Gardening jobs for June
Jobs for June
Another dry month with very little rain in May, made even worse by a spell of windy weather that evaporated what little moisture there was in the soil. Make sure any newly planted vegetables, shrubs, perennials, or bedding plants are thoroughly watered in to keep the roots moist.
Mulching is another good way to conserve moisture in the soil and to prevent roots from getting too hot. Give the soil around plants a good soaking and then apply a couple of inches of garden compost or well-rotted manure to seal in the moisture.
Now is the ideal time to plant outdoor tomatoes either into the garden or pots of compost. These can be bush or upright varieties and they should be positioned in a warm sunny spot. Modern varieties such as ‘Mountain Magic’ and ‘Ferline’ have a good resistance to blight which can be a problem later in the summer.
If your runner beans or courgettes were damaged by the frosts in mid-May, there is still time to sow more seeds or you might be able to buy a few plants. Kept watered, the new plants will soon catch up in the warmer weather.
If growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, make sure they are never allowed to dry out otherwise blossom end rot on the fruits can develop. Remove the side shoots that develop between the main stem and leaves regularly and as the flowers and fruits develop feed once a week with a high potash tomato fertiliser.
Make sure hanging baskets and newly planted summer containers are kept moist at all times and feed with a liquid fertiliser once a week to keep them growing and flowering.
Dead head late spring flowering perennials such as aquilegia and foxgloves as the flowers fade to keep the plants tidy.
With the dry weather has slowed grass growth down but give the lawn an occasional trim to cut off long, spiky grass growth.
It’s great to see birds in the garden, but they can cause lots of damage to young vegetable plants and ripening strawberries, so to protect your crops, cover with netting or fleece.
Fingers crossed, it looks like it might be a good year for plums, if we get a bit more rain. If your tree is carrying a heavy crop, it really does pay to remove up to half the small fruit by mid-June. This gives the remaining fruit time to develop and it prevents broken branches caused by the weight of too much fruit.
The dry May has prematurely caused some onion plants to run to seed. If you spot a flower developing in the leaves, pinch it off straight away and water and feed the plants to encourage growth.
Sow sweet William seed by the end of June to produce strong plants that will overwinter and produce beautiful flowers next May & June for cutting.
Pots & Trowels gardening videos
If you use Facebook or YouTube, I now post two videos a week from our garden with a selection of seasonal hints and tips. Just search for Pots & Trowels – they are free to watch and subscribe to. All I ask is that you Like and Share them with your friends to get everyone gardening!
If you enjoy cooking, Jill is always adding new seasonal recipes to our website, using fresh fruit & vegetables from the garden. Feel free to have a look – www.martinfish.com
Happy gardening,