Cut Back Early-Flowering Perennials

Early-flowering perennials such as oriental poppies, delphiniums, and hardy geraniums should be cut back to ground level once flowering has finished. This encourages fresh foliage and often produces a second flush of blooms later in the summer.

Remove all cut material to the compost pile, weed around the base of each plant, and water if conditions are dry. Leave enough space around the plants so they receive adequate light and airflow as they regrow.

Stake Tall-Growing Plants

Warm July weather often produces rapid growth that many plants cannot support without assistance. Heavy rain, strong winds, and summer storms can quickly flatten flower borders if plants are left unsupported.

Install supports before plants begin to collapse. Brushwood, bamboo canes, metal supports, or plant rings all work well. The goal is to support plants discreetly while allowing them to retain their natural movement and appearance.

Tall annuals such as Ammi, sunflowers, cleome, cosmos, tithonia, and lion’s ear may also require staking. Secure stems loosely with soft twine about halfway up the plant so they remain upright while still swaying naturally in the wind.

Harvest Raspberries

Summer-bearing raspberries reach their peak in July. These varieties produce fruit on canes that grew the previous year, while the new canes produced this season will bear fruit next summer. Autumn-bearing varieties, such as ‘Autumn Bliss,’ produce berries on the current season’s growth.

Harvest berries regularly as soon as they are fully ripe for the best flavor and quality. Freshly picked raspberries are exceptionally sweet and are best enjoyed immediately after harvesting.

Feed Container Plants

Plants growing in containers quickly use up the nutrients available in their potting mix and benefit from regular feeding throughout the summer.

Apply a liquid fertilizer high in potassium once a week to encourage healthy roots, abundant flowers, and productive fruiting without promoting excessive leafy growth. Liquid seaweed or a quality tomato fertilizer both work well.

Avoid overfeeding. Too much fertilizer can encourage soft, lush growth at the expense of flowers and fruit while making plants more susceptible to pests and fungal diseases. Always follow the recommended application rates, and when in doubt, use a slightly weaker solution.

Prune Rambling Roses

Continue deadheading repeat-flowering roses throughout the season to encourage additional blooms. Once rambling roses have finished flowering, they should be pruned.

Ramblers are generally more vigorous than climbing roses and produce large clusters of small flowers only once each season. Remove any damaged, weak, or very old stems by cutting them back to the base of the plant.

If growing a rambler into a tree, only minimal pruning may be needed beyond removing untidy growth. Where space is limited or the rose is being trained along a fence, arbor, or trellis, tie in this year’s new shoots and prune as needed to maintain its shape.

When training roses around a vertical support, wrap the stems in a gentle spiral. Training stems as horizontally as possible encourages more flowering the following year.

Finish by tying in any loose stems and applying a generous layer of mulch around the base.

Sow Parsley and Sow Lettuce for a Fall Harvest

July is an excellent time to sow parsley for harvesting throughout winter and into early spring. Successive sowings throughout the growing season provide a continuous supply of fresh leaves.

Once seedlings have germinated, transplant them into individual pots or cell trays before planting them outdoors. Avoid leaving seedlings crowded together. Thin them early and space plants at least 9 inches apart so each develops a strong root system and vigorous growth.

Well-spaced plants recover quickly after harvesting, producing fresh leaves over a much longer period.

Lettuce sown directly outdoors in July germinates quickly and is often ready to harvest within six to eight weeks.

Many gardeners prefer starting seeds in plug trays to better protect young seedlings from slugs and snails before transplanting them outdoors in August. Space plants approximately 9 inches apart after earlier crops, such as peas or fava beans, have been cleared from the garden.

Watch for Potato Blight

July is when first early potatoes are often ready to harvest, but it is also when potato blight becomes a serious concern.

Potato blight is a fungal disease that first attacks the foliage before spreading into the tubers during wet weather, making potatoes unsuitable for storage and, in severe cases, inedible.

Watch for dark brown or chocolate-colored spots on the leaves. If blight appears, remove all infected foliage immediately and compost it, as the fungus does not survive the composting process. Leave a good layer of soil covering the tubers and wait for dry weather before harvesting.

First and second early potato varieties are generally less susceptible because they mature before blight becomes widespread.

Pick Sweet Peas Regularly and Harvest Garlic and Shallots

Frequent harvesting is the key to extending the flowering season of sweet peas.

Harvest every flower every seven to ten days using clean scissors, cutting stems as long as possible. Remove any seed pods as soon as they appear.

With consistent picking, sweet peas can continue flowering well into September during cooler summers.

Garlic and shallots are generally ready for harvest once their leaves begin turning yellow and flower stalks develop. Onions may require a few additional weeks before they are ready.

Use a garden fork to gently lift the bulbs rather than pulling them by hand. This helps prevent damage to the roots and the basal plate where the roots attach to the bulb.

Brush away excess soil, but leave the foliage and roots attached while the bulbs cure. Dry them thoroughly in a warm, well-ventilated location, on drying racks, or inside a greenhouse. Once completely cured after several weeks, trim the tops and roots before storing.

Cut Long Grass

By late July, the foliage of spring-flowering bulbs has usually died back completely, making it safe to mow or cut long grass without affecting next year’s blooms.

Some gardeners wait until August to allow wildflowers to finish setting seed, but by the end of July most wildflower meadows can be safely cut.

After mowing, rake up and remove every grass clipping for composting. Leaving cut grass on the ground enriches the soil, encouraging grasses to outcompete wildflowers and reducing next year’s floral display.

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