Gardening jobs this month: June

From Country Living gardening editor Stephanie Donaldson:

Garden care

● Dig up any self-sown seedlings that might be useful elsewhere or would make good presents.
● Enjoy the roses; they’re at their best this month. Read all you need to know about growing roses
● Deadhead roses and border flowers regularly to encourage more blooms to grow during the summer.
● Take cuttings of sage and rosemary.
● Take cuttings from daphnes. Pot 7.5cm non-flowering shoot cuttings into free-draining gritty compost.
● Divide and repot auriculas into soil-based compost.
● Sprinkle fish, blood and bone feed over the surrounding soil after the last cut of the asparagus.
● Clear weeds and grasses from around fruit trees and mulch after rain.
● Towards the end of the month, pinch out the tips of dahlias.
● Keep the atmosphere in the greenhouse moist to avoid problems with red-spider mite.
● If the weather is dry, raise the blades of the lawnmower for a longer cut. This will help conserve moisture and keep the lawn looking green.
● In dry weather, water containers and young plants in the evening so they can absorb the moisture overnight.
● Stand houseplants outdoors in gentle summer rain to clean them.

In the greenhouse

● Open the doors and windows wide for good air circulation, and use blinds or shading on sunny days to prevent scorching.

Fruit and veg

● Plant out runner beans, courgettes, squash and pumpkins.
● Harvest herbs before they flower to promote more leafy growth.
● Spray tomato flowers with water to encourage the fruit to set.
● Plant out pumpkins once frost risk has passed.
● Plant out Brussels sprouts and other winter brassicas, plus leeks.
● Plant out vegetables such as courgettes, squash and tomatoes.
● Plant main-crop carrots to avoid root fly, and erect a plastic barrier to protect them later in the season.
● Earth up potatoes.
● Scatter straw around strawberry plants and protect them from birds.
● Sow your final pea crop at the end of the month.
● Plant main-crop carrots and protect from root fly
● Plant tender vegetables, such as tomatoes and courgettes, in their final positions
● Pick gooseberries firstly as thinnings for stewing
● Feed asparagus with a mixture of fish, blood and bone after the final cut

Pruning

● Prune established spring-flowering shrubs by removing one third of the oldest stems and trimming back the remaining branches to a neat shape
● Prune established cherry, almond and plum trees, removing dead, dying and diseased wood.
● Thin apples and pears if the trees have set a heavy crop, leaving well-positioned fruit to mature.
● Summer-prune figs by pinching out young shoots to six or seven leaves to encourage fruiting next year
● Cut back flowered stems from early flowering summer shrubs such as Deutzia and philadelphus.
● Prune non-fruiting laterals on grapevines to five leaves, and fruiting laterals to two leaves beyond the cluster

Planting and sowing

● Collect seeds from foxgloves, forget-me-nots, hellebores and aquilegia and sow while still fresh.
● Plant out morning glories, but try to avoid root disturbance, which they hate.
● Successional-sow salads and herbs
● Sow rocket, basil and coriander.
● Sow zinnias in fibre pots to avoid root disturbance when planting out.

From Prima gardening expert Ann-Marie Powell:

● Apply or top up mulches in your flowerbeds and containers.
● Water your plants in hot spells. A good soak every couple of days will be more beneficial than frequent quick sprinkles.
● Fill gaps in your borders.
● Tie in climbing and rambling roses as near to horizontal as possible. This will restrict sap flow, causing more side shoots to grow along the length of the stem. That way, more flowers will be produced.
● Sow French, broad and runner beans, peas, squash, sweetcorn and outdoor cucumbers directly into prepared beds outside.
● Hoe off weeds between crops in the vegetable garden.
● Pinch out the shoot tips on summer bedding to encourage strong, bushy plants.
● Thin out early sowings in the vegetable garden.
● Clean out pond filters.
● A high-potash liquid fertiliser will feed annual bedding, tomatoes and perennials.
● Check regularly for pests and diseases. Look out for aphids on soft new growth, spraying them off with a strong jet of water, squashing or picking them by hand, or use a suitable insecticide (including soft soap).
● Net soft fruits.
● Put greenhouse and conservatory plants outside.
● Put straw around strawberries.
● Trim back early-flowering herbaceous geraniums to encourage a second flush of bloom.
● Plant up summer containers and hanging baskets.
● Sow calabrese, beetroot, carrot, kale, Swiss chard, lettuce, radish, kohlrabi, peas, spinach and turnip.
● Start deadheading summer bedding and perennials.
● Plant young tomato plants outside if you haven’t already.
● Water plants twice a day in hot weather.
● Fork over the compost heap.
● Wage war on weeds.
● Layer clematis to propagate

From House Beautiful’s Natalie Flaum:

● Enjoy the garden at its most exuberant. Roses are at their best so remember to deadhead when necessary to encourage flowers later.
● Hoe borders regularly. It’ll keep any weeds in check.
● Now the threat of frost has passed, put out baskets, containers and summer bedding plants. Keep an eye on tall plants and stake them before they grow too much.
● Cut the lawn once a week but not too closely so it can cope with a drought better.
● Shade greenhouses during prolonged periods of sunshine to prevent plants inside from scorching.
● Pinch out side shoots on your tomato plants to encourage a better crop.
● Harvest lettuces, radishes and other salads you’ve planted earlier, and early potatoes. Sow more of these and other fast-growing crops for a constant supply through summer.