Mid Summer Gardening Jobs

Now we are in mid July I have been busy at work in my kitchen garden and greenhouse, tending to the raised beds and pots, ensuring that my garden stays in its best condition. The summer truly is the most beautiful time to enjoy your garden, especially with the heatwave we have been experiencing over the last few weeks. Below I have shared the jobs I find myself completing during this time of year – what would you add?

In regard to watering, probably the most imperative task in the summer months, I find it most practical to water first thing in the morning and last thing at night. This is to ensure the leaves of my plants aren’t getting burned during the day, especially whilst the UV levels are so high. When watering, I try to prioritise newly planted additions to the garden so they have the best chance to establish. 

Whilst the summer does provide high growth rates for most plants, it unfortunately also provides perfect growing conditions for weeds. Removing weeds is a top priority to ensure your garden stays healthy and to minimise the competition for nutrients within the soil.

An efficient way to ensure that nutrient levels remain optimal in the soil is by feeding your crops using Envii Seaweed Feed. A good rule of thumb is to feed every couple of weeks or even every week if the plant is flowering or fruiting, to encourage growth. Plants such as courgettes, squash and pumpkin appreciate very regular feeding while fruiting as they are notoriously hungry plants!

Now to the beautiful roses…deadheading roses is a job that encourages fresh blooms so I try to make this a priority to promote long lasting flowering. I like to snip the plant close to the next set of leaves which helps the next bud to come through. I do this just before the rose starts to deteriorate in order to avoid petals falling all over the garden.

Now to cut back your early flowering perennials, such as hardy geraniums, sedums and salvia. Cutting these plants back rejuvenates the plants, allowing them to experience a second flush of flowers later in the summer. Not dissimilar from the roses, I snip these to a set of leaves too.  If like me, you would hate to waste these cuttings, they are perfect to use in a flower display! 

At this time of year harvesting from your kitchen garden regularly is imperative to ensure you get the most produce out of your garden to be enjoyed! At this time of year you can expect to see peas, mangetout and courgettes – although my courgettes are slightly late this year so I’ll be waiting a little longer for those! For crops such as peas, harvesting regularly also promotes growth – the more you pick, the higher the crop yield! It may be useful to carry a Gardening Trug with you if you’ve got lots of vegetables to harvest this year.

One final job I would recommend for this time of year is supporting your plants (using stakes for example) as they grow taller, to prevent them from snapping during high winds. I do this for my tomatoes and dahlias in particular!

I do hope that this post has given some guidance on what to prioritise in your garden in the middle of summer – it’s a busy time of year for gardening but make sure you take some time to relax and enjoy the glorious sunshine.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy gardening darlings! xoxo