July 2026 Allotment Checklist 

Soil Preparation & General Maintenance

Keep Hoeing - A sharp hoe remains one of your best tools in July. Regular hoeing on dry days removes young weeds before they establish and reduces competition for valuable water and nutrients.

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch  -If there is one task that makes a difference during hot weather, it's mulching. Apply a thick layer of compost, leaf mould, grass clippings (in thin layers), or well-rotted manure around thirsty crops such as:

• Courgettes
• Pumpkins and squashes
• Sweetcorn
• Beans
• Tomatoes
• Outdoor cucumbers

Mulching can dramatically reduce evaporation and help soils retain moisture for longer.

Water Efficiently -With many areas experiencing increasingly dry summers, water conservation is more important than ever.

• Water early in the morning or late in the evening.
• Water the soil, not the leaves.
• Use watering cans rather than sprinklers where possible.
• Install water butts if you haven't already.
• Consider using grey water on ornamental plants where appropriate.
• Deep watering once or twice a week is generally more effective than frequent shallow watering.
• Watch for Signs of Heat Stress

Leaves may wilt during the hottest part of the day. Check whether plants recover in the evening before assuming they need more water. Overwatering can sometimes cause as many problems as drought.

Fruit Tasks

July is one of the busiest fruit-harvesting months of the year.

Harvest Soft Fruit
Pick regularly:

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Gooseberries
• Currants
• Cherries
• Early blueberries

Frequent picking improves quality and reduces losses to birds and wasps.

Protect Fruit Crops
Birds quickly discover ripening fruit.

• Use netting carefully to protect:
• Cherries
• Blueberries
• Currants

Ensure netting is securely fitted to prevent wildlife becoming trapped.

Summer Prune Trained Fruit Trees
Prune:

• Cordons
• Espaliers
• Fans

Reducing new side shoots helps maintain shape and encourages fruit bud formation for next year.

Thin Apples and Pears
Where fruits are clustered heavily, remove smaller fruits to improve size and quality while reducing the risk of branch breakage.

Finish Harvesting Rhubarb
Take the final harvests of rhubarb this month and allow plants to rebuild energy reserves for next year.

Flower Tasks

July is peak flowering season.
Deadhead Regularly
Remove spent flowers from:

• Sweet peas
• Cosmos
• Dahlias
• Calendula
• Marigolds

This encourages continuous flowering well into autumn.

Harvest Cut Flowers
The more you pick many annual flowers, the more blooms they produce.

Support Pollinators
Keep flowering plants around your plot, including:

• Borage
• Calendula
• Cosmos
• Lavender
• Nasturtiums
• Sunflowers

These provide valuable nectar during summer and help improve pollination of fruiting crops.

What to Harvest

July is a month of abundance. Depending on your region and sowing dates, you may be harvesting:

🥔 New potatoes
🧅 Shallots and early onions
🥕 Baby carrots
🌱 Beetroot
🥒 Cucumbers
🥬 Lettuce and salad leaves
🌽 Early sweetcorn
🫘 Runner and French beans
🥬 Chard and spinach
🍓 Strawberries
🫐 Blueberries
🍒 Cherries
🍇 Currants
🌿 Herbs
🌱 Early courgettes