In order to lengthen your harvests and be ready for the upcoming seasons, July is a crucial month for planting seeds in the garden. While many early crops are maturing, July is a good time to plant vegetables that grow quickly, such as spring onions, beetroot, radish, and lettuce, for late summer harvest. Additionally, it's the ideal time of year to plant autumn and winter crops like turnips, pak choi, chard and kale. To ensure a colourful display the following spring, flower enthusiasts should plant hardy biennials like forget-me-nots, wallflowers, and foxgloves now to grow deep roots before winter.
Vegetables:
Making the most of your growing season and guaranteeing a steady supply of fresh produce long into autumn and into winter can be achieved by planting vegetables in July. Space becomes available when earlier crops are harvested, making it ideal for planting vegetables that mature quickly, such as spring onions, beetroot, radish, and lettuce. Hardy vegetables that will flourish in cooler months, such turnips, chard and kale, should also be sown in July. The best vegetables to grow in July includes:
Sowing beetroot 'Boltardy' in July is a great way to ensure a consistent crop in late summer or early autumn. Because of its well-known resistance to bolting, or premature flowering, it is ideal for July sowing in hot weather. "Boltardy" yields spherical, silky roots with rich, flavourful meat that is deep red. It can be harvested in as soon as 8–10 weeks after being sown in July and germinating rapidly in warm soil.
Salad Bowl lettuce is a great option to plant in July for continuous, rapid harvests of soft, fresh leaves. This loose-leaf kind grows well in warm climates and is perfect for cut-and-come-again gardening, which allows you to pick the outer leaves on a regular basis while the plant keeps producing more. Because it bolts more slowly than many other lettuces, "Salad Bowl" is a good choice for summer sowings when temperatures are higher.
Radish seeds can be harvested in as little as three to four weeks when they are planted in warm soil with plenty of daylight. They commonly germinate in as little as three to seven days. They are therefore perfect for making rapid returns in between crops that develop more slowly. In July, summer cultivars like "French Breakfast" and "Sparkler" flourish and yield crisp, subtly spicy roots.
This quick-growing type is perfect for successional planting and does well in warm climates, so it's perfect for maintaining the productivity of your salad garden. July is a great time to sow because of the heat, which speeds up germination and allows crops to be harvested in as little as eight weeks. If sown later in the month, "White Lisbon" is also hardy enough to overwinter in milder climates, yielding an early spring crop the following year. It is a great low-maintenance addition to any kitchen garden because it is small and simple to cultivate in beds, borders, or containers.
Herb:
Making the most of the warm weather and extending your yield into late summer and early autumn can be achieved by planting herbs in July. Many herbs, including chervil, parsley, dill, and coriander, grow rapidly when put in warm soil because it speeds up germination. Additionally, July is a great opportunity to succession sow herbs, particularly basil and coriander, that might have bolted earlier in the season. We would recommend the following herbs to be sown in July:
Because it flourishes in the warm soil and extended daylight hours of midsummer, coriander is ideal to plant in July. This allows for rapid germination and sustained growth prior to the arrival of cooler weather. July plantings typically bolt more slowly than spring sowings, allowing you to enjoy a longer crop of fragrant, fresh leaves.
When plants bolt too soon in cooler temperatures, a bitter flavour may develop. This can be avoided by planting dill in July. Because it does not transplant well and has a large taproot, it likes to be sown immediately where it will grow. You can also time the crop to yield seeds later in the season, which are excellent for seasoning and pickling, by planting in July.
It thrives in damp soil and moderate shade, and sowing chervil in July enables it to establish over the cooler months. This gentle herb with a delicate anise flavour gives salads, soups, and sauces a light, new flavour. It is an excellent addition to your herb garden when other herbs may be waning, and planting in July guarantees a consistent supply through late summer and early autumn.
Flower
A clever method to maintain the colour and vibrancy of your garden from late summer through the following spring is to plant flower seeds in July. When planted now, a lot of hardy annuals and biennials will put down roots before the cooler months arrive, enabling them to blossom in late summer, fall or even early the following year. Biennials like foxgloves, wallflowers, and forget-me-nots benefit from July sowings as well, since they gain a head start on growing robust plants that will bloom in the spring. We would recommend the following flowers to be sown in July:
Calendula (Pot Marigold): This resistant annual grows well in warm soil and is ideal for summertime sowing because it germinates and grows swiftly. In addition to being lovely, calendula draws useful insects and pollinators like bees, which promotes the health of your garden.
Forget-Me-Nots (Myosotis): If you want to create robust plants that will blossom wonderfully in the spring, you should sow Myosotis (forget-me-nots) in July. July's warm soil and longer days give seedlings a head start. These appealing biennials require time to establish robust roots and foliage before winter. You give Forget-Me-Nots the best chance to self-seed and naturalise by planting now, resulting in beautiful carpets of delicate blue flowers each year.
Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea):
July seeding makes use of the warm soil and extended daylight to promote healthy growth because foxgloves require some time to mature in their first year without flowering and prefer bright, well-drained soil. In July, foxgloves should be sown thinly on the soil surface to allow for good sprouting because they need sunshine to germinate. Gardeners create the ideal environment for spectacular, tall blooms that draw pollinators and give the garden vertical appeal year after year by planting foxgloves in July.