- WATER trees and shrubs in pots now they are growing away fast.
It’s important that they have a good water supply to keep them cool as well as helping support growth.
Keep a large saucer under the container to avoid staining the patio and to see when the compost is soaked through.
Water slowly so that the water seeps into the compost rather than running down the sides straight into the saucer. A mulch of stones over the compost helps to conserve moisture around the roots in hot weather (tree in pot pic)
- EARTH up potatoes.
Potatoes are formed on the stems as they grow upwards, so increase your yield by raking soil over the base of shoots. If your soil is a little hard it may help if you first fork along either side of the row to loosen it.
Carry on earthing them up whenever the shoots rise above the ridge, until it’s as high as you can manage. Weed and water every time you do this.
Come harvest time, you should find that most of the crop is in the wide base of the ridge.
- WHETHER its flaming June this year remains to be seen, but at least we’ve passed the danger of frost once we get into June, we can finally move those tender plants outside, including houseplants.
Position shade lovers such as spider plants and begonia Rex at the base of a fence or under a tree.
Sun-lovers, such as cacti and succulents can be placed where they can soak up the sun’s rays.
Always take your plants out of their outer pots if they don’t have holes in the base.
- JUNE is a great time to sow seeds and plant out tender bedding. Sunflowers, night-scented stocks, love-in-a-Mist, nasturtiums and cosmos can all be started from seed now and will give a great show this year. And there are flowers than you can sow seeds now ready for next year.
These include wallflowers, foxgloves and lupins, all will flower next year
Keep dead-heading and feeding roses and you’ll get more blooms.
Make sure hanging baskets don’t dry out, keeping them well watered but not too soggy. It’s suggested that a mugful of water per day can keep hanging baskets healthy and avoid waster water. Deadhead flower regularly to prevent the plants going to seed, rather than continuing to flower.
- HEUCHERA rust, a fungal disease that primarily affects the foliage, is still around due to the warm, wet weather.
Treat by cutting off all the affected leaves, and scrape off the top layer of soil, then throw both away or burn them. Do not compost!
Buy some Rose Clear (or similar) for black spot on roses. Spray no more than once a week for four weeks and watch out for foliage that has any rust on it, just pinch those off. Spray once a month for a couple of months after.
- CREATE a cottage garden in a container that’s suitable for a partially shadowed doorway or next to a wall, using a mixture of shade-tolerant plants.
Pink-purple foxgloves create a backdrop, giving height and a feast for bees. Sweet woodruff brings a contrast of flowers and foliage with its whorls of bright green, star-shaped, scented leaves and sprays of delicate white blooms.
Nestle these in a skirt of blue-purple lobelia and some trailing ivy and you have a cottage garden in a tub.
A classic square wooden planter can add kerb appeal and could be painted to compliment your outdoor paintwork. Place in a shaded spot and water well, especially in hotter weather.
