What to do in your garden in June

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At last the cold weather and frosts are behind us and the garden is bursting with life. June is an exciting and busy month with a seemingly endless list of things to do.

You will really have to work hard this month to keep on top of weeds and keep a watchful eye out for slugs, snails and other pests that will feast on your growing plants and veg of you give them half a chance.

Take a look at our June tips to help you make the most of your garden this month:

General

  • Plant a summer hanging basket
  • Gradually lower the cutting height of your mower as grass growth increases
  • Spray roses showing signs of diseases such as blackspot, rust or powdery mildew
  • Apply a combined weed, feed and moss killer to your lawn if you think it needs it
  • Top up water levels in pools and remove water weeds with a net
  • Hoe borders on hot sunny days to remove developing weed seedlings
  • Continue watering anything newly planted until it has established
  • Treat problem weeds emerging in borders with herbicide
  • Lightly trim new growth on box hedging
  • Make elderflower cordial

Vegetables / Fruit

  • Finish planting out vegetable crops, including tomatoes, beans, courgettes and sweetcorn
  • Sow a few seeds of salad leaves every 2-3 weeks
  • Use netting to protect developing and ripening fruits from birds
  • Tie in new shoots on blackberries, raspberries, loganberries and other cane fruits
  • Water gooseberries and strawberries to encourage fruits to swell
  • Thin out emerging raspberry canes if they’re too congested, leaving new canes about 15cm apart
  • Thin out congested fruits on apples and plums – the remaining fruits will grow far larger if competition is reduced
  • Sow seeds now: lettuce, rocket, spinach, beetroot, dwarf French beans, runner beans, radish, carrots, calabrese, mini-cauliflowers, spinach, chicory, endive, kohl rabi, peas, spinach beet, swede and turnips

Lawns

  • Gradually lower the cutting height of your mower as grass growth increases
  • Weather permitting mow twice a week
  • Trim the edges and borders of the lawn for a neat and tidy finish
  • Apply a combined weed, feed and moss killer to your lawn if you think it needs it
  • If any bare patches appear simply repair them with a lawn restorer product

Flowers

  • Use secateurs to remove suckers growing from the stems of standard roses
  • Tie tall border plants like delphiniums to their supports
  • Finish planting out dahlias, cannas and summer bedding
  • Cut back dead and dying foliage on spring bulbs
  • Deadhead camellias and rhododendrons after flowering
  • Train clematis shoots to their supports
  • Finish dividing hardy primulas
  • Prune early summer-flowering shrubs like philadelphus and deutzia once the flowers are over
  • Sow seeds now: wallflowers, sweet Williams, Canterbury bells and forget-me-nots

Greenhouse

  • Increase greenhouse shading if temperatures inside are getting very hot
  • Take cuttings from houseplants
  • Damp down the greenhouse floor every morning
  • Water pots and growing bags daily
  • Set up a ‘watering bench’ using capillary matting to look after pot plants
  • Sow seeds of Christmas cherry (solanum) to grow as winter pot plants
  • Hang yellow sticky traps in the greenhouse to help control whitefly
  • Thin out heavy crops of peaches and nectarines, leaving remaining fruits about 10cm apart
  • Repot any houseplants that are pot bound

Pests

  • Watch out for cabbage pests
  • Watch out for red lily beetle on the tips and leaves of lilies. Squash any you find, or spray with a suitable pesticide
  • Slugs can be a real problem now, particularly on hostas and salads – use good organic slug pellets, or if you want a more natural method try beer traps

Need more advice? Post a question on our Facebook page or pop into the garden centre and talk to a member of our experienced garden team.