Jobs for July: The extra light this month encourages a burst of growth bringing first harvests from veg patches, border displays but also dreaded weeds! During dry weather keep an eye on containers and if you haven’t got one, it’s worth considering installing a water butt. Please find a list of tasks compiled from a variety of sources including the RHS.

🌿 General Garden Maintenance

  • Watering: Prioritise pots, containers, and new plants. Water early morning or evening.
  • Weeding: Weeds grow fast in summer. Remove them regularly “roots n all” to prevent seeding. We offer commercial weed spraying if required.
  • Mulching: Top up mulch to retain moisture and suppress weeds.
  • Deadheading: Regularly remove spent flowers to encourage more blooms.
  • Feeding: Apply liquid feed to containers, hanging baskets, tomatoes and flowering plants every 1–2 weeks.
  • Shade greenhouses to keep them cool and prevent scorch

🌼 Flower Garden

  • Plant out summer bedding
  • Cut back hardy geraniums and delphiniums after flowering to encourage a second flush.
  • Support tall plants with stakes or support cages.

🥕 Vegetable Garden

  • Harvest: Broad beans, peas, courgettes, new potatoes, beetroot, carrots, lettuce.
  • Sow: Beetroot, carrots, lettuce, spring onions, radishes, and French beans for late crops.
  • Feed: Soft vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and courgettes.
  • Pinch out tomato side shoots and tops of plants once 4–5 trusses have set.
  • Watch for pests: Check brassicas for cabbage white butterfly eggs and aphids on beans.

🍎 Fruit Garden

  • Thin fruit on apples, plums, and pears if overburdened. Pinch out to 2 as a general guide.
  • Net soft fruit (e.g., strawberries, currants, raspberries) to protect from birds.
  • Prune espalier-trained and cordon apple trees.
  • Harvest: Cherries, gooseberries, blueberries, and early apples.

🌳 Lawns, Hedges & Trees

  • Mow regularly, but raise blades in dry periods or if you have a self-mulching mower consider using to return nutrients into the lawn.
  • Water new trees/shrubs deeply once a week.

🐝 Wildlife & Environment

  • Top up bird baths and water for pollinators.
  • Leave a wild patch of grass and flowers for bees and insects.