July gardening tips: Advice from a gold medal-winning nursery

A gold medal winner at Bord Bia Bloom 2023, Kilmurry Nursery is a second-generation family business based in Gorey, Co. Wexford. Hazel Woods shares some advice for making the most of your garden this month.

Tell us about your nursery.

Kilmurry Nursery is an award-winning, second-generation family nursery that has a passion for plants. We aim to grow plants of a high-quality and specialise in herbaceous perennials, grasses and ferns for wholesale and retail sales.

As a nursery, we grow 90% of our plants on-site, meaning we make our plants by cuttings, division or seed. Everything we grow is grown in the nursery in Wexford. But we don’t just grow the plants – we also give advice on what plants to use and help our clients in the design element of their flower bed.

What should gardeners do this month?

Start deadheading. The more you deadhead, the longer you will have flowers. For example, annuals will flower until you stop deadheading them. Take photos of your garden, that way you will have an idea of areas that might need some more colour next year.

What advice can you offer novices starting to garden and grow for the first time?

Start small. Don’t overwhelm yourself by taking on a big, challenging task. Choose one area, bed, or even containers on your patio first. There is nothing worse than tackling a big project and then halfway through realising that you have bitten off more than you can chew. We are always here to offer design and planting advice.

What is your favourite plant and why?

That’s a hard question! It depends on the time of year but in summer I love salvias. There are so many colours and styles, and the fragrant foliage is amazing. They usually flower from May until the first frost so they give so much, for so long.

Eschscholzia or Californian poppies are also a favourite right now. These are an annual and they add huge pops of colour for months. My own containers are filled with these; they are humming with bees and are so colourful.

How do you encourage biodiversity in your nursery?

Biodiversity is one thing that we don’t struggle with. As a herbaceous nursery, Kilmurry is full of flowers and food for pollinators from April until autumn and as you walk by some varieties all you can hear is a low hum. We try to grow a large range of plants that pollinators love and include a logo on our label highlighting bees’ favourite varieties. It is so important to plant pollinator-friendly plants in your garden or containers.

What does it mean for your nursery to attend Bord Bia Bloom?

Bloom is one of our biggest events in the year; it is a way for us to showcase our plants and show the public what they can have a home. We have already started planning for next year!

For more advice and tutorials from Hazel and the team stay tuned to Kilmurry Nursery on social media @kilmurrynursery