News - Page 93
Flaming June is a month to relish the results of all your hard work in the garden – but don't rest on your laurels for too long s it's also time to get the show going for autumn fireworks.
General tasks:
- Keep weeding and dead-heading to maintain beds, borders and container displays at their absolute best
- Give tired lawns a boost with a liquid feed to green it up and boost growth.
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The plant of the month for June is the rose, the undisputed holder of the title of Britain's favourite flower – and no wonder.
With thousands of varieties to choose from, and over 150 types of species (wild) roses too, you're spoilt for choice. Whether your passion is for perfume, petals or performance – there's sure to be a rose that's perfect for you.
Clothe your pergolas, walls and fences in climbers such as the pale cream 'Madame Alfred...
Protect your cabbages as this is the season when dozens of pests take to the wing, intent on making a feast of your brassicas. If you don't like to spray against pests, it can be difficult to keep on top of them, and though you can patrol your crops daily squishing offending caterpillars, mealybugs and aphids you may not catch all the culprits.
Much better to prevent the little critters reaching your crops in the first place. Act now to cover your newly...
Take on the giant pumpkin growers and start off a whopper in your own back garden. It's a great green-fingered activity to get the kids involved in, too – you could even hold your own giant pumpkin competition either at home or at school!
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Prune rosemary and other shrubby herbs like thyme and lavender after flowering to prevent them getting leggy and keep them neat.
Rosemary is a real asset in the garden, making a handsome and spicily fragrant evergreen shrub with pretty lavender-blue flowers in early summer. In common with other Mediterranean herbs like lavender, though, it's prone to getting leggy without regular pruning, making long straggly stems with sparse, patchy foliage that's no...
What to do in the garden in May:
With the sun shining and the garden full of colour and life you'll want to be outside from dawn till dusk at this time of year. Here are a few things you can be getting on with:
General tasks:
- Harden off tender plants before moving them outdoors, taking 7-14 days to get them gradually used to cooler conditions
- Water pots daily to make sure the compost stays moist...
Sow sweetcorn now for the luxury of just-picked cobs through late summer and autumn. You'll find a huge choice of seeds on offer now at our garden centre here in Thirsk; for reliable cropping even in cooler summers choose early-maturing varieties like 'Sundance', or look out for super-sweet 'Applause', bred to hold its sugars for longer. Or go for a fun crop with 'Red Strawberry' popping corn – deep burgundy to cook in hot oil for home-grown popcorn.
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Fill gaps in your borders as they become obvious among newly-emerging spring growth. With the worst of winter over, it's a good time for damage assessment – inevitably you'll find some plants haven't pulled through the cold weather, either because they've succumbed to chilly wet soil (a more common cause of plant loss than cold alone), snow breakages or pest damage.
Don't worry: it's a good excuse to plant some more! Be careful about replacing like for...
Earth up container-grown potatoes to keep them growing on strongly for your earliest-ever crops. Potatoes form tubers along their roots underground, so the more root the plant grows, the bigger your harvest. Adding more compost as they grow also keeps tubers buried deep underground: if they form too close to the surface and light reaches them they'll turn green and inedible.
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Split up your herbs to keep them young, healthy and productive for many years to come.
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Happy National Gardening Week! There's a packed seven days ahead as the country's biggest celebration of all things to do with gardening gets under way.
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