July Gardening Guide

What to do in the Garden in July

Hopefully, by now, most of your gardening jobs are complete, allowing you to enjoy the height of the British summer in all its glory in your backyard.

To ensure everything lasts as long as possible, July is about maintaining everything. The heat and sun mean you need to keep everything hydrated and keep bugs away from your plants and crops too.

You should also think ahead to autumn. We know you may want it to be a while away, but once the summer plants die down, you’ll still want some colour in the garden.

1. Keep plants at their best

Your flowers are blooming, your produce is thriving, and your trees and bushes are finally looking their fullest. But you can’t just leave them to get on with it!

Deadhead your flowers regularly, to encourage new growth. Don’t forget about deadheading hanging baskets too and cut and pot any strawberry runners to keep the fruit on the original plant growing. Pinch off-side shoots on tomatoes, as well.

Check produce for any bugs, such as caterpillars, which need to be removed, and harvest anything ready. If your bushes and hedges are shaped, keep this shape by using a hedge trimmer – it is easier to keep on top of it than to try and reshape come autumn.

Remember to keep watering (using grey water or collected rainwater where possible) and feeding your plants, using the most appropriate fertiliser and watering schedule.

2. Keep your lawn cared for

Your grass can become parched and yellowed in the hot weather if it isn’t getting enough regular water and feed. If you’re under a hosepipe ban, it is often the first job to stop, which is why collecting wastewater and rainwater can be crucial.

If your lawn is healthy, mow twice a week so the grass blades don’t get too long and straggly. In drought, cut this down to once a week, or once a fortnight if watering isn’t possible.

Ideally, you should water generously twice a week in the height of summer, and once a week otherwise. Give the grass a fast-acting summer feed if it didn’t get one in spring.

If water is scarce, lay the grass clippings back onto the lawn for added moisture retention and nutrition. Using a mulching lawnmower can help fertilise the grass naturally.

Read our guide on lawn mowing tips, so you don’t cause any damage to the grass. Remember to wear gloves, safety boots, and eye protection when working with lawnmowers and strimmers.

3. Support tall plants and climbers

Now they’re thriving, climbers, such as roses and sweet peas, and other tall flowers such as hollyhock, need support. In summer, bad weather can be particularly windy and wet, damaging the plants overnight.

Climbing plants should have something to cling to and tall plants should be tied to support. You can build a trellis using strips of thin wood – design your trellis, focusing on how tall and wide it needs to be, before buying the wood and using some exterior screws and an impact drill to fix it together.

Then use some wire ties, clips, or string to gently train the plant to follow the trellis. You might also want to fit the trellis onto a wall or fence.

They’ll need tying and training throughout the growth period, so check them weekly.

4. Check for pests

Lily beetles, caterpillars, greenflies, earwigs, and whiteflies can all cause damage to leaves, flowers, and produce.

Your best solution is to manually remove them rather than using pesticides. Grab some kitchen paper, gather them up, and throw them away. Or remove an entire leaf if it is affected by pests and won’t harm the plant.

Caterpillar eggs are small white clusters of eggs which need to be removed. They’re often found on brassicas. If you don’t want to damage the eggs, place the whole leaf away from your garden.

Check for slugs after any summer rainfall, too. A small container of beer left by plants at particular risk can attract them and keep them away from your flowers.

SPEEDY TOP TIP: As you’re getting rid of pests, remember the friends of the garden too. Bird baths are a great source of water for birds and insects, and a 50/50 solution of sugar and water can help bees who are struggling

5. Clear weeds

Weeds thrive at this time of year. The nice weather, and an occasional saturation with rainwater, means they can pop up and overtake everything else in days.

Remove the plant and the weed when you see them. For dandelions, pouring boiling water on the plant can help and is a natural solution to killing the root. If you have a garden bed and weeds are a real issue, you might need to hire a rotavator to fully remove weeds once the growing season is over.

In the meantime, woodchips around your bedding plants can help naturally smother weeds and prevent growth.