Midway through the year, in what should be our best month weather wise, I can hear the rain pelting off the windows as I write this. Whatever fine days come our way, we should make the most of them in the garden. The following is a checklist for your garden in the month of June.
- Watch for greenfly on all plants, particularly roses, lupins and honeysuckle.
- Continue to thin out vegetables sown earlier.
- Complete planting of summer bedding plants.
- Repot old house plants or greenhouse plants.
- Pin down strawberry runners to propagate them.
- Sow cinerarias and primulas for winter flowers.
- Sow wallflowers, stocks and sweet williams.
- Apply lawn weedkillers while growth is active.
- Continue to spray roses against blackspot disease.
- Continue to spray apple trees for apple scab disease and against apple codling moth when flowering has finished.
- Plant out dahlias if not done already.
- Side shoot tomatoes and cucumbers indoors.
- Trim back aubrieta.
- Earth up potatoes to prevent greening.
- Plant outdoor tomatoes.
- Ventilate greenhouses adequately in hot weather.
- Pick gooseberries and strawberries.
- Prune late spring shrubs as soon as they finish.
- Remove rose suckers this month.
- Give a first clipping to box and privet hedges.
- Make a repeat sowing of vegetables if necessary.
- Liquid feed your summer bedding plants on a regular basis.
- A common question asked is how can I add more colour to my garden shrub borders without having to put in bedding plants year after year.
Herbaceous perennial flowers are an excellent solution. These perennials die down each winter and produce new stems and foliage each spring. Most of them after a period of time can also be lifted in the Autumn and divided, increasing your stock of plants.
They add plenty of plant interest, are colourful and luxuriant in foliage and bring out the best in gardens planted in beds or borders on their own or mixed for complementary effect with shrubs or other plants. When positioning or planting new perennial take care to check their ultimate height and spread in relation to neighbouring plants. Donít be afraid to experiment as there are a range of colours with distinctive shaped or foliage texture or imposing flower spikes in strategic positions. The following are a list of plants of varieties that are good for this purpose:
- Alchemellia mollis Penstemons
- Agapanthus Phlox
- Amenomoe Polygonatm
- Euphorbia Paeonys
- Crocosmias Potentillas—(perennial varis)
- Delphininums Rudbeckias
- Geraniums—(perennial varis) Sedums
- Dientras Hemerocallis
- Hostas Ligularia
- Lobelia Cordinalis
That’s it for now, happy gardening.
Bosco McDermott, Jnr. Glynn’s Garden Centre, Lydican.
