July Vegetable and Herb Gardening Calendar for Tropical Climate Australia

It’s the month of July, and Midwinter has arrived! As all of Nature’s energies turn inwards, and life comes to a standstill, we finally have a chance to rest and reflect too.

During this month temperatures will hit their lowest for the year in many parts of Australia. It’s the coolest and driest month for Darwin. Weather is mild and sunny in the Northern Territory with no rain at all, and days are warm in Queensland. Brief spells of strong winds may be experienced, which increase bushfire risks in the north.

There’s a range of seeds to sow, and lots of opportunity for winter pruning, relocating deciduous plants and planting new ones!

Things to Do This Month:

• Divide existing perennials and plant new perennials.
• Install windbreaks, such as the plastic tree guard sleeves, around newly planted evergreens.
• Prune tall shrubs to reduce height to better resist winter winds.
• Relocate any deciduous plants (trees, shrubs, vines) or herbaceous perennial plants growing in the wrong place in winter.
• Collect and sow seeds from berry producing trees and shrubs.
• Some perennials can be propagated from root cuttings, which can be taken through winter.
• Continue propagation of hardwood cuttings which began in autumn – prune off 30cm long shoots of current season’s growth, cut off the soft growing tip, cut off the bottom end below a bud, and dip end into rooting hormone. Make a ‘slit trench’ by pushing a spade into soil and rocking it back and forth. In clay soil, add some coarse sand for drainage. Put cuttings in so 2/3 is below the soil, and press the soil down around them. Cuttings will root and be ready to plant next autumn.
• Continue planting shallot bulbs.
  

Vegetables and Herbs to Grow in July (Tropical Climate)

July Seeds to Sow and Seedlings to Plant (Tropical Climate Australia)	Sow/Plant	Harvest (weeks)
Amaranth	dst	7-8
Asparagus	plant crowns	2-3 years
Basil	st	10-12
Beans (Climbing)	dst	9-11
Beans (Dwarf, Bush)	dst	7-10
Borage	dst	8-10
Broccoli	t	10-16
Cabbage	t	8-15
Cape Gooseberry	dt	14-16
Capsicum	t	10-12
Cauliflower	t	15-22
Celeriac	t	14-28
Celery	t	17-18
Chilli	t	9-11
Chinese Cabbage	st	8-10
Chives	dst	7-11
Choko		17
Collard Greens	dst	8-11
Coriander (Cilantro)	dst	30-45
Cowpeas (Black Eye Peas)	d	11-14
Cucumber	dst	8-10
Daikon	d	8-10
Eggplant	t	12-15
Endive	t	10-11
Fennel (Bronze)	dt	14-15
Fennel (Florence)	dt	14-20
French Tarragon	t	30-40 days
Ginger	plant root	25
Globe Artichokes	dt	42-57
Kale	t	7-9
Kohlrabi	dt	7-10
Lemon Balm	dt	8-10
Luffa	t	11-12
Marrow	dt	12-17
Mint	t	8-12
Mizuna	t	5-7
Mustard Greens	dst	5-8
NZ Spinach (Warrigal Greens)	dt	8-10
Okra	dst	11-14
Onion	t	25-34
Oregano	dst	6-8
Pak Choy	dt	6-11
Parsley	dt	9-19
Pumpkin	dt	15-20
Radish	d	5-7
Rockmelon (Cantaloupe)	t	10-16
Sage	dt	18 months
Salsify	d	14-21
Shallots	d	12-15
Silverbeet (Swiss Chard)	dt	7-12
Spring Onions (Bunching Onions)	dst	6-10
Squash	dt	7-8
Summer Savory	d	6-10
Sunflower	dst	10-11
Sweet Corn	dst	11-14
Sweet Potato (Kumara)	plant crowns	15-17
Thyme	d	42-52
Tomatillo	t	10-14
Tomato	t	8-17
Watermelon	dt	9-14
Yacon	plant tubers	25
Yam/Oka	plant tubers	15-20
Zucchini (Courgette, Marrow)	dst	6-9

Key:
d = sow seeds directly into ground
s = sow seeds into seed tray
ds = sow seeds directly into ground or seed tray
t = transplant seedlings (small plants) into larger pots or plant into ground
*= frost tender
**= sow after frost

Download printable PDF version of Gardening Calendar (Australian Tropical Climate) – July

To help improve these garden calendars, feedback and additional information from readers is greatly appreciated! Australia’s climate varies considerably, and local knowledge of when particular things need to be done in the garden are most helpful to others living in those area, so please feel free to share.