Flower Garden

  • Fix supports around tall and floppy perennials before they get too tall.
  • Sow biennial seeds this month. Sow them outdoors in a well-prepared seedbed before transplanting to their final flowering position in the Autumn.
  • Plant up hanging baskets and other summer containers and keep them in a greenhouse or porch for a couple of weeks before putting them out as this will help them get established.
  • June is one of the most popular months for buying perennials and shrubs. Make sure all new acquisitions are watered in well and continue to water regularly while the plants get established and make new growth.

Roses

  • To avoid black spot, spray with a systemic fungicide before you see any signs of damage and this will help build up resistance.
  • Dead-head large-flowered and cluster-flowered roses that have finished flowering – this will promote a second flush of flowers in July and August.

Lawn

  • Mow your lawn regularly, feed it and treat any weeds and moss.

In the Greenhouse

  • Fuchsias and Pelargoniums should be growing strongly now. Fuchsias should be pinched out once they reach about five inches (12.5 cm) high. This will help make them bushy and far more flowers will be produced.
  • Grow-bags are an easy way to grow a wide range of tender vegetables including Tomatoes, Cucumber, Aubergines and Peppers. Bring the bags into the greenhouse a week or so before planting into them – this will give the compost time to warm up first.
  • Keeping plants moist and protecting them from intense heat will be priorities as summer progresses. Paint shading on to the glass and mist plants as well as watering regularly. You can boost the humidity of your greenhouse by spraying the floor with water each morning. Keeping the atmosphere moist will also help keep red spider at bay.

Vegetable Garden

  • Be ready to cover potatoes if frost is forecast.
  • Sow outdoor Marrows and Courgettes at the end of May. Start preparing the planting site at the beginning of the month by digging holes one foot deep and wide, about three feet apart. Dig plenty of manure into each hole then mound the earth up over the manure.
  • Runner beans can be sown in the second half of May on a site prepared earlier.

Water Features

  • All types of water plants can be planted this month using an aquatic compost. Top dress the basket with gravel to stop compost clouding the water.
  • Algae and blanket-weed may become a problem as the weather warms up, especially in fairly new ponds where there isn’t much leaf cover on the surface. Blanket weed is quite easy to remove and if Algae persists use a pond treatment carefully. Ask our Aquatic staff about which products to use.
  • If you have a pond with fish but no fountain, oxygenate the water in hot weather by spraying in fresh water from a hose. This is especially important in shallow pools.

Containers

  • Finish planting up containers of summer bedding by end of June. Make sure you keep them well watered, especially hanging baskets and shallow window-boxes. 

Fruit Garden

  • Apples will drop many small fruits this month – it is called ‘June Drop’! Don’t worry – this is nature’s way of thinning out the crop.
  • Check Gooseberry bushes for sawfly and mildew and spray if necessary.