“Hot July brings cooling showers, apricots and gillyflowers.” We might not have any gillyflowers or apricots in our July garden, but after all the cooling showers torrential rain, gardening in July is a real pleasure. I know last month’s garden update was a very long, and very photo-heavy post but I’ve made July’s less wordy, although still with plenty of photos! So pour a drink, make yourself comfortable, and let me share what’s flowering and fruiting in our garden this July, and take a look at my July gardening to do list as well.
What to do in the garden in July
Actually, gardening in July is very similar to June because the single most important of all my gardening jobs for the month is, once again, keeping on top of the watering. That means all the plants and keeping our ponds topped up, which in very sunny weather takes me around 90 minutes every other evening 🙁 Because the best gardening soil for planting in July is warm and moist (who else hates that word too?), whether that’s in pots, raised beds, or other forms of container gardens. Yes, watering is one of those staple July gardening tips for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year. However that’s not all that’s going on this month, so what else is happening?
July flowering plants
This month’s cover picture is my beautiful red Achillea, also known as Yarrow. She’s a perennial I planted some years ago and she proudly displays her broad heads of tiny flowers on upright stems above a mound of soft feathery leaves. Stunning in a vase, or left to fade gently to a pale blush colour as she goes over. And our roses are all looking and smelling absolutely gorgeous too – here are a few for you to admire 🙂
On the subject of scent, I have to mention our sweet peas. They’ve not really got going as yet but I’m hopeful some prolonged sunshine will change that. There’s nothing nicer than a few stems as a fragrant bedside posy. And a sprig or two of the scented purple wallflower complements them beautifully, both in terms of colour and perfume.
Honourable mention to a couple of other fragrant favourites that you might more usually associate with Mediterranean holidays, a creamy yellow Jasmine and my beautiful Philadelphus, or mock orange. It’s hard to describe the perfume of a Philadelphus although Flora rather unkindly says it’s like bubble gum. I disagree, although I have to admit she’s slightly overpowering at close range, so perhaps not one to plant right next to your outdoor dining area. Both plants are great to enjoy near any outdoor seating areas though.
Other scented plants that are also edible include our lavender plants and our honeysuckle bushes. I’m a firm believer in things being both beautiful and useful (although I do make exceptions, of course). And I’ve found a few recipes for honeysuckle-infused water and honeysuckle syrup that’s I’m very keen to try – watch this space!
And here are some more edible flowers that deserve a place in any garden – although they are both prolific self-seeders so take care where you plant them… On the left, a gorgeous purple Malva, or Mallow, and on the right, Flora’s favourite blue Borage that makes very pretty ice cubes for her drinks.
Next up are some cottage garden staples, a pretty pink Penstemon and some glowing purple Campanulas. Both are perennials so once you plant them and they get established, they’ll come back every year with no extra help from you.
Other July flowering plants giving life to our garden are a couple of new additions this year, some perennial Fuchsia shrubs. They had some space in their pots, so I’ve planted up my feathery-leaved pink Cosmos seedlings in with them, to keep them company.
Lastly, I have to share a picture of our lovely white flowering Hydrangea by our front door – I prune her hard every March and she just keeps coming back – isn’t she a stunner?
Vegetable gardening in July
If you’re wondering what vegetables to plant in July, here are a few to consider. Nothing says summer as much as quick to grow salad leaf crops* with some deliciously crunchy radishes*. And if you love carrots* try growing spring onions* alongside to mask the carrot smell and deter the carrot fly pest. Other vegetables that can be planted in July are turnips* ready for Winter harvesting, and some dwarf French beans* which won’t take as long to grow as their taller cousins. As I mentioned last month, beware if you sow tree spinach, it self-seeds prolifically, although the upside is you can keep harvesting the new seedlings as microgreens instead. And the green and purple leaves look very pretty too, in front of one of our gooseberry bushes.
Do you remember last month I mentioned companion planting? The idea being that planting certain flowers with vegetables or fruits attracts beneficial insects, repels pests, and helps all plants grow. Well I’m trialling it properly in some raised bed gardening in the orchard. At the front of the first bed are our multi-coloured climbing French beans* and behind those, in front of the gooseberry bush, are the cucumbers* and cucamelons*, as per Flora’s request following a successful trial last year. And if you look closely to the left of the French beans, you might spot the Rudbeckia Cherry Brandy* seedlings.
And over in the second bed on the right I’ve crammed in some Sweetcorn*, French beans*, Claret Sunflowers* and a few left over sweet pea seedlings that I couldn’t fit into our flower beds. Oh, and some edible nasturtiums*, whose bright pink flowers have a sharp peppery taste, perfect as a garnish or in salads. As you can see, if you go for vertical planting, you don’t need a lot of floor space.
Sadly, I had to pull up all our broad beans* as the black fly infestation was too far gone. But the potatoes are still doing well and we’ve harvested a few already. These were a complete surprise, they grew from some I’d missed harvesting last year – Nature is full of tricks!
Over in the greenhouse our tomato plants* are growing fruits already, so I’ll need to start giving them a fortnightly feed soon.
And we’ve got a few large flowers on our indoor cucumber* plant as well. I always try and grow one indoor and a couple of outdoor cucumber plants, as they grow at different rates so this keeps us supplied for longer. The Romanesco* cauliflower seedlings are ready for planting out now, which I’ll do shortly, and I’ll need to net them to avoid death by pigeons (I learned this the hard way last year).
Gardening in July sees all our fruit trees and bushes gearing up properly for what will hopefully be a wonderful harvest. Here are our pear tree, plum tree and kiwi bush.
Next up, our cherry, apple, and damson trees.
And our gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes and fig tree all look promising.
Not to mention our stalwart grapevine, which if you recall I cut back SO hard in the Spring – look at her now!
Finally, courtesy of our two blueberry plants, raspberry canes, and strawberry plants, here is tonight’s pudding! That’s what I mean about gardening in July being a pleasure <grin>
July gardening to do list
As I may have mentioned, top of my gardening jobs to do in July list is watering. And received best practice is to water early or late to avoid too much evaporation. I prefer to water my garden in the evenings, so I don’t need to worry about being late for work, and so the plants can recover overnight. And I can carry out some dead heading to encourage new flowers, and tie in new growth on any plants that need extra support at the same time. On the subject of watering, I’d like to share (again) my best find of 2020. Click here to buy this 150ft flexible, expandable hose pipe, which is hands down the best gardening hose* I’ve ever had. It reaches all the way around the front of the house, then the back of the garden, and even all the way to the bottom of the orchard, so it makes my life a lot easier.
I’ll also be weeding and pruning as usual, and ramping up on the harvesting – both flowers for the house and edibles for the kitchen – yum, yum.
Wildlife gardening jobs for July
As you may recall from last month, we thought our wildlife pond pump was struggling so we experimented with switching it off for a while. And although the water looks quite green, it’s much clearer now, you can see to the bottom again. We’ve spotted some of our goldfish as well as dozens of tiny baby fish – no idea where they came from! We’ve got plenty of water boatmen skating across the surface of the water and a gazillion electric blue damselflies visiting daily. Honestly we are so thrilled with the success of this pond.
Now all the baby frogs have long since migrated, Alan has started mowing the grass again, on a high setting to avoid scalping the lawn in dry weather. And he’s still filling up the bird feeders with nuts and fat balls every day, much to the birds’ greedy delight.
Unfortunately, I took my eye off the ball with our sprouting broccoli and as a result, the caterpillars have made lace doilies of all the leaves. It’s too late to worry about pest control now but if I grow them again, I’ll net them early on to guard against all pests, including slugs. At least the caterpillars will provide food for the birds and those that escape will turn into some lovely butterflies.
Over in the greenhouse I’m hoping for a more successful form of natural pest control. A beautiful spider laid her eggs and just look at all those tiny spiders – so cute, and so hungry, they’ll keep any bugs that might be tempted to eat my edibles under control. Tip: working with Nature makes a gardener’s life much easier.
Gardening in July – a summary
And that concludes my July gardening update – the second summer month full of colour, scent and food to harvest. As always, I’ve tried to answer the most popular questions I found on Google in this post, including:
- What to plant in July?
- What can I sow in July?
- Are there any specific gardening jobs to do in July?
I do hope you’ve enjoyed your virtual visit to our garden and orchard this month, and you found my July gardening tips helpful. Until next month then, when I think we’ll be harvesting even more produce, and the jam making and apple juicing season should be well under way. Fingers crossed for more sunshine in the meantime, so we can all spend more time outside and enjoy connecting with Nature!
Are you growing anything in your garden or outside space this July? What tips and tricks can you share that have or haven’t worked for you? What’s your favourite photo or tip in this month’s garden update? And what do you love most about gardening in July?
* This post features affiliate links but all opinions are my own (see my Disclaimer).
Absolutely gorgeous photos Lisa! Your garden is looking as beautiful and productive as ever. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Jodie, we are very lucky 🙂
My goodness! You sure have a green thumb! Your flowers are beautiful, and it is a fantastic feeling to grow your own food.
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Ha, thank you, but we do have very good soil, which helps a lot! x
I love your posts about gardening. It is so nice to see the transition from season to season. Your flowers always look so beautiful.
Antonia || Sweet Passions
Thank you, Antonia, that’s very kind 🙂
Wow your garden really is in bloom this month. I love all of the colours. We’ve got some lillies due to bloom any day now, they’re being very stubborn!
Rosie
Thank you, Rosie – I’d love some lilies too but we can’t as their pollen is poisonous to cats, sadly 🙁
Some beautiful flowers growing in your garden in July Lisa, they’re beautiful! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you, Lucy! x
I’m staying at my boyfriend’s parents house right now and they’ve started growing their own vegetables so it’s been really nice to eat home-grown veggies lately! Sorry to hear about the broad beans though, what a nuisance!
Lucky you 🙂 Yes, losing all the broad beans was a pain but one of those things – you can’t win them all, unfortunately!
You have such a gorgeous garden! I don’t have much of a green thumb but I wish I did. My grandmothers were both into gardening, and now my bestie is also getting into it. We’ve been all over the place looking for cuttings for her to grow lately! I also have to say I LOVE how your wee cat found their way into this weeks post!
Thank you so much, that’s so kind – to be honest, our garden is a work of years, I had no clue when I started out but Nature is a great teacher! And yes, our cats are inveterate photobombers 🙂
Oh wow!!!!!!! All the flowers in your garden are soooooooo beautiful. I’m going to bookmark this post and make these flowers my inspiration for arts. Thank you for this virtual tour.
Fadima, that is the LOVELIEST comment to read, thank you so much, I’m so happy you love this post!
Aww, gorgeous!! The pears are quite big. All the fruit trees (and bushes) look really great. The roses are really lovely too.
I love that you are growing so many fruits and veggies. It’s wonderful.
Thank you, Anca – as a fellow gardener it’s great to be able to swap monthly garden updates!
Great post and photos! I love your garden so much, it’s so beautiful and colourful! Also off topic but your cat is so cute! Thanks for sharing x
Thank you, we are very lucky – and our cats do love to photobomb so I had to include them! x
I think now you became a friend with nature and plants. You understand most of the important things and each month changes. Great post!
That’s a lovely thing to say, thank you, although I’m always learning, it never stops!
As always, Lisa, your flowers stun me! I love the delicate petals and daring colors of the roses, and the Yarrow is pretty too. Borage and lavender are two glorious edible summer plants!
Not all garden ventures can be a success, but most of your vegetables and fruits appear to be flourishing. Fresh figs are truly delicious.
Thank you for sharing a robust photo diary!
Thank you, Jaya, that’s very kind of you – I think the colours are even more vibrant this year after all our rain – and the fruits have clearly enjoyed their early waterings 🙂
I love this so much. I have been wanting to get into gardening! Thank you so much for all this information
You are very welcome – always happy to help if I can 🙂
Such beautiful flowers! I especially like the sunflower as that’s my favourite flower. All your vegetables are coming on great, I really want to start growing potatoes. We have tomatoes atm and there are 28 growing, they are getting so big now. Your wildlife pond is absolutely amazing,
I love the sunflowers too, so nice to have something a little different from the norm 🙂 And yes, do give potatoes a go, they’re really quite easy in a bag and don’t take up much space at all. Happy tomato harvesting in due course, bet LB is excited to eat them!
I am always SO impressed and inspired by your gardening posts, Lisa! I really want to get into gardening outside more – when winter finishes for us here, I’ll get to planting! xx
mia // https://beautiful-inspiring-creative-life.com/
Ah, thank you, Mia, that’s very kind – winter is a great time for planning your garden though! x
I wish I had a garden! When I do one day I’m definitely going to grow loads of different flowers and plants. I love that you have strawberries! They are my favourite x
I hope you do get a garden someday – but you can grow strawberries indoor too, just use a hanging basket! x
Your garden is absolutely beautiful! It’s such hard work and dedication to have a garden like that. I don’t like gardening myself but do like to admire it when someone else has done the job haha x
Thank you, Soffy – our garden is the work of many years so actually it’s not too much work now, it’s only maintenance 🙂 x
I’ve been dying for a green thumb and always wanted a nice big garden! The amount of detail is so helpful – definitely saving this for future reference too!
Thank you, Melanee, I’m so glad this was helpful!
I love your gardening updates Lisa! July has been a mixed month for weather, but your flowers look as beautiful as ever x
Thank you, Eleanor, it has indeed but luckily our garden doesn’t seem to mind 🙂 x
Your garden looks so wonderful and I love your berry haul! It’s nice to see you have so much success with so many different plants! 🙂
Hope your week is off to a great start! 🙂
Thank you, Mica, the soft fruits are especially good this year, we’re very lucky!
My lovely red yarrow is getting mowed down by all the baby bunnies! I’m just hoping it comes back. Yours looks great! (I sure miss mine…) Fun post, thanks.
–Sue
http://www.susanberkkoch.com/blog
Oh no, bad bunnies (not a phrase I was expecting to use) but I’m sure it will come back, yarrow’s quite hardy 🙂
Your garden looks sooo pretty
Thank you 🙂
It’s always lovely to see photos of your garden and read about it too!
Thank you, Molly, that’s very kind 🙂
I love seeing all the flowers, veggies & fruits that are growing!
I haven’t been doing that much gardening this year, but this past weekend I harvested some rhubarb, red currants, raspberries & strawberries. I turned the rhubarb into porridge & the red currants into jam. I ate the raspberries & strawberries as is haha.
Wow, that’s a significant harvest, lucky you. Soft fruits seem to be doing quite well this year – kudos on the jam, bet it’s delicious!
I love this Lisa! Your garden posts are fabulous. It’s so nice to know that your tomato plants are growing fruits already. The flowers in your garden are so beautiful as well. Thank you for this amazing tour. Your pictures are fabulous!
Thank you very much, Ruth, we’ve been very lucky this year, all that rain followed by sunshine makes for a happy garden!
We’re trying to focus on the garden at the moment. Our hibiscus has lost it’s flowers and most leaves. I think it’s the inconsistent British weather. But we’ve been trying to choose some new flowers. I’ve decided I definitely want a hydrangea bush and passion flowers. I really like your ideas for jasmine as it’s one of my favourite scents. And I had no clue Yarrow could be so beautiful! I’d like to plant some wildflowers too, they’re always so colourful
I’ve never tried growing a hibiscus but I suspect you’re right about the British weather. How exciting to be choosing new plants! Definitely go for jasmine, there are lots of varieties that flower at different times and some are even evergreen – happy planting!
I am always in awe of your beautiful garden and gardening skills Lisa! And I must add the cats too because they’re too cute not to mention! Really love the pink cosmos and Fuchsia shrubs! Can’t wait to get a large garden and take care of it, hopefully in the future! x
Ah, Cristina, thank you so much, that is so kind of you – my “skills” are very much learned by trial and error though, I’m no expert! And yes, our cats are great photobombers 🙂 x
Oh I do love these posts, they’re so helpful! Unfortunately our garden is looking a little bear at the moment as I only bought spring bulbs (won’t be making that mistake again) so I think I need to grab some bedding plants to fill it up!
Katy | http://www.katystephenson.com
Thank you, Katy, I’m glad to hear that 🙂 Yes, there are plenty of bedding plants to choose from but I’d suggest a few perennials as well, so you won’t have so many gaps this time next year!
I live watching your garden grow and change through the seasons. I’m not a gardener, but I find this really interesting. My mum is having the same issue with her sweet peas this year- they are her favourite flower but they haven’t fully come out yet!
Eve x
Thank you, Eve, that’s very kind – and how strange, maybe it’s a South West thing for sweet peas? Glad I’m not the only one though!
I love wonderful summer fruits. Amazing roses and
colours, you miss bougenvilla though..
Funnily enough we did grow bougainvillea one year, in pots, during a hot spell. Maybe I should try again!
Honeysuckle syrup sounds so delicious! Thanks for sharing this. I’m really enjoying our garden this year so it’s always nice to read what other people are doing.
Doesn’t it just? Can’t wait to try making some – thank you, Molly, glad you’re enjoying your garden too.
I got a similar looking black cat here at home but yours is cuter haha. Flowers and plants look so pretty as usual. Those penstemons remind me of Disney cartoons for some reason. Thanks for sharing, Lisa! I so loveee your garden. Quick question, do you sell your harvest? Or are they just for personal consumption?
Thank you, Monique – I will pass on your kind words to Loki! And no, our harvests are only for us, we don’t sell anything 🙂
You have a lot of interesting things happening in your garden this month. I love the blue borage. I’ve never even heard of them before and they are so pretty. Wondering if they will grow well in my climate. Thanks for all the good tips.
Thank you, yes, we do 🙂 Borage is so easy to grow, I’m sure you’d have no trouble, but just make sure you confine your seed sowing to a couple of spots as it self-sows freely!
Wonderful photos! We’ve got some blue borage, but I also picked up some white borage (which I’d not seen before) at a stall a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, you can make drinks with it.
Thank you, Nikki – and white borage sounds amazing, I’ve not come across that before either – happy drink making!
I am always in awe of your garden Lisa. The beautiful flowers, fruits and veggies. If I get a chance to purchase a home with a backyard, your blog will be my reference to do some gardening. However, I am very scared of insects, frogs, etc. 🙂 Beautiful photos Lisa. The crisp roses aah!! so pretty. I can keep going, but I will stop here. Have a lovely day. 🙂
Thank you so much, Via, that’s very kind – I’m always happy to help, although I’m no expert, I just enjoy having fun!
Thanks for sharing, what has been going on in your garden this month, my sweet peas have started to flower, which is great plus I have peppers coming and 2 new sunflower plants that are doing great on my patio 🙂
Our sweet peas have been so late this year – glad we’re not the only ones! I bet your sunflowers will be happy in some sheltered sunshine too 🙂
Your garden gets more and more beautiful with every post! I especially love the purple Malva, its absolutely stunning! Your post inspired me to do a mini overhaul of my own garden, so thank you for the inspo!
Em x
Oh Em, thank you, that’s so kind of you to say so, and I’m thrilled you’ve done a mini overhaul of your own garden, I hope you’ll share some photos soon! x
What a good idea to make borage ice cubes! And so many other pretty flowers as well. Our French beans have just started to come and we are going to France tomorrow – managed to have some for dinner yesterday, but hoping there will still be some when we get back. I grew some pink broad beans which were delicious, but quite short in size – I think that is the variety though.
I think I tried some pink broad beans last year but they didn’t do very well so I reverted to my trust Aquadulce. Sounds like you’re having a brilliant harvest though, Caroline, yum!