Pro Gardeners Reveal the Garden Tasks They Stop Doing During July Heatwaves – Why Doing Less Can Save Your Plants
Give yourself some time back this month
July is when gardens are at peak performance, but it's also when even the most well-intentioned gardeners are most likely to make mistakes. After months of planting, pruning and tending, it's tempting to keep pushing the garden forward. But midsummer isn't spring, and trying to garden as though it is can put unnecessary stress on plants already coping with heat, intense sun and inconsistent rainfall.
July is less about encouraging fresh growth and more about helping plants conserve energy, stay hydrated and ride out the toughest part of the growing season. Some jobs are simply better postponed until cooler weather returns.
We asked four landscape professionals which garden chores they deliberately avoid in July, along with the handful of maintenance tasks that are a must. If you are wondering what to plant in July our experts’ answers revealed a clear pattern: when temperatures soar, doing less is often the smartest thing you can do for your garden and yourself.
Don't Plant Trees, Shrubs or Perennials
Our garden experts agreed on point: Avoid planting trees, shrubs and most perennials during July whenever possible.
‘The soil is just too hot, and the soil dries out too quickly for the plants to establish themselves,’ says Jennifer Rust, founder of Jennifer Rust Botanicals in Marietta, Georgia. ‘Early spring and late fall are always our preferred times to transplant.’
Jennifer Brennan, a Chicagoland horticultural consultant, agrees. ‘Delay transplanting shrubs and perennials and dividing perennials during the heat of July,’ she says. ‘Removing roots during transplanting is stressful enough for plants; adding the heat of July causes life-threatening stress to plants considering that most plants will not perform any metabolic processes when the temperatures are 85F or higher.’
That advice extends to replacing plants that don't survive the heat.
‘If something dies, don't feel like you have to replace it immediately,’ says Tucker Tremblay, founder and principal designer of Joyner Concepts in Central Texas.
‘A brand-new root system trying to establish itself during the hottest month of the year is an uphill battle. If the landscape allows for it, I'd much rather wait until fall.’
If You’re Going to Plant, Sow These
As our experts have mentioned, July isn’t the best time to plant. But Barnes says if you must, sowing seeds of annuals such as zinnias and sunflowers in early July is allowable.
This gets a new crop of those summery plants ready to fill in empty spaces by mid-August.
‘I would recommend sowing those seeds in pots or trays, where they can get a half day of shade, maybe a little bit of automatic irrigation or even just a little sprinkler,’ Barnes suggests.
‘That's one of the things I love having, an automatic sprinkler set to go off for 10 to 15 minutes just to keep the seeds cool.’ The Orbit 1 Output Port Stationary Digital Hose End Timer available at Lowe’s lets you keep your seedlings cool and moist.
Resist The Urge To 'Improve' Your Plants
When plants begin looking a little tired, it's natural to reach for the pruners or fertilizer. But both can do more harm than good in midsummer.
‘The biggest mindset shift to focus on is this: July isn't the month to make plants grow,’ says Tremblay. ‘It's the month to help them survive. Hold off on major pruning. Pruning sends a signal to a plant to push new growth. That's exactly what you don't want when it's 105F degrees outside.’
He offers the same advice for feeding plants. July is the month to reduce stress, and new growth does just that.
‘The same goes for heavy nitrogen fertilizer,’ he says. ‘In July, I'm trying to reduce stress, not encourage growth.’
Garden educator and consultant Jared Barnes echoes that recommendation for established landscape plants. ‘If you're starting to go through a dry period and it's really hot outside, I wouldn't recommend fertilizing anything at this point in time,’ he says.
Container plants, however, are another story. ‘Containers might be the only thing to keep some fertility on,’ Barnes says, ‘because as you irrigate more with the increased heat, you're leaching out a lot of those nutrients out of the pot.’
Rust has seen the same thing happen, even in in-ground plantings.
‘We can't stress enough the benefit of a bloom boost granular fertilizer dissolved in a watering can for your containers every 1-2 weeks,’ she says.
‘All the rain leaches out the nutrients in container planters but also in in-ground blooming plants, as well.’ Ace Hardware offers a Bloom Booster Flower Food from Miracle Gro to keep the flowers going.
Water Smarter, Not More
While many July chores can wait, watering deserves extra attention. Rather than automatically increasing irrigation, Tremblay recommends making sure your watering system is working properly first.
‘Don't immediately assume brown grass needs more water,’ he says. ‘Sometimes that's the right answer, but often it isn't.’
Instead, he advises, ‘walk every zone, check every spray head, look for clogged nozzles, pressure issues, and dry spots.’
Brennan recommends taking the guesswork out of watering altogether. ‘Get a rain gauge and monitor the amount of rainfall at your property,’ she says. A simple rain gauge such as the La Crosse Large Easy to Read Rain Gauge available at Walmart. She also recommends using her ‘4 Quadrant/Count to 5’ watering technique to ensure water reaches the entire root zone.
Rust says containers deserve especially close attention during rainy periods.
‘Irrigation systems tend to turn off during heavy rain periods,’ Rust says. ‘For plants under cover it is really important to ensure they are still hand watered as they are still getting the heat but not the benefit of the summer rains.’
Barnes prefers slow, deep watering over frequent sprinkling.
‘If you're going through a prolonged dry spell, it might not hurt to go out there and just run a sprinkler for a short period of time,’ he says. For shrubs and trees, he simply turns the hose on ‘a slow trickle’ and lets it soak into the root zone.
A 100-ft. soaker hose such as Swan SoakerPro System from Home Depot allows you to gently irrigate multiple trees and shrubs at a time.
He also reminds gardeners not to overlook trees and shrubs that were planted in the spring, which may not show drought stress until it's almost too late.
Let July Be a Guide
Instead of treating July as another month of chores, our experts see it as one of the best times to evaluate a landscape.
Barnes encourages gardeners to pay attention to plants that struggle every summer.
‘Are there plants in your garden that continually show signs of wilt year-in, year-out?’ he asks. ‘Maybe there's something native you can plant there instead.’
He also recommends resisting the urge to cut down every spent flower.
‘I would not cut them all back,’ he says of seed heads on plants such as coneflowers and black-eyed Susans. ‘There’s the winter interest, and you have the ecological interest from the birds.’
Tremblay says extreme weather reveals the strengths and weaknesses of every landscape. ‘One of my favorite July tasks is simply walking properties and observing,’ he says. ‘Extreme weather exposes weaknesses better than any other time of year.’
In fact, he says, that's when the best design lessons emerge.
‘April is forgiving. July tells the truth. If a landscape still looks good after a Central Texas July, you've probably made good decisions.’
What to Shop
These Felco F2 pruning shears are made for lifetime use, with replaceable parts. It has a bypass blade and aluminium handles.
This wildflower mix is full of fast-blooming varieties. They're all native and non-GMO.
Use this irrigation system kit to make watering less effort. It has 230ft of tubing and adjustable nozzles.
For Rust, July should also include one final task that many gardeners overlook. ‘Pour yourself a glass of iced tea and enjoy your beautiful work.’
Sit back and assess your yard from the comfort of your garden patio. This July respite lets you see the possibilities of adding a water feature, a kitchen garden, or leaving well enough alone and enjoying another cool drink.
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Meet Our Experts
Jennifer Rust is the owner of Jennifer Rust Botanicals, a boutique studio that specializes in the design and installation of seasonal plants and biophilic design.
Jennifer Brennan is a Chicagoland-based horticulturist specializing in plant health, diagnostics and perennial and woody plants. She has more than 35 years of professional experience including leadership roles with the Perennial Plant Association. Jennifer is a horticulture correspondent for a local TV station in the Chicago market and is known for making science-based horticulture practical and accessible for home gardeners.
Tucker Tremblay is the founder and principal designer of Joyner Concepts, a Central Texas landscape design firm. With more than 15 years in the landscape industry, Tucker specializes in creating beautiful, low maintenance landscapes that are designed to thrive through Texas heat, drought and everything in between.
Jared Barnes is a horticulturist, educator and storyteller who has been cultivating his love of plants since childhood. An award-winning professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, Jared shares his passion for helping people better understand and appreciate plants through his work with Meristem, his writing, teaching and his The Plantastic Podcast.
