Gardening jobs this month: July

From Country Living gardening editor Stephanie Donaldson:

In the greenhouse
● Begin removing the lower leaves on tomato vines to aid ripening and encourage the plants to put their energy into fruit production. Most other plants can be moved outdoors for the summer
● Keep greenhouse air moist to prevent red spider mites

Garden care
● Keep picking sweet peas and remove any seed pods so that plants remain productive
● Liquid feed all container plants regularly and, where possible, place saucers under pots to conserve water
● Cut wild flower meadows to 8cm after they have seeded; remove clippings to keep fertility low.
● Divide crowded groups of bearded iris once they have finished flowering.
● If water-lily leaves are crowding the surface of the pond, cut off half of them well below the surface of the water and remove them.
● Pinch out the tips of runner beans when they reach the tops of their poles.
● Take semi-ripe cuttings of shrubs such as hydrangeas, lavatera, viburnium and cistus.
● Trim conifer hedges but resist cutting into old brown wood as regeneration comes from newer growth.
● Cut back on long laterals that have grown on wisteria since flowering. This allows sunlight to ripen the wood and encourages bud formation for the next year.
● Tie in blackberry canes.
● Net fruit and brassicas to protect them from birds and/or cabbage butterflies.
● Sow green manure in empty beds in your vegetable garden.
● In hot weather, remove your mower’s grass-collecting box and allow the cut grass to act as a mulch on the lawn.
● Water the garden in the evening, preferably using a hand-held hose rather than a sprinkler, which is much more wasteful of water.
● Pick cutting-garden flowers regularly.
● Spread perennial weeds out to dry on paths – once they are shrivelled and thoroughly dry they can safely be added to the compost heap

Fruit and veg
● As strawberries finish producing, cut back the old foliage along with straw mulch and put on the compost heap, remove runners, then give a top dressing of compost or fish, blood and bone and a fresh mulch
● Sow late cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli.
● Lift autumn-sown garlic and onions and dry in the sun before storing.
● Lift and dry shallots.
● Harvest and prune blackcurrants.
● Thin apple and pear crops. Leave them unthinned if you prefer a large crop of smaller fruit.
● Support heavy branches on plum trees.
● For big pumpkins, allow two or three to grow on each plant. Pick off others as they form.
● Water runner beans regularly at the roots. A handful of lime added to the water aids flower set and pod formation
● Dig a trial early potato plant – if tubers are large enough, commence harvesting, otherwise soak once a week to encourage further growth

Planting and sowing
● Collect ripe seed from forget-me-nots and foxgloves and sow in pots or scatter in shady areas.
● Sow parsley for cropping in winter.
● There is still time to sow beetroot, lettuce, peas, radishes, radicchio and turnips.

Pruning
● Prune plums, apricots, peaches and sweet cherries
● Prune side shoots back to four leaves on gooseberry and redcurrant bushes to help the formation of next year’s buds
● Trim holly and yew hedges

From Prima gardening expert Ann-Marie Powell:

● Prune wisteria back to six buds from the main stem to encourage flower buds to form
● Deadhead annuals, perennials and roses to encourage new bloom
● Pick sweet peas regularly to encourage more flowers
● Sow biennials (foxgloves, sweet rocket, sweet Williams and wallflowers) to flower next year
● Ensure tall perennials are supported with bamboo canes or pea sticks.
● Prune back faded lupin flower stems to their side shoots.
● Cut back long whippy growths on wisteria towards the end of the month.
● Plant autumn-flowering bulbs as they become available.
● Check plants for signs of pest and disease.
● Feed plants in pots or containers.
● Deadhead annuals, perennials and roses.
● Ask a neighbour to water your plants if you’re away.
● Deadhead any faded, dead blooms on herbaceous perennials to encourage more blooms.
● Start saving seed from annuals and perennials that have finished flowering, storing them in labelled envelopes.
● Take cuttings from pelargoniums (annual geraniums) and from shrubs such as hydrangea.
● Prune early-flowering shrubs (forsythia, lilac, philadelphus, deutzia, exochorda and weigela) to encourage new flowering growth for next year.
● Water hanging baskets and patio pots every day.
● Sow salad, spring cabbage and winter spinach in the veg garden
● Peg down runners of strawberry plants into pots for easy, free plants
● Prune summer fruiting raspberries as soon as they’ve finished fruiting
● Regularly remove side shoots from tomatoes to encourage plentiful fruit
● Sow or plant out marrows and courgettes.
● Tie in tomatoes, pinching out any side shoots as you go.
● Sow a late crop of French beans.
● Net your soft fruit to keep the birds off.
● Lift and divide overgrown clumps of iris.
● Earth up potatoes as they grow.
● Sow beetroot, endive, kohlrabi, lettuces, radish, salad, turnip, winter spinach, dwarf French peas and beans, carrots and cabbages.
● Keep tomatoes, aubergines and peppers well fed and watered.
● Pick ripe and swollen plums from your trees to keep a good succession of fruit.