Summer Gardening

Dene's gardening tips for the summer months ahead. Dene Wood, Head Gardener at Clumber Park.

Lathered in suncream, short sleeved and rattling an icy glass of Pimm’s, it’s a great time to be outside. Early veggies will be ready to harvest, annuals will be filling out and early perennials will be giving way to later ones. Most ornamental beds will be approaching their fullest about now. It’s a great time to take some notes to:

• Identify gaps in your plantings and note plants to be split.

• Assess the colours for adjustment.

• Identify opportunity to vary height and texture.

• Make note of failures.

Accompanied with good photographs, this aide memoire is invaluable for ‘editing’ ornamental borders in the dormant season and propagating or buying new plants. Use this process for your vegetables too.

Climate change

After last year’s record-breaking temperatures, we’ve thought a lot about how we manage the extreme heat here at Clumber. Here are a few tips:

• Focus irrigation earlier in the day to maximise soil penetration.

• Bottom-soak smaller planters and hanging baskets by placing them into a filled bucket, this is a more efficient use of water.

• Switch to more drought-tolerant plants such as Lavender, Salvias, Nepeta etc. In containers, Liquorice Plant (Helichrysum petiolare) is useful in this regard

• Maximise soil coverage with mulch and planting. Covering the soil minimises moisture evaporation, leaving more for your plants.

• Remember wildlife. bees, birds and small mammals will all be thirsty. A water filled shallow tray with some stones breaking the water surface will help most creatures drink.

Bulbs

Now is a great time to order spring bulbs, you may have already received catalogues, so don’t delay your order. Planting bulbs in autumn is a great bookend to the season, laced with the promise of spring colour. Think about succession if you can; buying Crocus, Narcissus, Tulip and Camassia will give you the longest flowering season. Enjoy!

Find out more: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/clumberpark