This Month in the garden

WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT JUNE? THE DAYS ARE GETTING LONGER, AND TEMPERATURES ARE RISING WHICH IS THE PERFECT COMBINATION FOR PLANT GROWTH IN OUR GARDENS. AND WITH THE SUMMER SOLSTICE THIS MONTH THERE ARE PLENTY OF LIGHTFILLED HOURS TO BE OUT IN THE GARDEN

By June the danger of frosts are over and it is the time to fill your flower borders, where there is space, with tender summer plants. But do make the move outdoors for these plants a gradual one; even plants you purchase from garden centres or flower shows may well have been cultivated inside, and a sudden change in conditions can cause stress to the plants.

Tender plants

As a rule of thumb tender plants, including bedding plants, tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers and courgettes, should be protected until temperatures no longer fall below 10 degrees Celcius. The process of introducing plants to the ‘big world’ outside is known as ‘hardening off’. It is a step-by-step method that encourages plants to develop tougher leaves to prepare them for life in the garden. Begin the hardening off process on a dull, calm overcast day when there will be less stress from direct sun. Put the plants outside during the day and each evening return the plants to somewhere under cover. And take your time; be prepared to devote two to three weeks to the process.

If you don’t have a greenhouse or a cold frame put your plants in a sheltered position and cover with well-secured horticultural fleece. Even with the best of intentions it’s possible to misjudge hardening off, so look at for signs of stress. Cold stressed tomatoes may develop a purple tinge, peppers and aubergines go greyish and leaves of courgettes and other cucurbits may go crisp. If this happens, the plants can be saved by removing the damaged parts and extending the hardening off process. When hardening off, ensure your plants are well watered to reduced drought stress. The best way to water your plants is from below, so stand them in water for an hour or so to absorb what they need. Don’t forget to protect plants from pests when moving them outside. Slugs, snails and birds will find young tender growth most appealing! Greenfly can be a pest in warmer conditions once plants are inside, but when the plants are finally moved outdoors permanently natural predators

By Ronnie Ogier

Ronnie is a passionate gardener and now loves sharing her years of experience of success and failures in her own garden and sharing it with you. Also a keen runner, having been bitten by the ‘Couch to 5K’ bug!

such as ladybirds and hoverfly larvae will help control their numbers. Be vigilant and treat infestations at an early stage.

Pruning

Another activity on the garden in June is to prune shrubs that have flowered on last year’s growth. These shrubs include lilac, weigelia, philadelphus (Mock Orange), rosemary and euonymus. These can all be pruned once they have finished flowering, and this will allow the shrub enough time to develop new growth and flower buds for next year. For most of these plants cut back to remove the spent flowers and reshape the shrub; it’s possible to remove up to a third of stems down to ground level to encourage light and air into the plant and encourage new growth.

Roses also need a style of pruning, as the flowers die back they need removing to encourage more to grow. The plant’s purpose in producing flowers is to attract insects to pollinate, this in turn produces ‘seeds’ for future generations. If the spent flowers are not removed and rose hips form early in the season, as far as the plant is concerned, it’s ‘job done’, and fewer new flowers will be formed. Do more than just remove the spent flower, cut back to the first leaf below the fading flower. At the same time, when looking at your roses keep an eye out for suckers, if left they will grow very vigorously and take strength from the remaining plant. Suckers are not the same as the cultivar you are growing for flowers and fragrance. They can be easily recognised as they always appear from the roots, rather than above ground, and often occur a little way from the plant. They should be pulled out of the ground rather than cut at ground level as this will just prune them and stimulate more growth. As an aside, the same applies to fruit trees that sometimes throw up suckers some distance from the tree, and these should be treated in the same way.

Fruits

Whilst on the subject of fruit take a look at all fruit bushes and other soft fruit, to check their growth and development. Strawberry plants are likely to be sending off their first runners. These will divert energy from the developing fruit, so it’s best to remove them. If you want to expand or renovate your strawberries you can save the plants on runners later in the season. Similarly, blackberries, tayberries and raspberries will be showing new canes. If you wish to retain these, tie them in as they start to grow, but keep an eye out for ‘stragglers’ appearing some distance from the parent plants and take these out, including the roots that are veering away from the row of plants.

Fruit trees frequently produce more fruit than they can sustain or that you can use. Some fruit will drop naturally, but be prepared to thin out, this will improve fruit size and quality; promote more even ripening; lessen the risk of branches breaking under the weight of fruit and help reduce the spread of pests and diseases.

Container planting

Back in the ornamental garden it’s not too late to introduce more containers with plants in them. These can add a new and exciting dimension offering the chance to introduce theatre and magic. They can offer a new sense of freedom!

These can add a new and exciting dimension offering the chance to introduce theatre and magic

Planting in borders is controlled by soil type –whether it’s heavy clay or light and sandy – but in a container where you can put the soil to suit the plants you want to grow. It gives you the chance to use flowers that are spectacular, or that you particularly like but which have only a short period of interest. Put them in a container, and then when the show is over, put them somewhere out of sight to die back and re-energise for another year. Containers can also be useful for ‘garden thugs’. We all use a container to grow mint to prevent it from taking over the whole garden, but there are also border plants that have the same habit. Putting those in a container will control them.

So, start by buying or growing your plants, you can be as adventurous as you want! When you choose a container firstly consider where you are going to place the finished article. If you intend to have it ‘on display’ the style of the container is important and should be purchased to augment the plants to go into it and where you intend to place it; if you’re going to use it to fill temporary gaps in a border, or for short season impact in a border then hopefully the container will be masked by other plants or sunk into the ground, and plastic pots can be used. Whichever type you use, the bigger the better, larger pots give more scope for planting. They’re easier to sustain growth and will encourage the plants to give of their best. They also require less watering! Large display pots are better placed in situ before filling as they can be extremely heavy when full of compost and plants! For large pots you can reduce the amount of compost you use by filling the bottom third with broken plastic pots or polystyrene, topped with part of an old compost bag that you’ve punched holes in for drainage. Another idea is to line porous pots with old compost bags, again with drainage holes in them, to improve water retention. Obviously plants in pots do need a bit more attention – they will dry out quicker, so it helps to use water retaining crystals at the filling stage. They also rely on you for all their nutrients, you can add slowrelease fertiliser, or you can make you own feed from nettles or comfrey. Putting some form of mulch – wood chips, cocoa bean shells, chanvre or even stones – will help reduce surface evaporation.

All that’s left now is for you to let your imagination loose and grow for colour, added interest and perhaps something very different. A large strategically placed pot can also be changed during the year to suit the season, giving interest the whole year round from early bulbs in January to evergreens and winter flowering hellebore through the colder months. A new dimension!

There is always something to do in the garden, but we should remember we plant our gardens for pleasure, as well as for food, so do make time in the warmer days to sit down, relax and look around at all that you have achieved.