July is the month of garden tours! Are you going on any this month in your town? Visiting other gardens is a great way to find interesting plants, be inspired to add new artistic touches, and see how other people take a space and make it their own through garden design. Every garden is as unique as the person who tends it.
Almost every town and city has some kind of garden tour put on by a local garden club, botanical garden or other group. Why do most tours happen in July in northern climates? Because most perennial gardens tend to be at their most showy during July. So grab a gardening buddy and check some out in your local area.
As for the vegetable garden, it tends to start ramping up in July with lots of lush green growth. I’ve noticed myself thinking these last few weeks every time I walk out of my front door, “My garden is looking really good right now!”, so we must be entering the peak season. And it’s just going to keep getting better and better in the coming weeks! August is when the vegetable garden is at it’s most beautiful.
I’d love to invite you all over to my house for a personal tour, but there’s thousands of you! (And that’s something I reserve for members of the Flavorful Life Garden Club. Local members will be having a potluck and tour at my house and then we’ll visit three other members’ gardens later this month.) Instead, come on in for a virtual tour and I’ll walk you through what’s happening in my garden in this wonderful month of July.
Let’s start at the side yard garden. The full photo of it is at the beginning of this post. I live on the corner so it faces one of the streets that run by my house. We’re still working on the landscaping against the house so last year I added some height with two different livestock panel trellises. The one below has autumn blooming clematis and Delicata squash growing up the closer side and Mandevilla vine and purple and green tomatillos on the other. Peppers, flowers and zucchini are also planted in those beds.
I like to put a bunch of flowers on the corner of the first bed to welcome the dog walkers and bikers in my neighborhood. I went for a hot combination of Profusion Fire Zinnias and Qis Red Globe Amaranth. Both should bloom until frost.
I’m also loving this combination of Pampas Plume Celosia and Redbor kale.
On the other trellis I have Sungold tomatoes and cucumber planted on the left side (with an underplanting of cilantro to give it some shade from the harsh summer sun) and cucumbers, purple peas and Kuri squash planted on the right side. Okra and onions are planted in the front left side and brussels sprouts on the right.
I’ve been eagerly watching the first Cocozelle zucchini and A&C cucumber growing before my eyes daily! The harvest of both vegetables is my sign that summer truly has arrived.
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Let’s move on to the front of my house where I have another vegetable garden. I usually shy away from pots because they’re too much maintenance, but this year I wanted to add some color to my front steps. I’m so glad I did, they make me so happy every time I go to and from my front door.
This is the view of my garden from my front steps. I love my birch trellis! I planted sweet peas at the base. They’re very slow growing, I’ve only gotten one flower so far.
I planted 42 peppers this year! We freeze a lot of them for year round eating. This is one of my four pepper beds.
I haven’t grown dill in many years but decided to try it again this year. Wow! The flowers are so breathtaking up close and usually have lots of insect activity. In that same bed is four rows of Tricolor beans. I’m about to have bucketloads of beans!
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My herb spiral with garlic in the background and beets and carrots in the foreground.
These Golden Sweet peas were the surprise hit of the season. They’ve produced a ton of pods and it’s easy to see when they’re ready for harvest. I’ll definitely be growing them again next year.
One of the harvests from earlier this week – scallions, beets, cilantro and carrots in a cute little basket I found at a local secondhand store last summer.
And finally, the view of the front of my house and the garden from across the street. Overall, I’m really pleased with how things are looking so far this season!
I gave a tour of my garden last June and July if you want to take a peek at those, too.
Comments
I wish I could control the bugs here. Summer gardens are almost impossible. Any suggestions? Thanks, Susan
Hi Susan- I’m sorry to hear you’re struggling. Where do you live and what insects are you having trouble with?
Hi Megan,
Do you spend a lot of $$ on wood chips or do you own a chipper? I do the cardboard sheeting, but haven’t done the mulching. I have access to straw and was planning on using that. But, I have a wood pile and would love to chip some of that for mulch. I love your garden, it looks beautiful!
Laurie- My husband is an arborist so we get as much as we want for free. I think it is best to use what you have access to, so straw would be fine. Just make sure it doesn’t have any weed seeds in it.