What to Plant in July

Vegetables to Sow and Harvest in July

July is the month of two speeds in the UK vegetable garden. On one hand, you are harvesting the summer bounty — the courgettes, beans, tomatoes and salads that have been growing since spring. On the other, you need to be sowing the next wave of crops right now if you want food on the table through autumn and winter. Ignore the July sowing window and you will regret it come November.

Peak Harvest Month

This is when all the hard work from spring starts to pay off. The garden is producing faster than you can eat it, and regular picking is essential to keep crops productive.

Courgettes are the stars of July. Pick every 2 days when they reach 15-20cm — leave them longer and they turn into marrows, which diverts energy from new fruit production. A single well-maintained plant will produce 15-20 courgettes over the summer, but only if you keep picking. Check under the leaves where fruit hides.

Tomatoes in greenhouses will be ripening now, with trusses of red fruit appearing daily. Outdoor varieties follow from late July depending on your region and the summer weather. Pick fruit as soon as it starts to colour — it will ripen perfectly on a sunny windowsill and reduces the risk of blight and splitting. Green tomatoes left on the vine in wet weather are an invitation for disease.

French beans need picking every 3 days. The more you pick, the more they produce. Once beans start to swell visibly inside the pods, they become tough and stringy, and the plant slows down its production. Runner beans follow the same rule — pick when pods are 15-20cm, before the beans swell inside. A daily check during peak production is not excessive.

Cucumbers are cropping heavily now, especially in greenhouses. Pick regularly to encourage more fruit. Outdoor ridge cucumbers will be ready from mid to late July.

Beetroot is at its best when golf ball to tennis ball size. Larger roots become woody and lose their sweetness. Pull alternate roots to give the remaining ones room to develop. Second early potatoes (planted in late March or April) are ready to lift now — dig carefully with a fork to avoid spearing them.

Peas are reaching their final pickings for most varieties sown in spring. Broad beans sown earlier in the year are ready to harvest — pick when the beans are visible through the pod but before the scar on the bean turns black. Lettuce from succession sowings provides continuous salad. Use your harvest to justify all the work from spring.

Sowing for Autumn and Winter

This is the critical part of July that many gardeners miss. The crops you sow now will feed you from September through to March. Miss this window and your winter garden will be bare.

Kale sown in July is one of the most valuable crops in the entire gardening year. It is incredibly hardy, surviving temperatures well below freezing, and it keeps producing pickable leaves from November right through to March when almost nothing else is growing. Sow seeds 1cm deep in a seed bed or modules, spacing them 5cm apart. Transplant to final positions in August, spacing plants 45cm apart in rows 60cm apart. Varieties like Cavolo Nero, Curly Kale and Red Russian are all excellent.

Spring cabbage sown in late July will be ready for harvest the following March to May — filling the notorious "hungry gap" when little else is available. Sow in a nursery bed and transplant in September, spacing plants 30cm apart.

Chard is another superb crop for sowing now. It germinates quickly in warm July soil and will be producing baby leaves within 6 weeks. Left to mature, it will crop through the autumn, survive most winters (with some fleece protection in harsh spells), and produce heavily again the following spring. Sow 2.5cm deep, 10cm apart, in rows 30cm apart.

Winter lettuce varieties such as Winter Density and Arctic King can be sown now for autumn harvests. They tolerate cooler conditions far better than summer varieties. Turnips sown in July grow quickly and provide roots for autumn eating plus nutritious green tops. Sow thinly in rows 25cm apart and thin seedlings to 12cm.

Spring onions sown now will be ready in 8-10 weeks, giving you fresh onions into autumn. Sow thinly in rows, no need to thin — close spacing is fine for spring onions.

Summer Maintenance

July is a month of constant attention. The garden is growing at maximum speed and maintenance cannot be neglected.

Tomato side-shoots need removing weekly — or even more often in warm weather. Pinch out the shoots that grow in the leaf axils (the angle between the main stem and a side branch) when they are small. These side-shoots divert energy from fruit production and create a congested, airless plant that is vulnerable to disease. Once the first truss of fruit has set, begin feeding every week with a high-potash tomato feed. For outdoor tomatoes, pinch out the growing tip after 4 trusses have set — there is not enough growing season left in the UK for more trusses to ripen.

Earth up leeks by drawing soil around the stems to increase the length of blanched white stem. Do this gradually over the summer, adding a few centimetres of soil each time.

Net brassicas against cabbage white butterflies, which are at their peak in July. Fine mesh netting draped over hoops keeps the butterflies off completely. Check existing brassicas for clusters of yellow eggs on the underside of leaves and remove them by hand.

Quick Wins for July

• Radishes — still ready in just 4 weeks from sowing. Tuck them in between other crops or in containers.
• Rocket — baby leaves ready in 3 weeks. Sow in part shade to prevent bolting in the July heat.
• Salad leaves — succession sowings of mixed leaves give you fresh salad within a month. Keep sowing every 2 weeks.
• Chard baby leaves — sow now and harvest tender young leaves in just 6 weeks, well before the main autumn crop matures.
• French beans — plants from June sowings are now cropping hard. Pick every 3 days to keep them producing.

Flowers in July

The garden is at its most colourful in July, but keeping it looking good requires regular attention. Deadheading is the single most important task this month — it keeps plants flowering rather than setting seed.

Deadheading is Everything

Roses need continuous deadheading for repeat flowering. Cut back to the first outward-facing leaf with 5 leaflets below the spent flower. This encourages strong new growth and another flush of blooms within 6 weeks. Do not deadhead once-flowering varieties (like many ramblers) — they only flower on old wood.

Sweet peas must be cut daily — or at least every other day. The moment seed pods begin to form, the plant receives the signal to stop flowering. Cut stems long for the vase and you will have sweet peas until September. Let pods develop and flowering stops within a week.

Dahlias are hitting their stride now. Remove spent flower heads by cutting back to the next bud or side shoot. The more you cut, the more they flower. Dahlias make outstanding cut flowers — filling a vase is doing your garden a favour.

Stake tall plants before they flop. Delphiniums, hollyhocks, gladioli and tall dahlias all benefit from staking. It is far easier to stake now than to try and rescue a plant that has been flattened by summer rain.

Sowing Biennials for Next Year

July is the time to sow biennial flowers that will bloom next spring and summer. These plants need time to establish a strong root system before winter.

Sow foxgloves now for towering spires of flowers next June. Wallflowers sown in July will be ready to plant out in autumn for fragrant spring colour. Sweet William and honesty also need sowing now — they are classic cottage garden plants that are almost impossible to buy as mature plants but incredibly easy to grow from seed.

Sow biennials in trays or a nursery bed. Transplant to final positions in September or October. They will establish roots through autumn and winter, then flower prolifically the following year.

Summer Pruning Wisteria

July or August is the time for the summer prune of wisteria. Cut back the long, whippy shoots of the current season to 5-6 buds from the main framework. This redirects the plant's energy from leafy growth into developing flower buds for next year. Without this summer prune, wisteria produces masses of foliage but very few flowers. The winter prune (January-February) then shortens these same shoots further to 2-3 buds.

Fruit in July

July is the peak of the soft fruit season. Berries and currants are at their best and need picking regularly to get the most from your plants.

Summer raspberries are at their peak — pick every other day for the best flavour and to prevent fruit rotting on the cane. Once a cane has finished fruiting, cut it to ground level immediately. This clears space and light for the new green canes that will carry next year's crop. Tie in the new canes as they grow.

Blueberries are ripening through July. Pick when the berries come away easily with a gentle tug and are deep blue all over — not just on the surface. Berries that resist picking need another few days. Water blueberry bushes with rainwater, not tap water, and feed with ericaceous fertiliser.

Gooseberries — harvest any remaining fruit. Once picking is complete, prune bushes by cutting back side-shoots to 5 leaves. This opens up the bush, improves air circulation, and encourages fruit buds for next year.

Greenhouse tomatoes need weekly feeding with high-potash tomato feed now that fruit is setting and ripening. Remove side-shoots religiously, and ensure good ventilation — open doors and vents on hot days to prevent fungal disease and help pollination.

Strawberries are producing their last pickings. After the final harvest, cut back all the foliage to about 10cm above the crown. Remove runners unless you want to propagate new plants — peg runners into small pots of compost to root, then sever from the parent once established. Feed strawberry plants after their post-harvest trim with a balanced fertiliser to help them build energy for next year.

Regional Planting Adjustments

By July, regional differences are less about frost risk and more about harvest timing and the urgency of autumn sowings. Northern gardeners must act quickly on autumn crop sowings to give plants enough growing time before the days shorten.

The key message for July is: do not wait. Whatever your region, sow your autumn and winter crops this month. Every week of delay means a week less of growing time before the short days of autumn slow everything down.

Common July Gardening Mistakes

1. Letting the garden dry out. July drought kills more crops than anything else. Deep water 2-3 times per week rather than a light daily sprinkle. Mulch generously around plants to lock in moisture and suppress weeds. Use our mulch calculator to work out how much you need.
2. Not sowing autumn crops now. Miss the July sowing window and your winter harvest will be thin. Kale and chard sown now are your November-to-March lifeline. Spring cabbage, winter lettuce and turnips all need to go in this month.
3. Ignoring tomato side-shoots. Every unremoved side-shoot diverts energy away from fruit production. Check plants every 3 days and pinch out side-shoots when they are small — a thumbnail is all you need. This is especially critical for outdoor tomatoes with limited ripening time.
4. Allowing crops to bolt in hot weather. Lettuce and spinach bolt quickly in the July heat, turning bitter and running to seed. Provide afternoon shade with netting or neighbouring taller plants. Water consistently and harvest outer leaves regularly to keep plants in a vegetative state.
5. Forgetting to feed container plants. The nutrients in compost are largely exhausted by July. Feed containers weekly with a liquid feed — tomato feed (high potash) works well for most fruiting and flowering plants. Without feeding, container plants will slow down dramatically just when they should be at their most productive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where to Buy Seeds and Supplies in the UK

Ready to sow autumn crops and keep your summer garden productive? These UK suppliers stock everything you need for July gardening.

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Useful Gardening Tools

Planning your July garden tasks? These free calculators help you work out exactly how much you need.