Gardening Tips for June
June sees the garden really get into its stride with crops to harvest and watering, weeding and deadheading daily tasks to enjoy on a summer evening.
Now is a great time to grow a few of your own plants from scratch - at this time of year you don't need a greenhouse cold frame or heated propagator. By sowing seed or taking cuttings now you can save money by growing plants you otherwise have to buy later and it's a good way of producing plants to stock up your garden or for a fundraising event and it's always handy to have a few spares in case of disaster - or just a share with family and friends.
Border Maintenance
Water borders thoroughly especially in dry spells and deadhead regularly keep on top of perennial weeds such as bindweed and ground elder. Weeds should become less of a problem as the become crowded out by your cultivated plants but using a Speedhoe between plants helps to stop them setting seed and spreading.
Add Support to Your Peonies
Peonies are at the best in the early part of June - they are stunning, but also hardy and long-lasting, making them a perfect addition to any garden. However ensure that your peonies stay healthy and thrive, and consider investing in peony plant supports, like our Fluted Peony Support that will help show them at their best.
Trim Your Lawn Edges
You'll find the lawns are growing fast and furious by June as long as we have the occasional shower of rain you can mow regularly every week and trim the edges to keep things neat - Border Edging helps to define the boundary between grass and border which helps keep things under control and prevents bare patches at the edge of your lawn.
If there isn't much rain and a long hot spell is on the cards play it safe and lift the blades of your mower a couple of notches so you aren't cutting it so closely - it will help it stay green during a drought. If you have a new lawn that you've made this spring make sure that you continue to water it and give it a good soaking once a week during dry spells.
Care for Your Roses
Remove suckers from roses - don't just nip suckers off at ground level though as they will grow back stronger than ever - instead trace each one back to its origin with a small hand fork until you find the point where the sucker is growing out from the rootstock and then tear it out - it's far less likely to grow back.
Propagate Your Shrubs
Summer is the perfect time for propagating any of the easiest shrubs from softwood cuttings - you can root them in open ground using cloches to give them protection and a moist atmosphere - take cuttings as this year's young soft shoots have grown to around 15 cm and by the autumn the new plants will be rooted and ready for planting out.
Train Young Roses
Keep on top of training and tying in to avoid the boughs becoming weighed down by the weight of flowers. Where you want to train a young plant to cover a wall or an arch choose strong stems arising from close to the base of the plant and spread them out so they cover the area and tie them in strongly with Soft Ties to avoid string giving way unexpectedly after a few years and causing the plant to fall off the structure.
Harvest & Store Spring Bulbs
Daffodils, Snowdrops and Bluebells are perfectly happy to be left in the ground all round all year round once the foliage dies - they prefer to be dry ground during the summer while they're dormant so if you have these bulbs in the lawn, wild garden or shrub border you can safely forget about them.
Some bulbs are better dug up and stored after flowering - tulips and hyacinths should be dried off and stored in a cool airy shed, spread out on trays or in a net to make sure there is good air circulation.
Use Containers & Hanging Baskets
If you prepared Planters and Hanging Baskets early and kept them under glass you can bring them out now that they will be well established and the danger of frost has passed.
Make sure you keep up regular watering for all your container grown plants - they will need a soaking twice a day in really hot weather - towards the end of June they will benefit from a feed every week or two to keep up a good display.
Now that the risk of frost has past it’s safe to plant out cold-sensitive herbs such as Basil - try a hanging basket of herbs for a fragrant addition outside the back door.
Kitchen Garden
As you use up early crops, spaces will appear so don’t leave the ground empty for long - succession sowing is the secret to a good supply throughout the summer and at this time of year seedlings will appear in just a few days.
Plant out frost tender vegetables such as outdoor tomatoes and cucumbers and any plants you have hardened off for the Kitchen Garden. If you’ve not got going with your edibles yet don’t worry - All the usual salads and key vegetable crops can still be sown now - Lettuce, Rocket, Spring Onion, Radish, Carrots, Beans, Courgettes and Peas will all produce a mid summer crop.
Create A Flower Garden
Dedicating an area to flowers for cutting can give you the luxury of armfuls of home grown flowers for the house all year round - Cosmos, Dahlia, Sweet Peas, Tulips, Foxgloves, Larkspur and Delphiniums all do well as floral 'crops' - add cottage garden charm by using decorative supports and obelisks.
Protect Your Crops
Protect your newly planted brassicas from pigeons if they are a problem in you area by using a cage or cloche. Soft fruit will attract the birds who can strip the bush bare in one sitting so either use a cage or netting to ensure you get to enjoy the fruits of your labour before they do!
