Summer has begun and it’s time to fill your garden with colour by planting out summer bedding in beds, hanging baskets and containers. For the grow your own enthusiasts, sow runner beans, French beans and sweetcorn now and start watering fruiting plants with Tomorite for a bumper crop.
- Support herbaceous plants with plant rings and supports. Staking early will help avoid disaster, particularly in taller plants that are vulnerable to collapse after heavy rain or in high winds.
- It is not too late to direct sow a few fast growing hardy annuals such as Calendula, Godetia and Clarkia. Direct sow runner beans, French beans and sweet corn in early June for a bumper crop.
- Plant out Summer bedding for a seasonal display in beds, hanging baskets and containers. You will find a large range of bedding available at all of our Sussex based garden centres, with new deliveries arriving every week.
- Prune early flowering deciduous shrubs after flowering, to encourage strong and healthy shoots and improve future flowering.
- Trim box hedging. Avoid wet days and remove clippings to minimise the risk of box blight.
- Start watering fruiting plants with Tomorite for a bumper crop.
- Hoe borders regularly as a natural way to keep down weeds. Deep-rooted perennial weeds may be harder to eradicate as they can be difficult to dig out. Weed barriers such as Anti Weed Fabric can be used as a preventative measure when weeds have been removed.
- Greenhouses are susceptible to overheating so now is a great time to fit shading in your greenhouse, or spray with Greenhouse Shading. Monitor greenhouse temperature with a thermometer and open all doors on hot sunny days. Doors can be left open at night if the temperature remains high.
- Hang yellow sticky traps to control insect pests in the greenhouse.
- Check roses early on for blackspot, aphids and leaf-rolling sawfly. Apply RoseClear. Red lily beetle and sawfly are now active and can be controlled with BugClear for flowers, fruit and veg. Vine weevil is a serious pest in containers and will also start to become active this month.
- Sow winter flowering pansies and ornamental cabbage for late colour, along with wallflowers for spring flowering.
