by Janis on 1st August 2025 / 0 comments

Our thirsty chillies

It’s been a mixed month in the garden this July, with June being so dry the garden was crying out for water, and as luck would have it, as soon as our local council imposed a hose pipe ban, the heavens opened.

We’ve had a few almighty downpours in recent weeks, but I’m certainly not complaining. It seemed that in no time at all, the lawn had perked up, and it already needed another haircut.

We squeezed in a trip to Petworth House and Park just before the schools broke up for their holidays. Petworth House is a National Trust site, and if you love works of art, especially by JMW Turner and Gainsborough, you’ll love it. It’s like wandering through a gallery, also allow a little time to stroll around the upper pond and deer park.

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A scenic view of the magnificent Petworth House in West Sussex, seen across a serene pond under a bright blue sky. This historic National Trust property is set within its famous Capability Brown landscaped parkland, with golden grasses in the foreground on a sunny summer day.
 Petworth House and Park

What we’ve been up to in July

In the garden and on the website
Well, I finally got around to scraping the drive to remove the weeds, it’s an onerous task as our driveway is quite big, but a job that was well overdue. I’ve just got to finish the rear of the drive, but it’s looking better already.
Bright yellow and orange chillies ripen on the plant in a sunlit English country garden, showcasing the vibrant bounty of summer gardening in July. These colourful peppers thrive in warm conditions, adding ornamental beauty and spicy flavour to homegrown produce.
Hungarian Hot Wax Chillies

I mentioned last month that our chillies are coming on leaps and bounds; we have three different varieties: Hungarian Hot Wax, Scotch Bonnet, and Cayenne Hot Lemon.

I can’t believe how thirsty these chilli plants are. I’m watering them daily. They have produced bountiful fruit. We have them sitting on the windowsill in the conservatory, and a couple of them are almost touching the roof.

Bright yellow sunflowers bask in the summer sunlight, standing tall amid lush greenery in a vibrant English country garden. This cheerful garden scene captures the beauty of July blooms and seasonal colour at its peak.
One of our Sunflowers
Another winner this year are our Dwarf Sunflowers. We planted them around the base of a tree facing our conservatory, and they have made me smile from the moment they bloomed. They are still in flower and hopefully will continue for a little while longer. We’ll certainly be growing these sunflowers again next year.
Three adjustable drip watering nozzles of a micro feed tube in our automatic plant waterer system
The irrigation system at work

As we expected, our council have imposed a hosepipe ban, here in Kent, so it’s lucky that we installed an irrigation system on our patio a few years ago. The irrigation system operates using a drip feed system, so it is exempt from the ban.

If you’re considering implementing a similar system, I urge you to do so.

Vibrant orange Black-eyed Susan vine flowers (Thunbergia alata) bloom against a garden trellis, adding a splash of summer colour to this English country garden. This cheerful climbing plant thrives in sunny July conditions, creating a striking focal point for seasonal gardening.
Black-eyed Susan

Our patio is still in full colour and showing no signs of abating. This year, the ‘Black-eyed Susan’ that we planted in obelisks has really taken off.

Our tomato plants have started to produce plenty of fruit, and it’s now just a waiting game until they ripen.

Achievements for July

Let’s keep ticking those boxes
We've managed to tick a few jobs off the list for July; however, we would have liked to have achieved more. Here are a few of our July tasks.
Deep magenta dahlias bloom vibrantly beside a rustic greenhouse in an English country garden, surrounded by thriving summer greenery. This colourful patio display highlights seasonal gardening at its finest in the height of July.
Purple Dahlia on the patio
So, let’s see what we’ve managed to tick off for July.
Weeded the two front garden beds and pruned the roses.

Scraped and weeded the driveway.

Cleaned the conservatory.

Chopped up wood from our dead nut tree.

Pruned some of the Bay tree.

Ensure we top up the bird feeders as they’re very fickle.

Keep the garden waste bin as full as possible.

Lessons learnt & mistakes made

You live and learn
I’ve recently been scraping our driveway to remove all the weeds, and it is one hell of a task. Next year, I mustn’t let it get so bad.

Our plans for the coming month

What’s on your to-do list?
Take Lavender soft cuttings.

Continue to re-develop the raised bed area.

Take Fuchsia soft cuttings.

Plant our Lupins and Foxgloves as they have grown stronger.

Weed the last of the driveway using a scraper.

Continue clearing weeds and unwanted planting in the Cottage Garden section.

Start pruning larger shrubs.

Scatter seeds in the main bed.

Please let us know what you have planned for your garden this month; we’d love to hear about it.

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