June Gardening Jobs

Early-flowering perennials such as poppies and forget-me-nots will have already flowered. Cutting them back hard after flowering will result in a second wave of foliage and in some cases, if you're lucky, a second summer flush of flowers. If your plants are dry, water immediately after pruning.

Strawberries and other soft fruits need a helping hand in June. Strawberries benefit from having a bed of straw to help them ripen, or gardening fleece used as a cushion has the same effect. Remember to also start netting your developing soft fruits to prevent the wildlife in your garden pilfering too many of your berries.

Any of your tomatoes which haven’t yet been planted outside can now safely be put outside. Pinch out any side shoots to encourage a better crop and tie loosely to a garden cane for extra support. Many salad veggies are now ready to be harvested such as lettuce, radish and any early potato varieties you may have.

The extra sunlight in June is great for your plants, but weeds will be thriving too. Keep on top of weeding by splitting your garden into sections & tackling them one at a time. This will prevent any areas being forgotten. Hoeing is good but pulling the whole weed out including the tap root is ideal.

As the weather continues to improve, your lawns will need mowing once a week. In periods of dry weather be sure not to cut it too closely so it can cope with the drought better and retain more moisture.

Keep plants well watered. In the evenings once the sun has come down is best as this prevents plants getting scorched and reduces evaporation. A hose attached to a water butt is the easiest method.

Pinch out any shoot tips on your summer bedding to encourage a bushy growth habit. This will provide better coverage and a better show of flowers. Early vegetable sowings need thinning out to provide the stronger shoots with more space to grow. Most fruit trees will naturally ‘thin’ their crops in June, but its always good to check them too. Apples should be one fruit per cluster, pears two fruits per cluster, plums 5-8cm apart and peaches 20-25cm apart.

If you haven’t already done so, now is a great time to get your hanging baskets planted up and hung outside in their full glory, as well as choosing your favourite bedding plants to brighten up those borders. We have a huge range of summer bedding plants for sale in our garden centre in Bagnall, Staffordshire (the post code is ST9 9LE you your sat nav) and we also offer a bespoke hanging basket service if you want a little help cheering up your garden.