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Garden jobs for July: what to do in the garden
July is usually the warmest month across the UK and Ireland, and the garden is running at full speed. Southern and eastern counties can go weeks without useful rain, while the west and Ireland tend to stay greener but battle humid, blight-friendly weather. Your two big jobs this month are keeping water where it matters and stopping plants from setting seed too soon, so they carry on flowering into late summer. Do the heavy work early in the morning or in the evening, and give yourself permission to sit and enjoy it too. For what to water first when it gets really hot, see watering in a heatwave.
Flowers and borders
Deadheading is the single most useful thing you can do in July. Snip faded blooms off repeat-flowering roses back to the first full leaf, and pick sweet peas every couple of days, because once a few pods form the plants decide their job is done. Hardy geraniums that have flopped open in the middle can be sheared almost to the ground once the first flush fades; give them a can of water and they will produce fresh leaves and often a second round of flowers within a few weeks.
Tall perennials such as delphiniums should be cut back to just above the lower leaves after flowering, which sometimes encourages smaller spikes in September. Keep an eye on dahlias as they bulk up: tie stems to stakes as they grow and feed every fortnight with a high-potash liquid fertiliser. Lavender can be cut for drying when the lower flowers on each spike have just opened, which is when the scent is strongest.
When watering borders, soak the ground thoroughly once or twice a week rather than sprinkling every evening. A deep soak sends roots downwards; a light sprinkle keeps them near the surface where they dry out fastest. Prioritise anything planted this spring, plus pots and hanging baskets, which may need water every day in a heatwave.
Vegetables
Pick little and often. Courgettes turn into marrows almost overnight, and runner and French beans stop cropping if pods are left to mature. Water runner beans at the base when the flowers appear to help them set. Earth up maincrop potatoes if you haven’t already, and in damp spells check the leaves for brown, spreading blotches of blight; if it appears, cut off the foliage and lift the tubers two weeks later.
There is still time to sow quick crops for autumn: salad leaves, radishes, beetroot, spring onions, kohlrabi and turnips. In the south you can sow a final row of carrots and dwarf French beans early in the month. Plant out leeks and winter brassicas raised in modules, and net cabbages against cabbage white butterflies.
Fruit
Summer-prune trained apples and pears, such as cordons and espaliers, from mid-July in the south and a little later further north. Cut this year’s long, woody side shoots back to three leaves above the basal cluster. Raspberries that have finished fruiting can have their old canes cut to the ground, leaving the strongest new canes for next year. Peg strawberry runners into small pots if you want free plants, and remove the rest. Keep birds off ripening blueberries and currants with netting that is pulled taut so it doesn’t trap them.
Lawns
Raise the mower blades in dry weather and leave the clippings on the surface to act as a light mulch. A brown lawn in July is almost always dormant rather than dead and will green up again after rain, so there is no need to water it unless it is newly laid turf.
Wildlife
Keep bird baths and saucers clean and topped up; on hot days they are visited constantly by birds, bees and hedgehogs. If you have a pond, top it up with rainwater from a butt rather than tap water where you can, and pull out blanket weed by twisting it round a stick, leaving it on the edge overnight so creatures can crawl back in. Long grass and a few untidy corners are valuable shelter right now.
Indoors and under cover
Damp down greenhouse paths on hot mornings to raise humidity and discourage red spider mite, and open vents and doors fully during the day. Pinch out side shoots on cordon tomatoes, feed them weekly with a tomato fertiliser once the first truss has set, and water regularly to avoid blossom end rot. Shade the glass with a wash or mesh if temperatures climb above about 30°C.
Plants looking good this month
July borders belong to echinacea, crocosmia, agapanthus and the airy purple stems of Verbena bonariensis, which bees and butterflies adore. Climbing up walls and through hedges, honeysuckle is at its most fragrant in the evening, and buddleja is often covered in butterflies on sunny afternoons. If there are gaps in your border, these are all worth noting down for planting in autumn or next spring.
Looking back or ahead? See June jobs or move on to August jobs.
From the plant finder
In flower in July
Due for pruning
Grow your own in July
Sow now
Plant out
Ready to harvest
Problems to watch for in July
Spotted something else? Diagnose it by symptom.
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