June… Time for the longest day this month, which means more to do in the Garden. But don’t forget to take time to sit and enjoy the fruits of your labour 🌺
The flower garden
- Harden off and move hanging baskets and containers growing on in the greenhouse into their final position. If your hanging basket plants become leggy, trim off the excess to encourage bushy new growth.
- Check plants daily and water them if the soil is dry — especially newly planted fruit trees and shrubs that are still getting established.
- Start to pick sweet peas as soon as they flower to encourage more blooms. If you have ever wondered why your sweet peas have stopped flowering early in the season, it may well be because there are too many spent flowers and seed pods on the plant. If you look closely, there will be seed pods on the plant where there should be more flowers.
- By this time of year Aubretia can look very untidy and needs cutting back. Whether to give it a light trim or a hard prune depends on the state of the Aubretia.
- June is time to sow Biennials, a group of plants which seed and grow one year, and flower the next. A favourite in this group is Erysimum, common name Wall flower, which is easy both to germinate and grow, with the added benefit of having lovely scented flowers, a strong sweet perfume which will drift around the garden.
The veg garden
- The garden is frost free by June, which means it is safe to plant out all remaining veg. Plant out Peas, Beans of all types, salad crops, rocket, carrots, everything not yet planted out including the more tender of crops such as courgettes, squashes, cucumbers, French beans and Tomatoes, provided your garden offers shelter for the more tender crops.
- If you are growing potatoes and there is a dry spell, water regularly and earth up, both are important for a good crop as they help to form more potatoes as the season goes on.
- By June it is safe to plant out the more tender vegetables as the risk of frost has passed. Courgettes and French beans both hate the cold which is why it is best to plant them out later. Later in June the first small courgettes will be ready for picking and they are at their very best when tender and small. Courgettes are prone to mildew, which you can see on the leaves as white marks. This can occur if it's dry and often occurs later in season. To minimise, feed and remove effected leaves.
- It is also warm enough to sow the more tender herbs, such as Basil in pots for use throughout the summer. Basil likes it warm and on the dry side so care with watering. They are frost tender plants, so remember to bring indoors later in the year.
- June is a busy time growing Tomatoes; they need feeding, watering, and the side shoots removing regularly. The first (and possibly the second) sets of flowers will appear, which is a signal to start feeding. With tomatoes, to get the best flavour, it is essential to feed and water regularly. Irregular watering can produce tough or skins and impair flavour. Also essential to keep removing the side shoots from cordon tomatoes.
That’s all for this month. We’ll be back next time with our top tips for July – enjoy the first month of Summer in the meantime! ☀️