July Gardening tips

Long days and frequently warm weather mean that July is a joyous month to garden. For many of us, this is now more possible than it was, if we are still working from home. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, three million Britons have taken up gardening during the pandemic. If you’re one of them, welcome. Here at the Psalm 23 Garden team, we believe that gardening isn’t just good for you physically, mentally and emotionally, but spiritually too. 

Gardening is at its most therapeutic during July. If you only have a window box, there’s time to tend it in the evening, without feeling rushed. You’ll find me watering the allotment before work this month and harvesting in the evenings. So, what jobs could you be doing in the garden this month? Here are a few. 

If you’ve never grown vegetables, I’d urge you to reconsider. There’s plenty of time to start now, and what you’ll grow will taste so fresh and delicious, you’ll be amazed. If you have no outside space, try growing pick-and-come-again lettuces on your windowsill. Sow a fresh batch every 2-3 weeks and you’ll keep yourself in salad leaves throughout the summer. Also try herbs. You can buy the supermarket ones, but they’re cheap and easy to grow from seed. You can share seeds with friends and end up with a wonderful variety of herbs to add to your meals. 

If you have a little bit of outdoor space, peas, beans and yes, lettuces will do well in large containers, or straight in the ground. Mix vegetable plants in with your flower borders for a bit of variety. And if you have children, sow a pumpkin seed now, indoors in a pot. As soon as you have a plant with its adult leaves, plant it outside in the ground, and keep it fed and watered. You’ll be growing your own pumpkin for the autumn. 

If you do already grow vegetables, you’ll now be starting to feel rushed off your feet. The trick is to pick crops regularly as soon as they mature, rather than leaving them. They’ll taste better. That means cooking and freezing, or, if you’re overrun, sharing with your neighbours. If you grow courgettes, you’ll soon be inundated. Pick daily and give them away if you have too many, rather than leaving them to become marrows. 

Keep your plants fed and watered too, especially if they’re in pots. I have instituted Supper Saturday, where everything at home and at the allotment gets a feed. A basic tomato feed from the supermarket or garden centre will be just fine, but you can make your own liquid feed from nettles, banana skins and comfrey leaves (though not all together). 

Plants in pots will have used up all the nutrition in the soil by now. So, feeding them on a weekly basis will keep them thriving throughout the summer. 

Tomatoes particularly love a good feed, and so, if have some in a grow-bag or hanging basket, feed them weekly for the best rewards. 

In the midst of all of this, now is the moment to start sowing for the winter crops that will see you through until March. Purple sprouting broccoli, cabbages, cavalo nero and kale can all be sown now. I’m also trying the radish mouli for the first time. 

If you’re fortunate enough to have fruit trees, remember to support branches that are laden with fruit. You may find that your tree will automatically have dropped a certain number of fruit, in order to cope, but give it a helping hand with some strong stakes. 

My trees are still full of nesting birds. And a robin has a clutch of five in a wall planter. So, wherever you live, with or without a garden, keep putting water and feed out for the birds: they desperately need it, both for themselves and their young. 

With less than three months to go until the Psalm 23 Garden finally makes its appearance at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, now’s your moment to get involved. You could consider teaming up with other people to help create a Psalm 23-inspired community garden. It just takes four elements from Sarah Eberle’s beautiful design (a tree, wildflowers, water and somewhere to sit) to achieve this, so it can be done cheaply and easily anywhere. Use the long evenings to hatch a plan with other local gardeners, and use our free guide as a steer. Let us know what you do. We’d love to hear your stories and share them with others.

Hazel Southam
Psalm 23 Garden project manager

[email protected]