Mid July tips - what to sow and do in containers this month
Salads to sow now, pruning jobs and holiday watering options
We’ve had plenty of sun and warmth here in the North East of the UK this year - and everything is growing with enthusiasm. It’s a welcome change from 2024 - but I’m acutely aware that elsewhere drought and heat waves are posing challenges for many of you.
If you’re new here, welcome. I try to show how it’s possible to grow more than a token amount of food in containers in a small space - enough to make a significant difference to what you eat … as well as exploring the wellbeing, community and sustainability benefits of growing your own AND the simple joys of it.
Once a month I share topical tips on what to sow and do. The advice is based on the UK climate, but much of it is also relevant for other parts of the Northern Hemisphere - particularly if you cross reference it with a seed sow calendar for your region.
This month we look at
Salads to sow now for late summer and autumn
Other plants to sow and propagate now
Pruning and tying up jobs
Holiday watering options
It’s all systems go this month as everything grows at a pace in the long warm days and the tomatoes, chillies, courgettes / zucchini and other summer delights start to ripen (yay!). Plants need tying up and containers need almost daily watering and regular feeding to get the best yield.
1. Sowing salads for autumn / fall
As summer progresses, spring sown leafy crops like lettuces and rocket / arugula start to lose condition and run out of steam. This is the natural course of things. I try and eat most of our remaining salads before we go on summer holidays - and sow more before we go so we have fresh leaves again in late summer.
Most salad leaves can be sown this month - good choices include:-
Lettuces
Radicchio / chicory
Sorrel
Rocket / arugula
Watercress
Orach
Spring onions / scallions.
These will germinate and grow quickly in the warmth of summer, and most will be ready to eat by mid to late August. They should also provide a good supply of leaves for most of September and sometimes into October. For salad leaves later in the autumn and winter you’ll need to make more sowings in August and September.

Tip: salads do not need a lot of sun in the early stages of their growth - so, when space is limited, you can start them off in a less prime growing space. I sow mine close to a north facing wall, where they only get two hours of sun - and move them into a sunnier place after two or three weeks as other crops like peas finish.
2. Other crops to plant now
Chard, kale and spinach
If sown now, these hardy, versatile leaves will grow into a decent sized plants by late autumn. Harvest by picking the outer leaves, leaving the inner ones to regrow. Kale and chard will usually go on to survive all winter and then put on strong growth in the following spring. They look pretty in pots over winter and their fresh green leaves in early spring are a treat. Much better than empty, bare pots!
Herb cuttings
July is a good time to take softwood cuttings (from fresh growth) of herbs like lemon verbena, rosemary, Vietnamese coriander, sage, and thyme. If you can find a friend, neighbour or community project to source the cuttings, it’s a great way to expand your herb garden for free. If you already have a herb collection, you can propagate them now to swap or give away.
3. Pruning, tying up, pinching out.
Bushy plants. In a small space it's not uncommon for plants like courgettes / zuchhini or potatoes to grow large leaves that overshadow neighbouring plants. Moving the pots around can sometimes solve this. Another option is to prune off some of the leaves (up to about a third) to reduce the shading.
Tomatoes: the lower leaves can be pruned off to allow the first trusses of tomatoes to ripen - and to reduce the chance of water splashing on the lower leaves (which can spread blight). The side shoots on vining tomatoes need constant pinching out to prevent the plant growing unwieldy.
If windy weather is forecast, check any tall plants are tied in and that wigwams are secure and won’t blow over. You can anchor canes in plastic pots by drilling two holes in the side at the top of the pot and then tying the cane in.
4. Holiday watering options
Summer can pose a conundrum about how to keep your containers well watered if you go away. Amongst the options I’ve tried, you might:-
Ask a neighbour, relative or friend. It can seem a big ask - but it can also be an opportunity to reach out and get to know the neighbours. In exchange for watering duties, you can offer picking rights and / or set up a reciprocal arrangement. Some people will actively enjoy the chance to look after a garden for a few days, particularly if they can pick fresh tomatoes and courgettes / zucchini!
Find a house sitter or organise a flat swap and include plant watering as part of the arrangements. This can work really well and for mutual benefit if you can find the right person / people.
Get an automatic watering system. On paper this sounds like an attractive proposition: connect a timer to a hose and put a dripper in each pot. In practice, they are fiddle to set up, hard to adjust the flow for different pots (the tomatoes will need much more water than the rosemary), and can easily malfunction - drippers can clog, timers can stop working. I’ve tried them on a couple of occasions and found them more hassle then they are worth. That said, I do have a lot of containers, so it might be easier with less.
In the long run, anything you can do to make watering in your container garden easier, will also make it easier for any guest waterers. For example if you can fix up a hose or a water butt near the plants, it is much quicker than carrying cans of water from inside. Containers with water reservoirs are also easier to water, particularly for inexperienced gardeners.
Where are you growing and what are you growing and picking from your containers this month? I’d love to hear in the comments.
I never see the method I use to reduce the need to water my pots, so just wondering if there is some reason why it is not recommend. I use plant spikes and bottles, both the screw-on plastic ones and the terracotta ones for wine bottles. I’ve now got enough glass bottles (blue, green and clear) for most of the garden, with extra plastic drinks bottles for fruit and veg. It seems to work very well for me, and kept all my plants alive for 10 days away last August!
Good advice as always, Mark.
Regarding watering, I have an automatic watering system set up which is a godsend, but I only use it in the large pots (courgettes, bush tomatoes, celery, bush beans, etc.) I find that 5 mins every morning works well for me, and if it is very hot or windy I will sometimes give extra water later in the day. I don't use it for smaller pots because they just get flooded.