June
Sow wallflowers, sweet Williams, foxgloves and other biennials for flowering next summer.
Make more shrubs. Take softwood cuttings of fuchsias, buddleias and hydrangeas. Collect non-flowering shoots, remove lower leaves and push into pots of compost. Put in a propagator and cover with a clear plastic bag.
Use hoops, canes and frames to support taller-growing herbaceous plants or those with heavy blooms. Supports are soon hidden by the rapidly growing foliage.
Tidy bulbs. Cut back any remaining foliage from daffodils and muscari once it’s died back and turned straw-like. Tulips like to be kept dry when dormant so lift, dry and store in a warm, dark, well ventilated place….. ready to replant in autumn.
Harvest peas regularly to keep plants producing new flowers and more pods. Blitz fresh peas, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and mint to make a fabulously tasty and healthy summer dip.
Don’t worry about a few weeds. While you might not want them to smother young seedlings, a few left in borders will support wildlife. Chickweed provides seed for finches and herb Robert flowers feed orange-tip butterflies.
Train cordon tomatoes by pinching out the side-shoots that sprout from the joints between the leaves and the main stem. With bush tomatoes, let them develop naturally by leaving the side-shoots unpruned.
Potassium-rich comfrey foliage is useful for flowering and fruiting plants; nettles are high in nitrogen, especially in the young growth. Steep leaves in water for several weeks and then use the resulting liquor diluted to feed plants.
Check apple trees. Look out for woolly aphids. These sap-sucking insects hide under a waxy fluff on branches and shoots. Use a small stiff-bristled brush to remove them before the population builds up.
Buy colourful annual plants to fill in spaces in borders. Keep them well-watered until they have settled in and deadhead regularly to keep them flowering all summer.
Strawberries: Birds enjoy tasty soft fruits, so protect crops using netting stretched over a framework. Ensure netting is free of holes and kept taut to avoid trapping birds and other wildlife.
Clip evergreen hedges. Privet (Ligustrum), box and Lonicera hedges can be clipped this month. Pick an overcast day to avoid the cut leaf edges scorching. If the clippings aren’t too woody, mix them into your compost heap.
Move exotics outside. Harden-off tender exotics, such as aeoniums and cannas, that have been overwintered indoors, to help them to adjust to outdoor temperatures. Then plant out in a sunny sheltered spot and water and feed regularly.
Regularly remove faded flowers on both annuals and perennials. This ensures the plant keeps producing more flowers rather than putting its energy into forming seeds and keeps the display looking good.
Tie in climbing or rambling roses Attach stems to supports as near to horizontal as you can. This restricts sap flow, causing more sideshoots to grow along the stem length, improving flower production.
Bumblebees have a 75% higher metabolic rate than hummingbirds! So, they consequently need a lot of energy, which they get from ‘Plant Power’. So, plant Lavender, Marjoram, Catmint, Nepeta and Phacelia their favourites
Snapdragon, nasturtium and cosmos These three plants are absolute stars when it comes to giving you easy colour in your garden….Grown as 'bedding” one average snapdragon plant can fuel a bumblebee for 10-13 miles a day. The bumblebee has to push hard to open the flower to get to the valuable nectar inside, getting coated in pollen as it is temporarily ‘eaten’ by the flower!
Nasturtiums are really easy to grow from seed and are great fun to grow with children. Simply push the large, pea-like seeds about 1cm into the soil where you want them to grow.
There are many, many varieties of cosmos available. Tall or short and in a range of colours from pure white through pinks to reds and yellows. You can sow them directly in now, or buy ready-grown plants to plant out. Just be sure to pick a single-flowered variety, as these contain more pollen and nectar. If you can see the yellow pollen-filled centres of the flowers, you know the bees will enjoy them too.
Blueberries, chives and strawberries are three edible crops that grow really well in containers. Remember to use ericaceous compost for growing blueberries, and grow a couple of different varieties if you have space – this will help ensure good pollination and plentiful crops.
