As July arrives, Monty Don shares his essential techniques to maintain your garden's 'midsummer bounty' and prevent tall plants from creating chaos in your borders08:22, 07 Jul 2026July's summer conditions bring an entirely fresh list of gardening tasks as recommended by expert horticulturist Monty Don, and this particular job deserves priority attention.‌Frequently, that additional warmth triggers a surge of growth throughout the garden, one that certain plants struggle to sustain independently. As the brilliant sunshine and periodic downpours encourage plants to shoot up and spread out, your garden borders can start to appear rather dishevelled.‌If disorder wasn't your intended aesthetic, then there's a method to intervene before nature takes over completely. Plants can outgrow their strength and collapse; what was previously a picture-perfect scene can become a "disaster zone" in no time.‌To prevent the mayhem, Monty Don recommends having some brushwood, such as hazel pea sticks or even metal supports, at the ready to position around the borders. This enables you to prop plants upright easily and give them that extra support and reinforcement they require to remain stable.They serve as an excellent and straightforward solution to restore overgrown borders to a more structured appearance without sacrificing "all the charm of midsummer bounty", the expert suggests. With careful positioning, your beds should appear untouched, as though you've added nothing whatsoever.‌This intervention should be applied to those characteristically taller-growing plants such as Ammi majus, sunflowers, cleome, Cosmos Sensation, tithonias and Leonotis.Monty Don explains on his blog: "As these are planted individually it is hard to support them in the gently bolstering fashion that suits a large herbaceous perennial, but they can be staked to half their height and tied with soft twine so that they can still move gently but not collapse completely."Staking is a vital gardening technique throughout the seasons that also provides support for top-heavy plants, particularly tomatoes, peas, and cucumbers. It works effectively to prevent stems from snapping, keeping fruit well away from damp soil while simultaneously increasing its exposure to sunlight.‌Frequently used staking materials include bamboo canes or biodegradable fabric ties and, as previously mentioned, metal cages. However, it's crucial to avoid cutting into the plant's stem, ensuring there remains sufficient room for growth.Another handy tip, featuring prominently on his monthly checklist, is to pay close attention to raspberries, as they "are at their best in July". Now is the ideal moment to harvest summer-fruiting raspberry varieties, which the horticulturalist confesses surpass even the finest strawberries.Article continues belowHe writes: "Summer-fruiting raspberries carry their fruit on the canes that grew the previous summer - so all the fresh growth made in the current year will crop next July, whereas autumn-fruiting types such as 'Autumn Bliss' produce their fruit on the new season's growth."In turn, July's crop of raspberries has a freshness that makes them especially delicious, and he eagerly anticipates picking them and enjoying a bowl with cream on his summer evenings.