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Saturday Spotlight: July To‑Dos on the Allotment
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Jul 26, 2025
Get stuck into your Saturday allotment chores with a clear plan: weeding pathways to give your crops room to breathe, mulching beds to conserve moisture in the July sun, harvesting early ripeners like broad beans and radishes, and sowing late-season salads for a continuous supply. Don’t forget to top up your compost heap, check netting for pests, and give thirsty plants a deep soak before the weekend heat hits. #JulyAllotmentJobs #SaturdayChores #Weeding #Mulching #HarvestTime #SuccessionSowing #PestControl #Composting #PlotMaintenance #SummerGardening #AllotmentLife #GreenThumbChores Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gardening-with-ben-garden-and-allotment-tips-and-advice-podcast--5150692/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gardening-with-ben-garden-and-allotment-tips-and-advice-podcast--5150692/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
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Welcome to Gardening with Ben, your
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go-to podcast for all things green and
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growing in 2025.
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Whether you're a seasoned gardener, a
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budding enthusiast, or just curious
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about cultivating your own slice of
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nature, you're in the right place. Join
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me, Ben, as we explore practical tips,
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inspiring stories, and the latest trends
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in gardening to make your outdoor space
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bloom with life. From a lotment
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adventures to wildlife friendly
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gardening, I'm here to help you grow
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your passion and reap the rewards. So,
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grab your gloves, roll up your sleeves,
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and let's get started on this year's
1:25
gardening journey.
1:28
Hey everybody, and welcome to Gardening
1:31
with Ben. Today is Saturday. The weekend
1:35
is here. Hip hip hooray. The weekend is
1:39
here and hopefully we'll get some
1:41
sunshine this weekend because last
1:43
weekend, as you remember, we had them
1:46
downfalls of rain. Wow, did we get some
1:49
rain last week? I've not had to water
1:51
all week outside. It's been absolutely
1:53
fantastic. But I missed out on being
1:56
outside in the garden because I couldn't
1:58
do anything because of how much rain we
2:00
were getting last weekend. I was stuck
2:03
inside the poly tunnel. But I got loads
2:05
of jobs done inside the poly tunnel last
2:07
weekend. So I was so happy. I got all my
2:10
tomatoes sorted. I got my peppers
2:13
sorted. I got my melons tied up. I
2:17
gave everything a good watering and a
2:19
good feeding.
2:21
I also set up my irrigation system last
2:24
week. If you've not seen that video, go
2:26
over onto my Facebook or my Instagram
2:28
and check out how I set up my
2:30
irrigation. And that has been a godsend
2:33
this week. It's worked fantastic. And
2:35
hopefully it continues to work all the
2:38
way up to October, keeping them watered,
2:40
keeping them hydrated, and hopefully
2:42
getting a lot of food because that's one
2:44
thing I always do. I start off good with
2:46
watering and then come towards the end
2:48
of the year, I can't be bothered anymore
2:50
and I give up. So hopefully all this
2:52
irrigation system will work and we'll
2:54
keep getting tomatoes all the way
2:56
through to the end of the year.
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So the question is what are we doing at
3:03
our a lotment this weekend? That is the
3:06
big question I always have. What am I
3:08
actually going to do this weekend and
3:11
what am I going to tackle this this
3:14
week? So, I think this week's job is
3:17
going to be going around my strawberry
3:19
beds and looking at all the runners
3:22
because at this time of year, all the
3:26
strawberry plants start sending out all
3:28
the little babies. And if you've never
3:30
seen this before, what it it does is
3:33
like you've got your mother plant, which
3:34
is a strawberry plant, and then it'll
3:36
send shoots out from the side of it, and
3:38
on them shoots, you'll get two to three
3:40
plants.
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Coming and growing. And it's fantastic
4:15
because strawberry plants are expensive
4:17
to buy. And if you're getting three
4:19
plants per shoe, you're absolutely doing
4:22
fantastic. And what you can do with them
4:24
three plants is you don't just chop them
4:26
off straight away. What you need to do
4:28
is pin them down into the soil. While
4:29
they're connected onto this, I call it
4:31
an umbilical cord. While it's connected
4:33
to that, push it down into some soil.
4:36
Peg it down so that it takes root and
4:39
the mother plant is still feeding it and
4:41
giving it what it needs. And once the
4:44
roots start to appear on the bottom,
4:46
that is when you can snip it off and
4:48
it'll survive for itself and it will get
4:51
growing. And then obviously you keep it
4:53
growing and then if you're growing it in
4:55
a pot then you can plant it out. I
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usually plant them out around March
4:58
time. I keep them watered in my poly
5:00
tunnel all through winter and then I
5:01
plant them out about March time. But if
5:04
not if you're growing them straight into
5:05
the ground then you can just plant them
5:07
straight into the ground and they will
5:08
survive throughout the winter. And it's
5:11
sometimes good just to put some frost
5:13
proof netting over them over over them
5:15
just to give them that extra protection.
5:17
But they are strong plants and more
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often than not they can survive
5:21
throughout the winter. So that is one
5:24
thing I'm going to be doing is sorting
5:25
out all my strawberry plants. I've got
5:27
about 200 strawberry plants in. Some of
5:29
them failed this year. So I need to
5:31
replace the ones that have died or not
5:33
grown and
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there's some gaps in some areas and I'm
5:39
just going to fill my my bed full of
5:41
strawberry plants. Honestly, I can never
5:44
have enough strawberry plants. I've got
5:46
so many strawberry plants and I could
5:49
just have them if I could I'd have them
5:52
all the way down the sides of the plots
5:54
off the ground in like either guttering
5:59
or in tubs off the ground so that they
6:02
hang over the edge and the slugs don't
6:04
get them. Obviously, you only need to
6:06
get them from the birds, but I see so
6:08
many new farms what are getting started
6:10
where this growing straw is off the
6:12
ground and guttering and stuff like that
6:14
now. And they're getting fantastic
6:16
produce. So, I'd love to give that a try
6:19
if I could. Maybe one year I'll try and
6:21
set it up. But for now, this staying in
6:23
the ground and we're planting more and
6:26
more plants. So, I'll definitely be
6:28
filming a video on that. And also I just
6:33
need to tidy up all my beds really.
6:35
That's one job that I do every single
6:37
weekend. All my beds I will weed every
6:41
week. I don't weed them in the weeks. I
6:43
don't get chance with being at work. But
6:45
every week I will go around and weed my
6:47
beds in between all the vegetables and
6:50
dig the compost over so that if it does
6:52
rain it'll go into the ground pretty
6:54
easy. And even if you're watering, it'll
6:58
go into the ground easier if you've dug
7:00
it all over. And that's what I do every
7:02
single week. If you keep on top of it,
7:04
you can't. It'll only take 5 minutes to
7:06
do a bed each week. And it's fantastic.
7:10
Keeping on the top of the weeds is
7:11
brilliant. It's when you go away on
7:13
holiday for a few weeks and you come
7:14
back and it's like a jungle and then
7:16
it's hard to get back on top of it. So,
7:18
if you manage to keep on top of it and
7:20
do it once a week, you will keep your a
7:23
lotment pretty much weedfree.
7:26
And another job what I need to do is
7:28
trim back all the bindweed. It's growing
7:30
mental. Obviously, all the rain that
7:32
we've had has made it grow so much this
7:35
past week. So, I need to go around and
7:37
start snipping back the bindweed. I'll
7:40
never get rid of it. That is one thing
7:41
for sure. And it keeps me in business
7:43
like it keeps me on my toes and keeps me
7:46
going. But yeah, that's one job that I'm
7:48
going to be doing. And then possibly
7:50
next weekend,
7:52
what what you'll need to keep an eye out
7:54
for is I'll possibly be planting my
7:57
Christmas potatoes. Yes, the word
8:00
Christmas is coming. And I usually plant
8:03
them at the beginning of August in my
8:05
poly tunnel in boxes and then keep them
8:08
watered and they'll usually be ready
8:11
around middle to end of December, around
8:14
Christmas time. so that you gain fresh
8:16
vegetables on your table for Christmas
8:20
Day. So if you're wanting to plant
8:22
Christmas potatoes, get online, get
8:24
ordering your seed potatoes. You can
8:27
find online, call them Christmas
8:29
potatoes. They even have branded them in
8:31
garden centers as Christmas potatoes
8:33
now. Uh they're that popular and they're
8:35
trying to sell them. So they brand them
8:37
up as Christmas potatoes. So have a look
8:40
around. Get ready to get them planted in
8:42
August. Don't plant them outside. If
8:45
you're planting them outside, plant them
8:46
in boxes and have the boxes outside, but
8:49
then move them into your poly tunnel or
8:50
your greenhouse around
8:53
September, October time when it starts
8:56
to get colder as that will kill the
8:59
plants off if we get a cold frost. So,
9:02
keep them in the poly tunnel. It's a lot
9:03
easier and you don't have to move them
9:06
once they're in there cuz they do get
9:08
pretty heavy once they're filled with
9:10
compost and filled with water obviously
9:13
as well. But make sure you've got plenty
9:14
of drainage in the bottom of your boxes
9:17
so that they do drain away and they
9:19
don't make all the potatoes gooey and
9:22
rotten. So that's the job that I'll be
9:24
doing the week after. But I should be
9:26
saving all this for my podcast next
9:28
week. Not telling you all now what I'm
9:30
doing and meant to keep it as a
9:31
surprise. But yeah, hopefully we're
9:34
going to have a busy Saturday down at
9:36
the a lotment today. And hopefully
9:39
tomorrow we'll be sharing with you
9:41
everything that we've got up to down at
9:42
the a lotment as that's what I like to
9:44
do. On the Sunday, you'll hear what I've
9:46
done on the Saturday. And on the Monday,
9:48
you'll hear what I've done on the
9:49
Sunday, if that makes sense. But yeah, I
9:52
hope that you've all had a fantastic
9:54
week at work. And I hope that you all do
9:56
manage to spend some time in your
9:58
gardens this weekend. Try and make the
10:00
most of it. Try and get some fresh air.
10:02
Try and get your hands dirty and enjoy
10:04
being out in the garden everyone. So
10:07
until next time everyone remember keep
10:09
smiling, keep shining and keep gardening
10:12
with Ben. Everyone,
10:15
thanks for tuning in to today's episode
10:18
of Gardening with Ben. I hope you've
10:20
enjoyed our chat and picked up some tips
10:23
to help your garden and a lotment
10:25
thrive. Don't forget to stay connected
10:27
with me on all social media for even
10:31
more gardening inspiration, updates, and
10:34
behind the scenes content. You can find
10:36
me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
10:39
Just search Gardening with Ben. Hit that
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join our growing community of garden
10:46
lovers. Until next time everyone,
10:48
remember, keep smiling, keep shining,
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and keep gardening with Ben.
10:53
[Music]