July brings long days, warm weather (hopefully!), and the perfect opportunity to enjoy your outdoor space. While you’re watering, weeding, and deadheading to keep your garden looking its best, don’t forget to pause and enjoy the blooms. To help you stay on top of your garden this month, here are our top gardening tips for July.
Top 15 gardening tips for July
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Plan ahead for spring colour – Sow biennials like foxgloves and wallflowers in trays or modules now, ready to plant out in autumn.
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Deadhead regularly – Keep roses, sweet peas, and cosmos flowering for longer by removing faded blooms. They also make lovely cut flowers.
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Revive tired geraniums – Cut back leggy hardy geraniums to encourage fresh foliage and a second flush of flowers.
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Divide bearded irises – Once flowering is over, lift and divide overgrown clumps. Replant with rhizomes partly exposed so they can soak up the summer sun.
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Prune wisteria – Summer-prune wisteria by cutting back whippy new shoots to 5–6 leaves from the main stems.
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Pinch out tomato side shoots – On cordon varieties, this helps channel energy into fruit development.
Watering & Feeding Tips
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Keep tomatoes well-watered – Especially those in pots. Consistent watering prevents fruit from splitting.
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Hydrate container plants – Water regularly during dry spells using collected rainwater, and do so early morning or evening to reduce evaporation.
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Succession sow salad crops – Sow lettuce every couple of weeks for a continuous harvest. In hot weather, offer shade to prevent bolting.
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Feed fruiting crops – Tomatoes, courgettes, beans, blueberries, and gooseberries benefit from a fortnightly high-potash feed to boost flowering and fruiting.
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Pick regularly – Harvest courgettes and beans often to encourage more to grow.
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Pinch out broad beans – Once pods appear, remove growing tips to encourage bushy growth and reduce blackfly.
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Earth up potatoes – Mound soil around stems to prevent greening. Start harvesting first earlies by checking one or two plants for size.
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Plant autumn-flowering bulbs – Add interest later in the year with nerines and colchicums.
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Mow mindfully – Cut the lawn regularly but raise mower blades if the weather is hot and dry.
Everything You Need This Summer
From vibrant bedding plants to stylish garden furniture, Carpenters Nursery got everything you need to make the most of your garden this summer. Pop in and see how we can help your outdoor space thrive!
