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Jobs for July

The rush of sowing and planting that began in spring finally starts to slow down a little in July, allowing us a breathing space to watch the crops grow and (hopefully) enjoy some sunshine and early pickings. But of course that doesn’t mean that there is nothing to do as the next five packed pages prove…

Fruit in brief

• Continue to pick strawberries. Maintain the layer of netting covering the crop to deter birds and other wildlife. Once the fruit has been picked, the old leaves can be removed taking care not to damage the crown. Remove remnants of straw mulch and dispose of that, too.

• Early in the month trim excess soft growth from gooseberries, cutting back this season's growth to within a couple of shoots above the last fruit.

• Harvest the fruit of blackcurrants as it ripens. If more convenient up to a third of the oldest fruiting branches can be removed completely at soil level to both encourage new shoots and make picking easier.

• Continue to plant strawberry runners for a good yield next season.

• Tie the shoots of cane fruits such as raspberries and blackberries to their supports as necessary. Healthy shoot tips can be buried close to the row while still attached to the mother plant and will root to increase your stocks.

TOP TIPS

• If the season is dry, make best use of precious water by concentrating it on the plants that most need it such as squashes, salads, turnips and swedes.

• Keep watch over brassica crops such as cabbages and squash the yellow eggs of cabbage white butterflies as they are seen. Cover the crop with Enviromesh to prevent further infestations.

• Hoe weeds between crops and spray deep-rooted perennials with a glyphosate-based herbicide taking care not to allow it to touch the leaves of wanted plants.

• Pollinate the female flowers of melons as they appear by picking off a mature male flower and placing the pollen-bearing anthers close to the female pistil.

Make the most of beans

By this stage in the season runner beans should be growing away well, having been planted out or sown direct into the soil during May and June. You should start to pick the first tender pods by the middle to the end of the month.

These should be given plenty of water if the weather is dry and a mulch of well-rotted garden compost or manure will help to retain moisture around the roots and to keep them cool.

Sowing a succession of dwarf French beans is the best way to ensure a good supply without gluts, and if you do find plants producing more than you can eat, then most varieties are suitable for freezing.

Mid-July is really the last opportunity to sow this tender crop, so if you have yet to make a sowing do so without delay.

Sow the seeds in a sunny spot in well-drained, reasonably fertile soil. A patch that was used to grow rootcrops last year is a good spot for legumes. They will add nitrogen to the soil thanks to their bacteria-rich root nodules. These bacteria are able to take nitrogen from the air releasing it when the nodules rot. When leafy greens are grown on the same spot they will benefit from this. It is still worth raking in a little pelleted chicken manure a week prior to sowing since this is a hungry crop.

Sow the seeds 5-7cm (2-3in) apart in drills allowing 45cm (18in) between the drills.

Protect the shoots from birds with wire and use your favourite form of slug control to keep slugs and snails at bay in the early stages.

Water well at all times and as with runner beans, adding a water-retaining mulch over the soil to keep in moisture and suppress weeds is a good idea.

Once the plants begin to crop, be sure to pick regularly to keep them productive. Covering with a cloche in late summer or early autumn should keep them going until the first frost.

The varieties 'The Prince' and 'Sprite' are both Award of Garden Merit winners (see page 63) and well-worth growing.

For lots more advice, see this month's issue, available to buy online!

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