What to do during July in your garden and greenhouse.
Your monthly gardening checklists
Flowers
- Cut lavender for drying, choosing newly opened flowers for the best fragrance, then hang up in a cool, dark place
- Give dahlias a liquid feed, keep them well watered and tie the shoots of tall varieties to sturdy stakes as they grow
- Hoe and hand-weed borders often, so weeds don't have time to set seed
- Water and feed sweet peas regularly, pick the flowers every few days, and remove seed pods to prolong flowering
- Plant autumn bulbs, including nerines, colchicums and sternbergia, in pots and borders
- Feed, water and deadhead summer bedding regularly, in pots, borders and hanging baskets
- Cut back early summer perennials, such as hardy geraniums and delphiniums, after flowering for a second flush
- Take softwood cuttings from shrubs such as pyracantha, cotinus, hydrangeas and spiraea
- Feed and deadhead roses to keep them flowering strongly
- Keep watch for pests such as lily beetles, snails, aphids and vine weevils, and remove before they do too much harm
- Pick off flowers on coleus plants to maintain their colourful leaves
- Sow biennials, such as foxgloves, honesty, forget-me-nots and wallflowers, for blooms next year
Fruit and veg
- Check crops such as runner beans regularly for aphids, and rub or wash them off straight away, before they multiply
- Water thirsty plants such as celery, beans, peas, courgettes, pumpkins and tomatoes regularly
- Make the last pickings of rhubarb and remove any flower spikes that start to form, cutting right down at the base
- Thin out heavy crops of apples, pears and plums, and remove any malformed, damaged or undersized fruits
- Prune plum trees in dry weather, when silver leaf fungal disease is less prevalent
- Sow a last batch of peas and dwarf beans before mid-July for an autumn crop
- Shorten side shoots growing from the framework of trained fruit trees, reducing to about five leaves from their base
- Water fruit trees and bushes, then lay a thick mulch of garden compost around their base to hold in moisture
- Cover brassicas with fine netting to prevent cabbage white butterflies laying their eggs on the leaves
- Peg down strawberry runners into pots of compost to root new plants
- Pick courgettes regularly so they don't turn into marrows
- Sow small batches of fast-maturing salad leaves, rocket and radishes every few weeks for continuous pickings
- Cut down broad beans after harvesting, but leave the roots in the soil to release nitrogen as they decompose
Greenhouse
- Open greenhouse vents and doors on warm days to improve air circulation
- Continue pinching out any side shoots growing from the leaf joints of cordon tomatoes
- Take cuttings from fuchsias, coleus, pelargoniums, marguerites and other tender perennials
- Water tomatoes daily to prevent drying out, which can lead to split fruits and blossom end rot
- Order cold-stored potato tubers for planting in a greenhouse or cool porch next month, to harvest at Christmas
- Damp down the greenhouse floor each morning on hot days to increase humidity
- Be vigilant for aphids, vine weevils and other pests, and treat immediately so infestations don't get out of hand
- Feed tomatoes, chillies and cucumbers with high-potash tomato fertiliser every week to encourage fruiting
- Install a reservoir watering system, so thirsty plants such as tomatoes don't dry out
- Regularly sweep greenhouse staging and floors to reduce debris that can harbour pests and diseases
- Train the main stem of cucumbers up supports and pinch out sideshoots two leaves after a flower or fruit
Garden maintenance
- Compost your kitchen and garden waste, chopping up and mixing the contents to speed up decomposition
- Top up bird baths, ponds and water features during hot weather
- Water new trees, shrubs and perennials planted in spring, to help them through dry spells
- Trim conifers and other garden hedges
- Scoop out any floating pondweed and algae from pools and water features
- Keep mowing lawns regularly, but raise the cutting height to leave the grass longer during dry weather
- Water hanging baskets and patio containers daily, in the morning or evening
- Deadhead bedding plants, sweet peas and annuals every few days to encourage more flowers
- Set up an automatic watering system to look after greenhouse crops, pots and baskets if you're going on holiday
- Make your own liquid feed from comfrey plants
- Apply tomato feed fortnightly to crops in pots and growing bags, such as tomatoes and chillies, to encourage fruiting
- Trim lavender after flowering to keep plants compact and bushy, but avoid cutting into old wood
- Be on the lookout for developing pest problems and take action straight away
Trim conifers to maintain an even shape.
House plants
-  Feed houseplants once a week with liquid fertiliser, continuing through to autumn
- Water your house plants more regularly as the temperatures warm and light levels increase, check the soil before watering. Take a look at our guide to watering house plants
- Repot any houseplants that have become top heavy or pot bound into larger containers
- Ensure house plants are not getting scorched by summer sunshine. Either move further from the window or choose house plants that will thrive in a sunny spot
- Some house plants, like snake plants, are particularly prone to collecting dust on their leaves. So be sure to give these a wipe regularly
- Put houseplants outside for the summer in a warm, sheltered spot to enjoy the fresh air and extra light
- Take leaf cuttings from houseplants, including African violets, begonias and Cape primroses
- Check your house plants for pests like aphids, scale insects, thrips and mealybugs
- Take large-leaved houseplants into the garden and hose them down to clean off accumulated dust
For more house plant advice and inspiration visit our Growing and caring for house plants page
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One of the iconic cottage garden perennials, this classic flowered poppy with its characteristic black centre is a real low-maintenance, easy plant. Best started from bare roots in autumn and early spring, this mix of shades will include reds, oranges, pinks, and whites. Be bold and plant them randomly, or if you prefer to see what colour they flower, grow them in a pot for the first few months and see what shades you get.
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A superb architectural specimen, Italian cypress 'Stricta' is well known for its use in formal Mediterranean gardens to add depth and structure. The tall columns can be used to break up a flat eye line in any scheme however and shouldn't be restricted to 'Italian' themed gardens. It can also be grown in large containers on a patio or flanking an entrance to add impact.
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