What to plant in July

What to plant in July

A practical UK guide to what you can still sow in July, the crops that must go in now for winter and spring, and how to keep everything alive through the driest month of the year.

July is the pivot. Up to now, everything you sowed was for eating this summer. From this month on, almost everything you sow is for autumn, winter, and the following spring. That shift changes how you think about the plot.

It is also the month when the garden turns against you a little. The soil dries out, seeds sit and sulk in dust rather than germinating, lettuce runs to seed in a fortnight, and the beds that were full in May are suddenly empty as the garlic, onions, broad beans, and early potatoes come out. Bolting and watering are the two enemies of a July garden, and both are manageable if you plan for them.

If June was about looking ahead, July is about acting on it. There is still a surprising amount you can sow, and there is one window in particular - spring cabbage - that most people miss entirely and then regret in March (RHS July jobs).

What vegetables can I still sow in July?

More than you would think. French beans, beetroot, carrots, lettuce, radish, turnip, spring onions, pak choi, Chinese cabbage, Florence fennel, kohlrabi, chard, perpetual spinach, coriander, and dwarf peas can all be sown in July. The soil is warm, so germination is fast when you keep it moist. The limiting factor now is not heat, it is day length: the days start shortening after the solstice, so anything sown from here on grows a little slower than the seed packet suggests.

French beans are a last chance in the first week or two of July, and only dwarf varieties. 5cm deep, 15cm apart. They take eight to ten weeks, which puts a very early July sowing into a September harvest. Purple Teepee and Safari are quick and reliable. Climbing types are too slow now, leave them.

Beetroot is one of the best July crops. 2 to 3cm deep, 10 to 15cm apart, ready in eight to ten weeks. Boltardy is the variety to use because it does what the name says. Sow up to the middle of the month for roots you can pull in September and October, and leave some in the ground to lift as you need them (RHS beetroot guide).

Carrots sown in the first half of July give you autumn and winter roots, and they have a real advantage: they miss the first generation of carrot root fly almost entirely. 1cm deep, thin to 5 to 7cm apart. Autumn King and Nantes are the ones to choose. Cover with insect mesh anyway, because there is a second fly generation later in the summer (RHS carrot fly advice). Maincrops sown now stay in the ground into winter in milder areas, lifted as needed.

Lettuce needs care in July. Sow bolt-resistant varieties, sow in partial shade, and water in the evening. Little Gem, Lollo Rossa, and Winter Density all cope. Lettuce seed can go dormant above 25 degrees, so if you are sowing in a hot spell, sow late in the day into soil you have watered first, and cover with a light shade net or a board until you see germination. Sow a pinch every ten days.

Radish is still four weeks from seed to plate. It is the perfect catch crop for the gaps opening up everywhere in July. Sow 1cm deep, thin to 3 to 5cm. In hot weather radishes go woody and peppery if they run short of water, so keep them damp and pull them young.

Turnips sown in July are ready in six to ten weeks and are sweeter than summer-sown ones. 1 to 2cm deep, thin to 10 to 15cm. Milan Purple Top and Snowball are quick. This is the last full month for turnips.

Spring onions keep going in every two to three weeks. Clumps of six to eight seeds, 25cm apart. Sow the hardy White Lisbon Winter Hardy type from late July and it will stand through the winter for pulling in early spring.

Pak choi and Chinese cabbage are properly at home in July. Spring sowings bolt, but these are short-day crops and July and August sowings perform far better. Sow in modules, plant out at 20 to 30cm. Pak choi is ready in six to eight weeks, and even if it does bolt, the flowering shoots are good eating.

Florence fennel is at its best sown now. Earlier sowings bolt; July sowings bulb up properly. Start it in modules because it hates root disturbance, plant out at 30cm after four to five weeks, and never let it dry out or the bulbs stay small and stringy. Ready in ten to fourteen weeks.

Kohlrabi can be sown until the end of July. 1cm deep, 20cm apart, ready in eight to ten weeks. Harvest at tennis-ball size before it turns woody.

Chard and perpetual spinach sown in July will crop through autumn, stand the winter, and produce again next spring. 2cm deep, 30cm apart. If you sow one thing this month for sheer value, make it this. True spinach is a better bet from late July onwards, when the heat starts easing, than in the first half of the month.

Coriander finally behaves in July if you sow it direct and leave it alone. It bolts if you transplant it or let it dry out. Sow 1cm deep, thin to 20cm, and cut it hard.

Dwarf peas sown in the first week of July give an autumn crop in about eleven to twelve weeks. Use a quick, mildew-resistant variety like Kelvedon Wonder or Hurst Green Shaft. 5cm deep, 7 to 8cm apart in double rows, with support in from the start. It is a gamble in the far north, but a good one in the south and the Midlands.

Which crops must go in now for winter and spring?

Spring cabbage, overwintering onions, kale, and winter salads all have their window now or very shortly. Get these wrong and there is nothing you can do about it until next year (RHS winter vegetables).

Spring cabbage is the crop of the month, and the one most people forget. Sow in a seedbed or modules in late July, transplant in September at 30cm spacing, and you will be cutting fresh greens in March and April, right in the middle of the hungry gap when there is genuinely nothing else in the ground. Durham Early, Wheelers Imperial, and April are the classic varieties. Leave the sowing until August and the plants will not be big enough to face the winter (RHS cabbage guide).

Overwintering onions can be started from seed from late July. Senshyu Yellow is the reliable one. Sown now, they establish before winter and give you a harvest in June next year, weeks before spring-planted sets are ready. Japanese overwintering sets go in later, in September and October, so if you would rather use sets, do not rush (RHS onion guide).

Kale is on its last call. Sow in modules in the first half of July, plant out in August at 45cm spacing, and it will crop from late autumn right through to spring. Cavolo Nero, Red Russian, and Dwarf Green Curled all work. This is the final month to start it and expect full-sized plants (RHS kale guide).

Winter salads start now. Land cress, corn salad (lamb's lettuce), mizuna, mustards, and winter purslane sown from mid-July onwards give you leaves from October, and under a cloche or in a cold frame they will pick right through to March. These are the cheapest winter vegetables you can grow, and they need almost nothing from you.

Leeks and brassicas raised in June should be planted out this month. Leeks go in once they are pencil thickness: make a 15cm hole with a dibber, drop the seedling in, fill the hole with water and let it collapse naturally over time to blanch the stem. Space at 15 to 20cm (RHS leek guide). Brussels sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, savoy cabbage, and overwintering cauliflower raised in June all get planted out now at their final spacings, firmed in hard, netted against cabbage white butterflies, and watered in well. Brassicas planted into dry soil in July sulk for weeks, so water the hole, not just the plant.

How do I keep the garden producing through a dry July?

Water deeply and rarely, mulch everything, and sow into moisture rather than onto dust. A July garden dies of a thousand light sprinklings.

Give a bed a proper soak once or twice a week rather than a splash every evening. A light watering wets the top 2cm and encourages roots to stay at the surface, exactly where the soil dries out first. A slow, heavy soak sends water 15 to 20cm down and the roots follow it. Water at the base of the plant, in the early morning or evening, and aim the can at the soil rather than the leaves.

The crops that genuinely need it are the ones that are swelling or flowering right now: courgettes, beans, peas, tomatoes, potatoes, and anything that has just been transplanted. Established root crops and brassicas that are simply growing leaves can wait. Tomatoes in particular want consistent watering, because irregular watering is what causes blossom end rot and splitting.

Mulch is the other half of the answer. A 5cm layer of compost, grass clippings, or straw on the surface of a watered bed will hold that moisture for days. Bare soil in July bakes into a crust.

For sowing into dry ground, the trick is to water the drill and not the bed. Draw your seed drill, fill it with water, let it drain, sow into the wet drill, and cover with dry soil. The dry topping acts as a mulch and the seed sits in damp soil beneath. It is a small habit that turns a failed July sowing into a good one.

Then there is the succession question. Every bed you empty in July is growing time you are throwing away, and July empties a lot of beds: garlic comes out, onions come out, broad beans finish, early potatoes are lifted, and the peas are done. Clear the bed, rake in a couple of centimetres of compost, and sow immediately (RHS successional sowing).

Good gap fillers for July:

• Radish - ready in 4 weeks

• Winter salad leaves - cutting from 6 weeks, then all winter

• Lettuce - cut-and-come-again in 4 to 6 weeks

• Turnips - baby roots in 6 weeks

• Pak choi - ready in 6 to 8 weeks

• Beetroot - ready in 8 to 10 weeks

• Chard and perpetual spinach - autumn, then right through to spring

Soil that has just grown broad beans or peas is especially good to sow into, because the roots leave nitrogen behind. Follow legumes with leafy crops and they will motor.

The last defence against July is picking. Courgettes left on the plant become marrows and the plant stops setting new fruit. Beans left to swell tell the plant its job is done. Lettuce left uncut bolts. Pick hard, pick often, and the plants keep producing.

What should I be harvesting in July?

July is the month the garden starts paying properly, and it can overwhelm you if you are not on top of it.

Courgettes arrive as a glut. Pick at finger length, every two or three days, and keep picking even when you are sick of them. A plant that is picked keeps producing until September.

New potatoes from first and second earlies come out now. Lift as you need them rather than all at once. Once the haulm starts yellowing, the crop has stopped growing.

Garlic is ready when the lower leaves have yellowed and about a third to a half of the foliage has gone over. Lift it with a fork rather than pulling it, and dry it in an airy, shaded spot for two to three weeks before storing. Leave it too long in the ground and the bulbs split and store badly (RHS garlic guide).

Onions follow the same rule. When the necks soften and the tops flop, ease them out of the soil and dry them thoroughly. Do not bend the tops over deliberately, it does no good.

Broad beans are finishing. Take the last pods, then cut the stems at ground level and leave the roots in to feed the next crop.

Peas are in full flow. Pick every other day. They stop producing the moment you let pods mature.

Tomatoes start ripening in the greenhouse, and outdoors in the south towards the end of the month. Keep removing side shoots on cordon varieties and feed weekly once the first truss has set.

Soft fruit is at its best: raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, and the first blackberries. Summer-fruiting raspberry canes that have finished should be cut to the ground and the new canes tied in.

Early apples like Discovery are ready from late July. If the fruit comes away with a gentle lift and twist, it is ready. If you have to pull, it is not.

And there is salad, all month, if you have kept sowing it.

What flowers can I sow in July?

July is the final call for biennials and a good month for fast annuals. Biennials sown now flower next spring and early summer, and if you miss this window you wait a full year for the next one.

Biennials to sow now:

• Wallflowers - sow in a seedbed 1cm deep, transplant to their final position in autumn at 30cm. Flower March to May.

• Foxgloves - surface sow in trays, they need light to germinate. Flower May to July next year, then self-seed forever.

• Sweet William - sow in trays or a seedbed, plant out in autumn at 25 to 30cm. Flower May to June.

• Honesty - sow direct, 1cm deep. Flowers April to June, and the translucent seed pods are worth as much as the flowers.

• Canterbury bells - sow in trays, transplant in autumn. Flower May to July.

Fast annuals for late colour: calendula, nasturtium, and candytuft sown in early July will still flower before the frosts. Nasturtiums are the most useful, 1 to 2cm deep and 30cm apart, drawing aphids away from your beans and giving you edible flowers into October (RHS plants for pollinators).

Hardy annuals for next year: from late July into August, sow calendula, cornflowers, larkspur, poppies, and ammi direct where they are to flower. They germinate, make a small plant, sit out the winter, and then flower six weeks earlier and considerably bigger than anything you sow next spring. It is the single best trick in the flower garden and it costs you nothing but a packet of seed.

Deadhead everything that is already flowering. Sweet peas in particular stop dead the moment they set a pod, so cut them every few days whether you need the flowers or not.

What is too late to start in July?

Some crops have gone. Do not spend money or bed space on them.

• Sweetcorn - needed to be in by mid-June, the cobs will not fill

• Brussels sprouts - too late, they will not size up before winter

• Purple sprouting broccoli - needed a June sowing

• Runner beans - too slow now, they will flower as the weather turns

• Courgettes and squash - a very early July sowing might just work in the far south, but pumpkins are gone entirely

• Maincrop carrots for storage - early July sowings give autumn roots, but a late July sowing will not bulk up

• Parsnips - needed to be sown by mid-June at the very latest

• Tomatoes, peppers, chillies, and aubergines from seed - nowhere near enough season left, buy plants or wait for next year

• Swede - the window has effectively closed, mid-July is the absolute limit and the roots will be small

• Garlic - autumn planting, and it needs a cold period to split into cloves

July sowing reference table

Depths and spacings based on RHS vegetable sowing recommendations.

Where should I start if July has crept up on me?

If you have not sown anything yet this year, July is not a disaster. You have missed the summer crops, but the autumn and winter half of the year is still entirely available, and honestly it is the half most people neglect.

If you have one bed and one afternoon in July, do this:

• Sow chard or perpetual spinach - one sowing, leaves from September through to next May

• Sow spring cabbage in the last week - fresh greens next March when the shops are charging a fortune

• Sow a row of winter salads - lettuce, mizuna, corn salad, cutting from October under a cloche

• Sow radish and turnips into any gap - something to eat within a month

That is four sowings, one bed, and food from September right through to the following spring.

The habit that makes the difference in July is not sowing, though. It is watering properly and picking constantly. A courgette plant picked every three days will feed you until September. The same plant left alone for a week gives you one marrow and then stops.

Tracking what you sow and when it actually produces is how a first year becomes a system. myPatch logs your beds, your sowings, and your local weather, so next year you already know what worked and when to start it.

July is not the end of the sowing season. It is the start of the other one.