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GrJuloy wing guide Fill any gaps with catch crops of quick-growing salad leaves, or prepare for winter veg Sow indoors Plant/sow outdoors Harvest Key crops for July Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Beetroot Tips Dig in plenty of garden compost before sowing to enrich the soil. Water regularly to help the roots swell. Sow 2.5cm deep Final spacing 15cm apart 23-30cm between rows Just as much a food superhero as kale; the darker the colour, the richer in protective, good- for-you compounds. Juice, grate, steam or roast. Calabrese Tips Use fine-mesh netting to protect these brassicas from cabbage butterflies. After harvesting, water to encourage a second crop. Sow 2cm deep Final spacing 45cm apart 45cm between rows This one’s quick to grow, but is loaded with healthy phytochemicals including kaempferol, which has anti-inflammatory benefits. Chinese cabbages Tips The roots are shallow, so water little and often. Harvest the head but leave the stump and another smaller cabbage should form. Sow 2cm deep Final spacing 30cm apart 45cm between rows Supplying soluble and insoluble fibre to maintain digestive health, these low-calorie leaves are a useful source of healthy phytonutrients. Coriander Tips Coriander likes free-draining but moist soil. Sow small batches every few weeks for fresh leaves all summer. Harvest the seeds too. Sow 1cm deep Final spacing 15cm apart 30cm between rows Rich in potassium, folate and vitamin C, coriander partners well with fish, meat and vegetables. Add towards the end of cooking for best flavour. Corn salad (lamb’s lettuce) Tips Sow every few weeks for a continuous supply all year round. Cover with fleece or cloches to keep plants cropping over winter. Sow 1cm deep Final spacing 10cm apart 15cm between rows Packed with beta-carotene, which the body uses to support immunity, promote eye health and help maintain a youthful complexion. Florence fennel Tips If you sow seeds now, rather than in spring, the plants are less likely to bolt. Earth up soil around the bulbs as they develop. Sow 3cm deep Final spacing 30cm apart 30cm between rows With edible leaves, bulb and stalks, fennel adds flavour to dishes and is full of bone-friendly nutrients like potassium and calcium. French beans – dwarf Tips Support with twiggy sticks. Lay a thick layer of garden compost around plants to suppress weeds and hold moisture in the soil. Sow 5cm deep Final spacing 15cm apart 23cm between double rows Providing carotenoids such as beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, levels increase when beans are cooked. Serve with butter or oil. Spinach Tips Keep plants well watered in hot weather to prevent bolting. Cover with fine netting to protect leaves from insects and birds. Sow 2.5cm deep Final spacing 20cm apart 45cm between rows High in protective antioxidants and polyphenols, spinach may benefit the liver, especially when eaten raw. Serve as a salad or side. Swiss chard Tips Sow in moist, well-drained soil and keep plants well watered in summer. Harvest leaves regularly to encourage more to grow. Sow 2.5cm deep Final spacing 30cm apart 45cm between rows Vitamin C and magnesium are found in the leaves, whilst the stems are high in potassium. Enjoy raw in a salad, lightly steam or sauté. Turnips Tips Sow in partial shade and keep the soil moist to encourage germination. Start harvesting baby roots when 5cm in diameter. Sow 2cm deep Final spacing 25cm apart 30cm between rows A source of flavonoids: these protective plant compounds, including quercetin, guard against UV damage and act as natural antihistamines. VISIT GardenersWorld.com/what-to-do-now for more advice on the best crops to sow and plant this month, and how to do it. offer LETTUCE ALFRESCO MIXED GardenersWorld.com 111 Lettuce Alfresco Mixed contains a mix of red and green lettuce, rocket, endive, and radicchio. These ‘cut and come again’ varieties can be picked as young leaves every 2 to 3 weeks to make delicious and colourful salads or to use in sandwich fillings 20 peat-free plug plants £10.29 £6.99 SAVE £3.30 KC1865) Call 0844 573 6054* Go to thompson-morgan.com/TM_GW89 Please add £5.99 P&P Items despatched from July. Offer closes 15/08/22. Contract for supply of goods is with Thompson & Morgan. Offer subject to availability. Full growing instructions included. We reserve the right to substitute varieties if necessary. Regretfully we are unable to ship live plants to the following areas: HS, IV41-IV49, IV51, IV55-56, KW15-KW17, PA34, PA41-48, PA60-PA78, PA80, PH40-PH44, TR21-TR25, ZE1-ZE3. We are also unable to ship seeds or plants to EU countries and Northern Ireland. *Calls cost 7p/minute plus your network access charge. July 2022

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; JASON INGRAMPMRYOUONNUITRNHG LOCATION: WEST DEAN GARDENS, W SUSSEXFrances Tophill shows you how to boost your plants’ productivity and health with a high-summer cut July 2022 In July, although the solstice has passed, it still feels like the summer is building up. Everything is growing so fast and temperatures can be really high. Rainfall is also often low at this time of year, which does mean that our gardens can begin to look like they’re tiring. We often think of a ‘June gap’, but there can also be a ‘July gap’. The early-summer flowers are fading and the late-summer ones are yet to come. But that makes this an easy time of year to get out the secateurs, loppers and shears and give things a bit of a tidy-up. Unruly climbers and shrubs can be snipped back into shape and the high-summer prune can begin for those of us keen to get on. Evergreens can be shaped (after making sure there’s no resident wildlife), giving new growth plenty of time to get ready for the cold of winter. Also – because summer pruning reduces growth rather than encourages it, as in the case of winter pruning – non-fruiting shoots can be removed from trained fruit such as pears. Birds are still nesting so check plants before you start any work Frances on TV Catch up with Frances and the rest of the Gardeners’ World team this month at 9.30pm on Fri 1, 9pm on Thurs 7, 8pm on Thurs 21, and 8.30pm on Fri 29 July. 112 GardenersWorld.com

your pruning month Other plants to prune now Midsummer is a good time for all of these jobs, but the month of July is ideal – the fresh new growth that follows from these cuts will have plenty of time to toughen up before the first frosts of winter arrive WISTERIA Prune off all the long, whippy stems PLUMS Cut diseased, dead or dying stems from now, to about seven buds. A harder prune follows established trees back to a healthy bud. Be aware in January or February. you will probably remove some fruit. BAY If you keep your bay tree clipped, prune it PHILADELPHUS Prune straight after flowering. now, cutting back to a bud facing in the direction Remove up to a third of the stems at the base to you want it to grow. Dry the clippings for cooking. allow light and air into the centre of the shrub. Don’t prune these now Check-up time Leave the stems of shrubs like Cornus alba SHRUBBY CORNUS Cutting these back ‘Atrosanguineus’ for a stunning winter display Take a moment to inspect now will deprive you of lovely, colourful stems plants you pruned in earlier in the winter. Instead, do this in March. seasons. This forsythia is recovering well from its winter WILLOW Similar to cornus, pruning now will rejuvenation pruning, with plenty of healthy new growth remove winter colour. You’ll also have no stems this summer, some of which for planting whips in the dormant season. will flower next spring. PARROTIA As with all plants grown for their July 2022 autumn colour, preserve the foliage for a vibrant display in just a few months. AUTUMN RASPBERRIES Not to be confused with summer-fruiting cultivars, which can be pruned back just after they have fruited. Confusing the two different types of raspberry plant could mean no autumn crop to eat. GardenersWorld.com 113

your pruning month Pruning a wall-trained cordon pear Fruit trees like apples and pears can put cordons, which can quickly lose their compact on lots of vigorous growth in summer, and this shape and become overcrowded, so it’s a good July pruning allows in turn can cause congestion, stopping the fruits idea to give them their principal pruning in the fruits to ripen more from receiving enough sunlight, reducing air flow summer, when the cuts you make will restrict, quickly and staves off and diverting the plant’s energy into foliage. rather than encourage further growth. pests and diseases This is particularly a problem with trees that This is the opposite of bush forms, which are trained into shapes like espaliers, fans or usually receive their main cut in the winter. Step by step 1 FEEL the stems to double-check that they 2 CUT with sharp secateurs to just above the 3 REMOVE any vigorous growth shooting from are firm up to about a third of the way up. third set of leaves, counting from where the below the graft union when pruning any Then look for stems that are longer than 20cm. fresh, new shoot meets older wood. If possible, cut grafted fruit tree. You can see the graft by a bulge Anything shorter will likely produce fruit, and at an angle – this stops water from collecting on the in the main stem. Anything growing from beneath should be left alone. wounded wood and causing disease. that point will be from the root stock. Top tip Thin fruits to Also prune this way… concentrate energy After pruning any fruit tree it’s a good idea on those remaining í Trained apples can be pruned like this, to spend a little time thinning the fruit. Removing though this will usually be a month or so later. a little fruit is a really good way of relieving the Delaying until late August reduces secondary tree’s nutrient and weight burden. growth from the cuts, helping to stop new foliage from covering up the fruits from sunlight Not thinning now might result in stems and slowing down the ripening process. snapping under the weight of the ripening fruit. í Trained cherries will be pruned in the same Also, the tree will be forced to spread water and way, too. However, make sure you wait until the nutrients available to it more thinly, resulting cherry harvest is over, and that you’ve left a little in smaller and poorer individual fruits. Keep one grace for the birds to have their fill. Do this no or two fruits in any cluster, and the crop at the later than the end of August. end of the season will be much healthier. Trained pear trees VISIT GardenersWorld. PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE LOCATION: WEST DEAN GARDENS, W SUSSEX Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec com/pruning-training for more tips and videos on pruning Flowering Pruning NEXT MONTH A late-summer shape-up to help make your magnolia shine 114 GardenersWorld.com July 2022

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