downward-facing flowers aren’t your thing, look for upright cultivars that hold their blooms more outward and are easier to appreciate at eye level.
Pots work well too, especially if you have a shady corner that needs brightening through winter. The trick is keeping moisture consistent. Hellebores dislike drying out completely, but they also dislike sitting wet.
July is a good time to divide established clumps that have been in the ground three years or more. Over time, these clumps can get too crowded, causing them to produce fewer flowers. Dig up the crown carefully, split it with a sharp spade, and replant divisions at the same depth they were growing. Water new plants and divisions in with Seasol® at 40mL per 9 litres to reduce transplant stress through the cold months.
Scent and Colour in the July Garden
Many wattles peak in June and July. The ones catching attention right now are Acacia baileyana (Cootamundra wattle) and Acacia dealbata (silver wattle), turning winter gardens and roadsides into flashes of gold across southern Australia. Not all wattles flower now; some hold until August or September, so if yours isn’t performing yet, give it time. Cootamundra wattle can be enthusiastic outside its natural range in parts of NSW and Victoria, so it’s worth checking before planting. Once flowering finishes, resist the urge to give it a dramatic haircut. A light tidy-up is usually enough. Remove spent stems and straggly growth, but avoid cutting into old wood.
Daphne is a July plant across most climates. A single Daphne odora can scent an entire corner of the garden, often before you’ve even found where the fragrance is coming from. Position it near a path or entrance where the fragrance actually reaches people, and get the drainage right before you plant. This is the one thing daphne won’t forgive. Raised beds, sloped positions or well-amended soil make the difference. It also prefers to be left where it’s planted, so it’s worth taking a little extra time to choose the right spot.
For native colour, correa is reliable in July across a wide range of conditions, with tubular flowers that honeyeaters return to throughout the day. Hardenbergia violacea is at its purple peak now and handles dry shade that would defeat most other plants. Both propagate readily from semi-hardwood cuttings taken in late summer, worth keeping in mind if you want more of them.
As flowering picks up, feed natives and flowering plants with PowerFeed® All Purpose including Natives every ten to fourteen days. The low-phosphorus formula suits Australian natives, including phosphorus-sensitive species that can be damaged by standard fertilisers. Apply as they push into active flowering.
If you prefer a slow-release option, Seasol® Power Feed® Plant Food Granules All Purpose are an easy alternative for feeding through the cooler months.
How to Take Hardwood Cuttings
The prunings from last month don’t have to be green waste. Roses, hydrangeas, dogwoods and willows can all be propagated from the material you cut in June, and July is the right time to do it. Willows are almost unfairly easy — push a cutting into moist soil and get out of the way. Roses and hydrangeas take more patience but are reliable with the right setup.
Hardwood cuttings are simply a way of giving last season’s growth another job before it heads to the compost bin. With Australian natives, timing matters a little more. Grevilleas, westringias and callistemons can all be propagated this way, though semi-hardwood taken in late summer often gives better strike rates. Timing and technique need to match the species.
Look for firm, mature wood from last season’s growth. Cut pieces around 15 to 20cm long. Make a clean cut just below a node at the base, and just above a bud at the top to reduce dieback. Remove the lower leaves but leave two or three at the top if the plant isn’t fully dormant. Dip the base in rooting hormone powder or gel before planting, which can improve strike rates, particularly for roses and natives. Push cuttings into Seasol® Seed Raising & Cutting Potting Mix, about a third to half their length. Several can share a pot.
The ideal spot? Somewhere bright and sheltered from hard frosts: an unheated greenhouse, a covered verandah, or against a north-facing wall. Hardwood cuttings root slowly over winter and into spring. Check moisture occasionally and resist the urge to tug them to test for roots. The cuttings rarely appreciate the enthusiasm. By spring you’ll know.
Bare-Rooted Trees and Shrubs in July
The window is still open, but it’s closing. July is often when the best range is still available, with plenty of varieties to choose from before selections start to narrow later in winter. If bare-rooted trees are on your list this year, now is a good time to start looking. They don’t look particularly impressive when they arrive: usually a bundle of roots and a few bare stems. But that’s part of the appeal. You get to watch the whole tree wake up.
Fruit trees are the main target: apples, pears, plums, cherries, quinces and figs all establish well bare-rooted. If you’re planting deciduous fruit trees, there’s one bit of terminology worth knowing: chilling hours. Most varieties need a certain amount of winter cold below 7°C to break dormancy properly and crop reliably. In Melbourne and Hobart that’s rarely an issue, but in coastal Queensland, Perth and other mild-winter climates, choosing low-chill varieties can be the difference between a tree that settles in and crops well, and one that spends years looking like it can’t quite decide what season it is. Check the variety tag or ask your nursery if you’re not sure your climate meets the requirement. It’s also worth checking rootstock compatibility if you’re on heavy clay or shallow soil. For apples and pears especially, rootstock choice significantly affects long-term performance.
Japanese maples planted now will have the full growing season ahead once they break dormancy. Roses are the most widely available and still worth planting at the tail end of July.
Soak roots in 40mL Seasol® per 9 litres of water while you dig the hole. Twenty to thirty minutes minimum; don’t rush it. Plant at the right depth, keeping the graft union just above soil level for grafted trees. Stake if your site gets wind.
Spraying Fruit Trees in Winter
While your deciduous fruit trees are standing there leafless, it’s the perfect time to give them a closer look. With no leaves in the way, the whole shape of the tree is visible: the branches, the old growth, and the spots that need attention. Lime sulphur is best applied during this dormant stage: bare wood, no foliage, no new growth. It helps suppress overwintering mites, scale insects, rust spores, black spot and shot-hole fungal material hiding in bud scales and bark crevices. Once leaves emerge, lime sulphur burns foliage and causes more damage than the pests it was meant to address.
For peaches specifically, July is also when to address leaf curl, one of the most damaging and common peach problems in Australian gardens. Lime sulphur applied during dormancy or at early bud swell is the standard preventive treatment, and this is when that window opens. Miss it and you’re managing the disease through the season rather than stopping it.
Copper oxychloride is worth knowing about as an alternative or companion spray, particularly for black spot and shot hole. Some gardeners alternate between the two. Check what you’re treating and read both labels before you decide.
The smell is distinctive. A still day, old clothes and a little warning to anyone nearby are usually appreciated. Follow label rates carefully as concentration varies between products, and cover all branches and the main trunk.
Lime sulphur can temporarily suppress microbial activity in the soil beneath the tree. After spraying, apply Seasol® Plant + Soil Booster to the soil around the base. It supports the microbes and fungi that may have been knocked back, and gives the root zone something to draw on when the tree breaks dormancy in spring. Apply to moist soil and water in if rain isn’t coming.
Improving Soil Health in Winter
What you do to your soil in July tends to show up in September. Soil improvement is always a deferred transaction.
Worms slow right down once soil temperatures drop below around 10°C, but plenty is still happening underground. Soil life keeps ticking along quietly through winter, and what it needs is fairly simple: moisture, organic matter and good structure. Pick up a handful of soil from a well-mulched bed and it should feel cool and crumbly, holding its shape briefly before falling apart between your fingers.
Scatter Seasol® Plant Health & Soil Improver Granules around garden beds and pots, then let winter rain do the work. The zeolite helps retain nutrients in the root zone, while Seasol supports the soil biology beneath the surface. Add a layer of mulch over the top, keeping it away from plant stems, and let the garden rest. By spring, the groundwork is already in place for new growth.
