The days are long now so let’s hope the weather is
good to allow us to enjoy some long evenings in the garden. There is still
plenty to do and the time has come to reap some benefit from your hard work
earlier in the year.
June is the month for roses which are at their
best now. Do remember to cut some for the house, they should be cut with sharp
scissors just above a leaf that has five leaflets. Start picking gooseberries,
raspberries and strawberries ; you can reduce the runners on the strawberries,
and tie in the new growths on raspberries, loganberries and blackberries. The
early potatoes will soon be ready for harvest- they should be ready when the
flowers appear and oh they do taste so good! Asparagus cutting should stop
around the third week in June to allow the crowns to build up strength for next
year.
Grass is growing quickly and the lawns will need
cutting regularly; what a difference it makes when the edges are cut neatly
too. Apply some summer lawn feed if you want to spend even more time cutting!
Newly sown lawns will need watering but are best if the grass is left a bit
longer so it does not dry out so quickly. Although the grass around daffodils
may look untidy wait until all the foliage from the daffodils has dried and turned
brown before cutting. Tulips can be lifted and either heeled in or left out to
dry before replanting next November.
Keep newly planted shrubs and trees well watered
during dry spells. Water too the bedding plants which can be planted out safely
now. Plant out cabbages, courgettes, squash, sweet corn, celery, celeriac and
marrows. When planting out leeks it is best to use a dibber - drop in the leek
and then water; there’s no need to fill the hole with soil. Sow biennials such
as forget-me-not, sweet williams, wallflowers, and foxgloves. Sow herbs such as
basil and coriander, and turnips, and salad vegetables for a continuous summer
supply.
Remove the side shoots from tomatoes as they grow
and provide support for the vines, and shorten the vigorous growth on apples
and pears. Thin direct showings of hardy annuals and vegetables such as carrot,
beetroot, endive and chicory. Stop broad beans, remove the flower heads from
rhubarb. Disbud the roses, and dead head lupin and delphinium. Cut back
aubretia and alyssum saxatile hard
after flowering. Prune mature shrubs that have finished flowering- weigela,
philadelphus, deutzia.
June is a good time to take softwood cuttings of
many deciduous shrubs and alpines and divide Iris.
Watch out for early caterpillar infestation and
remove them when first seen. Look out for powdery mildew, and check plants for
whitefly and aphids. Treat with insecticides or biological control. Stopping
broad beans reduces attack from blackfly. I use garden shears and cut the tops
off like trimming a hedge! Protect carrot from fly with a fleece at least 2
feet high.
Remember to keep the greenhouse ventilated and
shaded and most importantly make some time to relax and enjoy those lovely long
summer evenings.
“The rose was awake all night for your sake
Knowing your promise to me,
The lilies and roses were all awake,
They sighed for the dawn and thee.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson