Your Garden and What To Do in June

As we approach the longest day of the year on June 21^st, the extra light and warmth is encouraging an exuberant burst of growth and providing ample opportunity to get out into your garden. Two of the most pressing gardening jobs in June are mowing and hoe-ing, as your grass grows with greenly vigour and the weeds sprout with zeal and determination. However once these chores tasks have been completed, there are many more satisfying tasks to perform.

June is the time to get your hanging baskets and containers outside and to plant out your summer bedding plants, giving an instant and colourful lift. You should also stake your delphiniums, foxgloves and any other tall or floppy plants and tie and train any climbing plants such as clematis and honeysuckle. Overcrowded clumps of bulbs (including bluebells and snowdrops) can be lifted and divided now, as long as the leaves are starting to yellow and your spring flowering shrubs can now be pruned. While you’ve got your secateurs out, don’t forget to deadhead the repeat flowering roses and poppies to ensure a continuation of their beautiful blooms and while you’re at it, pinch out the shoots of the fuchsias and sweet peas.

Vegetable and fruit growers have a month of work ahead of them, but can also enjoy harvesting their early potatoes, lettuce and other salad stuff…yum. You should now be planting out any tender vegetables that have been sheltering in the greenhouse, such as courgettes and sweetcorn, and if you haven’t already done so, it’s time to plant your runner beans. Fruit trees that are looking over burdened should have their fruit thinned out to ensure a succulent harvest later in the year, and any soft fruits need to be covered with nets now, before their ripe colours attract every bird from miles around.

While you’re busying yourself outside, don’t forget to feed our feathered friends. It is a common misconception that summer is a time of plenty, and that birds do not need to be fed. However, there are many hungry young to provide for and any help you can give will be gratefully received, especially if there is a localised shortage of natural food supplies. Try and ensure you provide bird food that is high in protein, but bear in mind that some birds may feed food directly to their young and so avoid putting out whole peanuts or other choking hazards, unless they are in a feeder that only allow beak sized chunks to be removed.

Now all that is left to do, is to sit back in a comfy garden chair on your Garden Escape deck (or inside if there’s a summer shower) and enjoy a nice cuppa while you look out at the brilliant profusion of summer life.