Gardening in July
Hi ,
We have finally welcomed July, and with it, is National Picnic Month. Consider growing some of your picnic favourite fruits like refreshing strawberries, which you can grow and propagate easily from runners. Find out more about how to do so in my blog.
In August, I will be at the Southport Flower Show to celebrate 100 years of their wonderful flower show. Make sure to come along to catch my talks, and to celebrate a century of this lovely event. At the end of August, I will be back at the Belvoir Castle Flower Show, giving more expert talks. Make sure to book your tickets now and come along.
If you missed any episodes of my new ITV show Alan Titchmarsh’s Gardening Club airing Monday daytime, don’t worry, as you can find all episodes now on ITVX to enjoy at your leisure (UK residents only).
Find out my seasonal gardening advice from my website and YouTube channel.
Happy gardening!
David
Gardening tip of the month
Plants to sow this month
Make sure you sow these delicious vegetables now to enjoy them later in the year.
Crunchy Carrots
Sow carrots outdoors as thinly as you can, in rows between 15-13cm apart, 1cm deep. If needed, later you can thin these seedlings out to 5-7.5cm apart. They are drought-resistant, so will cope well in short dry periods, but give them a decent soaking in particularly long dry periods. Cover your crop with fleece if carrot root flies threaten your carrots. These can be harvested between mid autumn and early winter for warm and hearty meals.
Colourful Chard
Sow the seeds directly outdoors in 2.5cm deep drills. Before sowing the seeds, water along the base of the drill. Once sown, recover the seeds with soil again, and water. Thin the seedlings out when big enough 30 cm apart. Water regularly until plants have established, particularly during dry periods, and mulch too. From October, it may be worth protecting with fleece or cloches. Chard can be continuously harvested as cut-and-come-again.
Brilliant Beans
Before sowing, make sure you have supports like twine or bamboo cane wigwams prepared in your growing area. Then, sow seeds 5cm deep and 15cm apart, or a couple of seeds at the base of each bamboo support. Beans need a lot of water, so perhaps implement an automatic irrigation system to care for them. Mulch too to retain moisture. Use ties to support beans on their supports. Once the pods are 10cm long, they can be picked.
Zesty Spring Onions
Easy to grow, and requiring little space, spring onions can be sown outdoors in shallow, watered drills. 1cm deep in rows 10cm apart. Thin out if needed, to be 2.5cm apart. Water in dry weather, or if the soil is dry to the touch. Mulching also helps retain moisture and deters weeds from growing.
After about 2 months, your salad onions should be ready to harvest. They are at their best when about 15cm tall.
New Video from David
In this latest video, find out all about maintaining your pond’s health, and how to control certain problems.
Watch this video
Pond care just got smarter! Find out how you can care for your pond from your mobile phone in my new video.
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Congratulations to the winners!
Keep your eyes peeled for more blogs, videos, competitions and winner announcements throughout July.
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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