Garden Maintenance: JUNE
Top gardening jobs for June
1. Hoe borders regularly to keep down weeds.
2. Prepare for drought;
fit a water butt, mulch around plants and don’t cut the grass so
short.
3. Keep hedges trimmed.
4. Cut lawns regularly.
5. Plant out
summer bedding.
6. Prune most spring-flowering shrubs (after they have
finished flowering).
7. Liquid feed containerised plants every two to
four weeks.
8. Keep tubs and hanging baskets well watered.
9. Think
about your greenhouse – don't let it get too hot (apply shade paint,
open doors, hose-down the floor)
10. Stake/support climbing/tall plants
as they grow.
11. Protect crops from birds by putting up nets.
12.
Start to thin out fruit on most fruit trees
13. Look out for pest
problems once the weather warms up.
Top Tip:
Invasive weeds will now be easy to spot
because they are likely to be very large and/or flowering.
More info:
Common UK invasive weeds
Lawn Care
- Mow lawns regularly to keep them healthy - removing a 'little and
often' is the key.
- Cut the lawn edges to keep them neat and well
shaped. At the same time create a 3in gutter to define the lawn edge from
the flower border.
- Apply a high nitrogen summer lawn fertiliser if not
done last month to - encourage a healthy-looking lawn.
- Moving garden
furniture etc regularly to stop the grass underneath from dying off.
-
Selective weedkillers are available for lawns that will kill the weeds but
not the grass. Moss killers are also available. These chemicals all work
differently so ask your gardener for advice.
- Disperse dry worm casts
with a hard-bristled broom.
- If molehills are a problem then traps are
the most effective way to deal with them. Ant hills will also cause bumps in
your lawn at this time of year.
Top Tip:
The weather is likely to be getting hot!
Beware of Heat Street and Heat Stroke. Do you know the difference? Can you
spot the symptoms of this killer condition?
More info:
Identifying Heat Stress and
Heat Stroke
Trees, shrubs and climbers
- Tie in climbing and rambling roses as near to horizontal as possible to
restrict sap flow and cause more side-shoots to grow along the length of
stem resulting in more flowers.
- Prune out any frost damage from
evergreen shrubs.
- Prune flowering shrubs such as Deutzia, Kolkwitizia,
Weigela and Philadelphus after they have finished flowering. If you leave
this too late the flowers may not have enough time to develop for next year.
- Continue to clip evergreen hedges such as privet and box.
- This is
the best time of year to prune deciduous magnolias once the plant is in full
leaf.
- If necessary, thin out new shoots on trees and shrubs pruned in
the winter to prevent overcrowding.
- Prune overcrowded, dead or diseased
stems from Clematis montana once it has finished flowering; it can take
cutting back very hard.
- Prune wall-trained pyracanthas, removing any
shoots coming out from the wall, and shortening other new growth to about
8cm.
- Remove any reverting shoots on hardy variegated evergreens, to
prevent them reverting to just one colour.
- Take softwood cuttings of
deciduous shrubs including Caryopteris, Forsythia, lavender, Fuchsia,
Hydrangea macrophylla, Philadelphus and Spiraea and rosemary if not done
last month.
Flowers
- Plant out summer bedding and seed-raised plants, if not already done
so.
- Thin out direct sowings of hardy annuals.
- Stake tall
perennials to prevent wind damage to flower spikes.
- Cut back dead bulb
foliage if not done already. It is important to wait until the foliage dies
down naturally.
- Now is the time to lift and divide overcrowded clumps
of bulbs after they have finished flowering so that you can increase your
stock for next year.
- Any gaps in your herbaceous borders should be
filled with summer bedding plants for now.
- Cut back clumps of
spring-flowering perennials such as Helleborus, Pulmonaria to encourage
fresh foliage. - This will also encourage the plants to -stay more compact
and will flower better next year.
- Trimming back spreading and trailing
plants such as the annual Lobularia (sweet alyssum) after flowering will
encourage fresh growth and new flowers.
- Cut back Oriental poppies after
flowering to stimulate growth of fresh new foliage.
- Help Sweet peas
find their supports to encourage them to climb and give a good display.
-
Pinching out the leading shoots on Chrysanthemum and Helianthus will
encourage bushy plants. Alternatively, leave them if you want tall plants.
- Divide primroses after flowering and keep them planted in a nursery bed
until the autumn.
- Divide hostas as they come into growth.
- Deadhead
flowering perennials such as Lupinus and Delphinium to promote a second
flush of flowers later in the season.
- Lift clumps of forget me nots as
these can get out of control.
- Hellebore seed can be harvested once the
seed heads have ripened - sow them straight away for growth next year.
Greenhouse and houseplants
- Move conservatory plants outdoors during warm days but bring in if the
temperature is expected to fall at night.
- Train passion flowers and
other climbers over their supports.
- Greenhouses may need shade paint to
stop temperatures getting too high.
- Opening doors and vents on hot days
will also help. Damp down the floor to increase humidity.
Ponds
- Thin out, cut back or divide excessive new growth on aquatic plants and
tidy up the bog garden.
- Water lilies are big feeders – if not
already done so feed with a slow-release fertiliser tablet (place in the
soil around the base of the plant.
- Keep ponds and water features topped
up and clean out pond filters.
- If you live in the north you can still
plant new aquatic plants.
- Remove blanket weed from the pond and then
leave the weed on the side of the pond for a day to allow trapped creatures
to return to the water before adding to the compost heap.
Soft Landscaping
- Removing dirt and algae from paving and patios will stop them becoming
slippery when wet – your gardener may have a pressure washer to do
this.
- Check and repair wooden structures.
- Paint wooden structures
with a wood preserve.
- Remove any out of date chemicals from your shed
or garage; your gardener has a list of chemicals that have been banned.
