Fruit & vegetable growing guide for July

Summer is now in full swing, and with July and August usually being the hottest and driest months in the UK, a lot of people will be spending more time in their gardens.

Gardening and growing vegetables is a hugely popular hobby during this time of the year as the weather is normally warm and people of all ages and abilities can try it. People with mobility issues who need to use stairlifts or other mobility aids as well as adults with children can all try their hand at planting fruits and vegetables. 

As part of a series of guides describing the best fruit and veg to plant in each month of the year, this article looks at July.

In July much of your time will be spent watering your fruits, vegetables and plants. John Harrison, a keen gardener and the author behind the Allotment Garden blog, talks more about this: “The important thing with July sowings is to ensure the plants have enough water in hot weather. A good soaking prior to sowing and a gentle daily watering until the seedlings have germinated and established. In really hot weather, water early morning and late evening.”

Although the main sowing part of the year has passed, there are still lots of things that you can sow and harvest in July. Here we take a look at what fruit and veg you can plant in July.

Vegetables to plant in July

As July is a drier and warmer month, if you are sowing seeds, then it is recommended that you drill and water the hole before sowing the seed.

Catherine Hughes, Home & Garden lifestyle blogger at Growing Family, talks about how people new to growing vegetables can start.

“If you’re new to growing your own vegetables, growing plants in pots is a great beginner gardening project. You can keep things small-scale, moving onto a larger vegetable patch as you learn and become more confident. Sowing seeds little and often is also a good idea, as it will give you a constant supply of veggies and avoid a big glut.”

Below are some of the vegetables you could plant in July.

Spring onions

Spring onions, or scallions as they are also known, can be eaten raw or cooked. They are essentially very young onions and are harvested before the bulb swells.

They can be planted in July and when they are harvested both the long, slender green tops and the small white bulb are edible.

Kate Turner, gardening-guru at gardening care brand Miracle-Gro and Love The Garden blog, talks about why spring onions are perfect to grow in July.

“Perfect in summer salads, spring onions are a quick crop to harvest. Their seeds can be sown every two weeks all throughout summer, until September. You can sow them directly in the ground in an open sunny spot with well-drained soil. Once the seedlings appear, ensure the soil is kept consistently moist. Around 8 weeks after sowing, the spring onions will be ready to harvest by gently forking the surrounding soil and pulling up the crops.”

Salad leaves

Salad leaves such as lettuce are easy plants to grow almost all year-round. It can be grown in pots and window boxes as well as the open ground and is generally happy being planted close to one another.

Kate Turner explains why lettuce is a great crop to grow especially in the summertime for a quick and easy lunch.

“You can sow its seeds during summer until September and this will supply you with lettuce leaves all-year-round! If you can sow in the evening when it’s cooler – summer heat and high soil temperatures can lead to seeds not germinating so make sure you place them in a shaded area. You can grow your lettuce in a Miracle-Gro Peat Free Premium Fruit and Vegetable Compost bag that acts as a flexible growbag.”

Catherine adds: “Salad leaves grow super-fast at this time of year, so there’s still plenty of time to grow them and enjoy a harvest before the end of summer. Growing salad is a great grow your own project for kids too.”

Radish

Summer radishes can be ready to harvest in as little as 18 days from sowing and because they are easy to grow and you get fast results, they are a perfect vegetable to plant in July. There are lots of different types of salad radish and they range in colours from red and purple to yellow and white.

Catherine explains why growing radish in July is a great idea. She said: “Radish is another speedy veg, you can plant seeds and have a harvest within a few weeks. Sow the seeds directly into the soil, about 1cm deep and in rows 15cm apart. Thin out the seedlings while they are small, leaving 2-4cm between plants.”

Kate Turner adds: “These are great additions to a refreshing summer salad. They are super speedy and will only take about 4 weeks from sowing to cropping. You can sow them until August in the ground, containers or a growbag.”

French beans

French beans are another vegetable that is great for planting in July and there are different types that you can plant. There are dwarf and climbing varieties of French beans and you can grow them to either eat fresh or to be dried and stored.

Climbing French beans are grown in the same way as Runner Beans, while dwarf French beans can be grown in containers as they are happy to be spaced closely to one another.

John Harrison from Allotment Garden talks a bit more about why he’d recommend growing French beans: “Although it's late in the season now, there are quite a few things that can be profitably sown. French beans will have time to give a crop before autumn properly arrives. They're a very easy crop.”

Turnips, beetroot, carrots and kohlrabi

Turnips, beetroot, carrots and kohlrabi are all other vegetables that can be planted in July.

Carrots generally take 10-12 weeks to grow until they are ready to eat and if you suffer from mobility issues meaning you need aids such as curved stairlifts or other walking aids, then you can plant carrots in raised beds. Carrots are easy to grow, but they do like deep, fertile sandy soil.

Kohlrabi originates from the Middle East, but it has become popular with UK gardeners as it is so easy and fast to produce as well as being tolerant of poor soil and dry weather. When the bulb of kohlrabi is roughly the size of a cricket ball, it is time for it to be harvested.

Turnips are another vegetable that is perfect to grow in July. They can grow quickly and can be ready to eat in just five to eight weeks from sowing if you like them to be golf ball sized.

Beetroots can be sowed in July and they are easy to grow as they are suitable for close spacing and container growing. Beetroot seeds will last for 3-5 years and will take about 10-14 days to germinate.

Talking about why these vegetables are great for growing in July, John Harrison says: “Turnips, beetroot and kohlrabi are going in now along with lettuce and Chinese cabbage Pak Choi. I like to get a sowing of carrots in now. Use an early variety like Early Nantes. With vegetables 'early' means fast so early crops are actually ideal for late sowings. There's even time for a crop of early peas to harvest before the first frosts arrive.”

Kate Turner would recommend you plant carrots this month: “July is the last month to sow carrot seeds for an autumn crop. Pick a sunny spot with fertile, well-drained soil and choose a maincrop variety, sowing seeds 1cm deep in rows that are 15-30cm apart. Make sure you keep them watered during hot and dry periods.”

All the vegetables you can plant in July

•Salad Leaves

•Radish

•French Beans

•Spring Onions

•Beetroot

•Spring Cabbage

•Kohlrabi

•Chicory

•Peas

•Chinese Cabbage

•Carrots

•Turnips

READ MORE: A guide to growing fruit and vegetables at home

Fruit to plant in July

Although July is not known as a great month for planting fruit plants, if you already have fruit bushes and trees in your garden there are still lots of jobs to do. It is vital that you water your fruit plants and trees regularly as this time of the year is known for experiencing prolonged dry spells.

Other jobs that will need to be done in July include thinning apples, pears and plums, pruning fruit trees and bushes, weeding the base of the trees as well as putting garden compost on the base of fruit plants.

July is also a great month for picking fruits and some of the fruits that are in season in July are gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, cherries and rhubarb.

If you are a novice when it comes to gardening, Kate Turner from Love the Garden shares her top tips.

“If I had one piece of advice for beginners who are looking to start planting fruit or vegetables in July, it would be to always make sure to water your plants in the morning, especially when the weather is hot. Less water will be evaporated, and it will ensure the water gets down to the roots which will help the plants stay hydrated.”

The RHS website shares the jobs you should be doing in July if you are growing fruit:

•Check tree ties as tree trunk girth increases.

•Water cranberries, lingonberries and blueberries regularly with rainwater. Tap water will do when butts run dry.

•Complete summer pruning of gooseberries and red/white currants.

•Pinch out the growing point of outdoor melons twice, at four-week intervals.

•Water and feed outdoor melons regularly once established.

•Pull off suckers appearing around the base of fruit trees.

•Make sure fruit isn’t drought-stressed, especially those in containers, against a wall or newly planted.

•Give regular liquid feeds to plants growing in containers.

•Protect heavily-laden fruit trees and bush branches against snapping under the weight. Use a stake or prop to keep them upright.

This article looks at just some of the fruit and vegetables you can plant in July and the jobs you should consider doing during the month. For more tips and blogs like these then head to our news section.