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What to do in July

July
  •   Cut lavender for drying, choosing newly opened flowers for the best fragrance, then hang up in a cool, dark place
  •   Give dahlias a liquid feed, keep them well watered and tie the shoots of tall varieties to sturdy stakes as they grow
  •   Hoe and hand-weed borders often, so weeds don't have time to set seed
  •   Water and feed sweet peas regularly, pick the flowers every few days, and remove seed pods to prolong flowering
  •   Plant autumn bulbs, including nerines, colchicums and sternbergia, in pots and borders
  •   Check crops such as runner beans regularly for aphids, and rub or wash them off straight away, before they multiply
  •   Water thirsty plants such as celery, beans, peas, courgettes, pumpkins and tomatoes regularly
  •   Make the last pickings of rhubarb and remove any flower spikes that start to form, cutting right down at the base
  •   Thin out heavy crops of apples, pears and plums, and remove any malformed, damaged or undersized fruits
  •   Prune plum trees in dry weather, when silver leaf fungal disease is less prevalent
  •   Open greenhouse vents and doors on warm days to improve air circulation
  •   Continue pinching out any sideshoots growing from the leaf joints of cordon tomatoes
  •   Take cuttings from fuchsias, coleus, pelargoniums, marguerites and other tender perennials
  •   Water tomatoes daily to prevent drying out, which can lead to split fruits and blossom end rot
  •   Order cold-stored potato tubers for planting in a greenhouse or cool porch next month, to harvest at Christmas
  •   Compost your kitchen and garden waste, chopping up and mixing the contents to speed up decomposition
  •   Top up bird baths, ponds and water features during hot weather
  •   Water new trees, shrubs and perennials planted in spring, to help them through dry spells
  •   Trim conifers and other garden hedges
  •   Scoop out any floating pondweed and algae from pools and water features