As I write this, in June, my garden is about three weeks behind how it was last year. The weather is beyond prediction for the next two months. If it turns hot and dry, then stop mowing but keep hoeing.
Hoeing is a sure way to make it rain! – that, and cleaning the windows!
Still, the herbaceous border should be at its best – take a record of which plants need to be divided in the Autumn.
Currants, berries potatoes, onions, peas and beans should be ready for picking and storing.
When garlic leaves turn yellow, lift the bulbs and dry in a single layer in a dry place.
Sow seeds for autumn and winter salads.
This is a popular plant with bees – Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’
Clip, snip and cut
- Early summer flowering shrubs like Philadelphus: cut back flowered stems to a strong lower shoot and remove one fifth of the old woody stems.
- Clip privet, box, yew, cypress and other ‘hedgy’ plants now the birds have finished nesting in them.
- Cut long whippy shoots of Wisteria to 7 leaves from the main stem.
- Prune out flowered stems of rambling roses; thin out the vigorous new growth and tie it in.
- Summer-prune cordon or espalier apples and pears
- Cut non-flowering side branches of grape vines to 5 leaves and fruit- bearing branches to 2 leaves beyond the fruit bunch.
- Cut back hardy geraniums to the ground after the first flush of flowers to get fresh foliage and more flowers later on.
- Dead-heading keeps perennials and bedding plants flowering for longer.
- In August, trim lavender, leaving an inch (2.5cm) of new growth
Propagate
- Take semi-ripe cuttings from shrubs – use the current season’s growth, cut below a node, remove the soft tips and place in gritty compost.
- Divide bearded irises and plant the young rhizomes 12inches(30cm) apart.
- Use strawberry runners to supply new plants for next year
- Collect seeds from perennials and hardy annuals as they ripen; store in paper envelopes (labelled!) in a cool dry place until spring
For your diary
Church Crookham Garden Society has its annual show on 21st August (if permitted by pandemic advice). Entry is free for members (£5 p.a) and associate members. You can find the schedule on their website or at the trading shed.
Gardens open for charity
4 th July Bumpers, Long Sutton NB- Helen Baker’s plant sale is here
11th and12th July, 1 Wogbarne Cottages, Rotherwick RG27 9BL
17th and 18th July Earleywood, Frensham GU10 3AT
28th July and 1st August Blounce House, South Warnborough RG29 1RX
22nd August Weir House, Old Alresford SO24 9DG
For more gardens open for charity, visit ngs.org.uk