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The gardening year

What to do this month, and what can wait

Twelve months of real jobs. The calendar opens on your month and follows your hemisphere, so southern gardeners get their own season rather than someone else's.

July

Reading your hemisphere

  • Harvest

    Lift the garlic

    When the lower leaves brown and the tops start to bend. Left any longer the cloves split their skins and store badly.

  • Prune

    Summer-prune the trained fruit

    Shorten this year’s side shoots on espaliers to five leaves to build fruit buds instead of wood.

  • Tend

    Shade and vent the glasshouse

    Open the vents early and wash the glass with shading paint before the tomatoes scorch.

The year at a glance

The whole gardening year in one view, so you can see what is coming and stop being surprised by it. Pick any month to read the detail.