Gardening tips and advice: July 2025

This month, our gardening tips are brought to you by the Furzey Gardens team, including gardeners with learning disabilities, who play a vital role in keeping the gardens and nursery thriving.

Being outside and working with nature is beneficial for us all, it brings a sense of calm, purpose and connection that can be hard to find elsewhere. For some of the people supported at Furzey, it’s truly life-changing. Beau, who works in our nursery team tending to the plants in the plant sales area, shares a simple but important reminder for us all in the hot weather. 

“Plants need water to live, so it’s important to water them. I water here in the morning.” It’s a gentle habit that helps plants, and people, grow with confidence.

Whether you’ve a courtyard full of pots, a patch of lawn and border, or a sprawling wild space, July is a month where a little care goes a long way. So grab a cuppa, a sunhat, and perhaps a pair of secateurs, here’s what our gardening team suggest to keep things looking their best this month. 

One of the easiest jobs, and one of the most satisfying, is deadheading. Removing spent flowers from bedding plants, roses, cosmos, dahlias and hardy geraniums encourages more blooms to form and keeps displays looking fresh. Deadheading allows your plants to focus more energy on producing flowers, rather than seed production.  

Don’t just snap off the dead bloom, trace the stem down to the next leaf joint or bud and cut cleanly just above it. This keeps the plant tidy and promotes better regrowth.  

But not everything needs a tidy-up. Avoid deadheading hydrangeas, as their dried blooms offer beautiful winter structure and protection for new buds. And leave seed heads and berries on plants like echinacea, rudbeckia and hawthorn, they’re a valuable food source for birds as the seasons begin to shift. 

Flowers of Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’

With longer, warmer days and less rain, water becomes a precious resource, the dry spring months we have experienced are certainly taking their toll on our gardens. At Furzey, we water early in the morning, when the sun is low, and less water is lost to evaporation. Prioritise pots, hanging baskets, and newly planted trees or shrubs. 

A helpful tip for your garden is to check your soil before reaching for the hose. If it feels dry a finger’s depth down, it’s time to water. And when you do, water deeply and thoroughly, a proper soak once or twice a week is far more effective than a light sprinkle every day. Consider trickle or drip waiting overnight to soak the soil. For a couple of our trees we have introduced irrigation bags. These deliver water slowly and directly to the roots, helping to reduce water loss from evaporation, but also encouraging deeper root growth making the tree more resilient to drought conditions. One particular tree is our Indian Bean Tree, Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’, which is currently in flower on our top lawn. 

Some other helpful tips for this extreme hot weather are to cut grass higher than usual and leaving the clippings. Lawns will go brown and crispy but nearly always recover. Finally, don’t waste water on well established plants. In extremis, reduce the top growth of plants, shrubs and even trees gives the roots less to supply. Save your water for newly planted stock. Only mulch if you have been able to soak the root area and are able to continue doing that. 

Mid to late July is a good time to prune early-flowering shrubs like lilac, Deutzia and viburnum. Once they’ve finished flowering, cut back spent blooms and shape the plant, encouraging new growth for next year’s flowers. 

Some plants are just getting into their stride now. Dahlias, cannas, rudbeckias and heleniums bring bold bursts of late-summer brilliance. Dahlias in particular will benefit from a fortnightly feed of a high-potash fertiliser (like tomato feed), in return you’ll be rewarded with a dazzling display right through to autumn. 

If you’re sowing for the future, now’s the time to think ahead. Biennials such as wallflowers, foxgloves, honesty and sweet William can be sown now and will flower next spring. Sow in trays or a seed bed and prick out as they grow. 

Large rhododendron in front of Furzey Tea Rooms

Rambling roses, sweet peas and clematis all benefit from a little extra support in July.  

For sweet peas, regular picking is essential, the more you pick, the more they flower. Bring a few into the house, or give posies to neighbours. It’s one of the many simple pleasures of summer. 

July is a great time to take softwood or semi-ripe cuttings from plants like salvias, fuchsias and penstemons. Choose a healthy, non-flowering shoot around 7–10cm long, cut just below a leaf node, and strip the lower leaves.  

Pop the cuttings into a small pot of free-draining compost, water gently, and cover with a clear plastic bag to keep the humidity in. Keep them in a bright, sheltered spot out of direct sun, and with a little patience, they’ll root in a few weeks, a simple and satisfying way to grow more of what you love. 

A garden alive with bees, butterflies and birds is one of summer’s greatest joys and July is a wonderful month to give them a helping hand. You can help by keeping a few shallow dishes of water topped up for insects and ensure there’s always a wild corner or two where nature can flourish. 

Our wildflower meadow is now teeming with insect life, including plenty of butterflies. This area is cut once flowering has finished and seeds have set, helping the cycle continue. You can do the same at home if you’ve created a mini meadow or left a patch of long grass. 

Amid the watering and deadheading, don’t forget the most important job of all: enjoying your garden, so take a little time this month to sit among the plants you’ve nurtured and enjoy the life you’ve invited in. Because really, that’s what gardening is all about. 

A visit to Furzey Gardens in July is a feast for the senses. The lake is alive with the serene beauty of water lilies in bloom, their soft colours mirrored on the still surface. In the wildflower meadow, butterflies flit between the long grasses. Look out for our Indian Bean trees which are looking magnificent with their large leaves and white bell shaped flowers.  

Later this month, keep an eye out for Eucryphia × nymansensis ‘Nymansay’, which will soon burst into elegant white flower, a real seasonal showstopper and a big hit with our local bee population. Don’t miss the cottage garden, where the sunflowers, carefully grown by our learning disability team, are standing tall and glorious, bringing cheer and pride to all who pass. 

While you’re here, be sure to explore Jurassic Furzey, an exciting kids’ trail through the gardens featuring unique, artist-decorated dinosaurs, giant eggs and footprint waiting to be discovered. Pick up a trail booklet and a pair of binoculars for just £3 (plus normal garden entrance donation) and enjoy spotting these prehistoric characters among the foliage. The trail runs until 31 August, making it a perfect summer holiday activity for curious young explorers. Pre-booking essential, www.furzey-gardens.org. 

Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just getting your hands dirty for the first time, July offers the perfect chance to deepen your connection with nature. 

And if you need a little inspiration, do come and visit us at Furzey Gardens. Wander the winding paths, discover a secret corner, or simply enjoy a slice of cake in our thatched tea room. The garden and tea rooms are open 10am – 5pm throughout July. Pre-booking online in advance is essential during school summer holidays, www.furzey-gardens.org. 

This article originally appeared as the monthly In The Garden column in the Lymington Times, buy the paper on the second Friday of every month to read the next column first.