Jobs to do in the Garden in July

– Thin out apple, pear, peach, and plum tree crops now, pruning weaker fruits and side shoots to reduce disease risk and encourage stronger shoots and larger fruits.

-Harvest soft fruits like strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, white currants, and blackcurrants now. Remove runners to encourage more fruit production and root new plants in pots of compost. Protect soft fruits from birds with Bird Netting.

-Stay on top of weeding, as weeds compete with your plants for nutrients and water. Use hoeing and hand weeding to prevent them from setting seed.

-In your pond, clean pumps and filters and remove debris and weeds. Deadhead flowering pond plants to prevent self-seeding and remove blanket weed from the surface. Top up water levels in hot weather to keep fish and plants healthy and protect the pond liner.

-Water hanging baskets and container plants twice a day in warm, sunny weather as they dry out quickly. Feed them every couple of weeks with Tomato Feed and trim any straggly or old growth to promote more flowering.

-Regularly deadhead bedding plants, shrubs, containers, and perennials every few days to encourage more flowering. Feed them now with Liquid Plant Feed. Trim early summer perennials like hardy geraniums and delphiniums post-bloom for a second flowering. After their first bloom, feed roses with Fish, Blood & Bone to maintain health and prevent diseases like rust, black spot, or mildew.

-Water greenhouse plants daily in the early morning or late evening and ensure good ventilation by opening doors and vents early and closing them in the evening to keep pests out. Use Shade Netting if necessary to reduce excessive sunlight and heat.

-Harvest beetroots, carrots, runner beans, French beans, and courgettes now. Harvest garlic when leaves start yellowing and bending, eat some fresh, and dry the rest. Harvest herbs for drying or freezing, and take cuttings for next year.

-Regularly water onions, shallots, celery, beans, peas, courgettes, pumpkins, and tomatoes for a good, flavourful crop. Daily watering of tomatoes prevents drying out, blossom end rot, and split fruit. Feed tomatoes, peppers, chillies, and cucumbers weekly with High Potash Feed once fruits appear to encourage more fruiting.

-Damp down the greenhouse floor in the early morning on hot days to increase humidity, preventing heat stress and deterring red spider mites. Watch for pests like whitefly, lily beetles, snails, aphids, and vine weevils, and use Bug Control Spray and Sticky Traps for infestations. Regularly tidy up fallen flowers and foliage to prevent pests and diseases.

-Take softwood cuttings from coleus, cotinus, fuchsias, hydrangeas, marguerites, pelargoniums, pyracantha, spiraea, and other tender perennials now.

-Deter slugs and snails with Brassica Collars or crushed eggshells around your plants. If this doesn’t work, use Slug Killer Pellets. Protect against Cabbage White Butterflies with Insect Netting to prevent egg-laying on leaves.

-Mow and water your lawn weekly (not simultaneously). Spike the lawn with a garden fork before watering; use a sprinkler for half an hour or a fine hose spray. Brown grass will green up with rain. Fill in gaps with Grass Seed in autumn and avoid mowing during dry spells. After the first mow this month, feed the lawn with summer lawn feed.

-Remove any buds from dahlias that are below the main bud to improve the size of the remaining flowers and strengthen the stems. Feed, water well, and support the stems of tall varieties by tying them to a cane as they grow.