Paul Gargan“The hedges are drowned in green grass seas and bobbing poppies flare like Elmo’s light” – June by Francis Ledwidge
June is the month when all the work you have put in over the past months starts to pay dividends and your garden shows off. Trees and shrubs are in full leaf and perennials fill out beds. There is still a lot to be done, but make sure you leave time to sit down, look around and enjoy.
Clip evergreen hedges to keep them neat. Prune early flowering shrubs such as weigelas, philadelphuses, deutzias and escallonias as soon as their flowers fade to encourage new growth to form. Prune early flowering clematis species such as clematis montana and clematis armandii.
Cut back aubrieta with clippers after flowering, this will encourage a mass of new shoots to develop from the base of the plant.
Pinch out dead flowerheads from rhododendrons being careful not to damage shoots. Watch out for bud blast, which is flower buds that failed to open and now are black and covered in whiskers. Snap these off and destroy.
Remove suckers from roses. These are long straight growths coming from the base of the plant. They are the rootstock of the rose trying to grow. Find where they are coming out of the rootstock and rip them off with a downward motion. Keep on top of training of climbing and rambling roses, tying them in to their framework as they grow. Dead head roses as flowers fade by following the flower stem back down to the next healthy bud and cutting the stem just above this. Feed roses by sprinkling rose fertiliser around the base of the plant, keeping away from the stem.
Dig up tulip and hyacinth bulbs when their foliage dies off. Store the dry bulbs in a dark shed in brown paper bags ready to replant in autumn. When daffodil leaves brown they can be cut. If naturalised in a lawn, set the mower at its highest and cut very slowly on a dry day with the box removed. Rake up and compost.
Second display
Deadhead lupins and delphiniums as soon as flowers fade to encourage a second display in August. Tidy up perennials after flowering and deadhead those still flowering.
Now that the threat of frost is gone, it’s time for summer bedding. Check tubs, window boxes and hanging baskets daily to see if they need water. It should be moist to slightly dry. Don’t let it completely dry out as it’s hard to get back to moist or don’t over water. Liquid feed them every week following the ratio of feed to water recommended on the box. Dead head weekly to prevent them from setting seed, this encourages them to try harder which means they keep producing new buds and more flowers.
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