Summer Garden Advice

JUNE

General Maintenance
Keep hoeing the borders, hoeing is necessary to keep weeds at bay and also aerate the soil and conserve moisture.  Keep rock gardens and patios free of weeds.  Be aware in looking for insect pests, diseases and weeds. Continue to guard roses against aphids.  Feed plants with fertilisers or liquid feeds this season. If you’ve not already done so, mulch beds after rain.  Cut out any branches of variegated cultivars that are losing their variegation.  Thin out the weak flowering shoots from deciduous shrubs which have finished flowering, such as deutzia, spiraea and hamamelis japonica.

Containers and Urns
Beautifully planted pots soften patio area and add instant colour to the garden.  Compost in containers always dries out faster than the borders and, like hanging baskets, will need to be watered regularly.  With drier summers it’s a good idea to use a water butt to collect rainwater. 

Ponds
After last months work of thinning out the water lilies, now is the time to keep ponds clear of algae before large masses form.  Discourage aphids from attacking water lilies by spraying them with a powerful jet of water.

Rose Garden
Keep removing any suckers, as necessary.  Set to work train climbing roses around frames, arches and pergolas.

Deadhead
Keep on dead-heading annual plants and flowering herbaceous to promote a longer flowering period.
Repeat-flowering roses can also be dead-headed, however leave once flowering roses as the garden birds adore feeding on the hips.

Lawn care
Lawns should be mowed regularly. Raise the blades slightly during dry, hot spells to avoid shocking the grass.

Planting
Plant out pelargoniums for summer bedding.  Sow biennial seeds in a nursery bed for flowering next year.

Pruning and Trimming
Prune all early-summer flowering shrubs.  Thin out and summer prune cordon and espalier apples by shortening the new leafy shoots back to three leaves.  Neaten up box hedging in containers and in the garden.  Now is also the time to trim holly.

 Irises
Irises should be lifted and divided after flowering, every three years.  Select only young rhizomes for replanting.  Make a hole for the rhizome and mix bone meal into the soil before replanting.           

In the Vegetable Garden

Take out the side shoots from cordon tomatoes.  Stake the plants well and feed weekly with a high potash feed.  During the last two weeks of June, harvest your early vegetable crops.  This space can now be used to plant out broccoli, leeks, Brussels sprouts, courgettes, squash and cabbages.  When planting out cauliflower the ground needs to be prepared with a plentiful amount of compost or manure.

JULY

General Maintenance and Cutting Back
August is the month to cut back yew beech and hornbeam hedges.  Cut back any rambling roses and tie in and new stems whilst they are pliable. Layer rhododendrons if not already done in the spring.  Check over all supports and ties on plants and replace any that are broken or missing.

Watering
Continue watering if drought threatens.  In dry weather, water newly planted trees well around their trunks as they can actually take several gallons a week.

Deadheading
Deadhead faded flowers, cut off tall weak stems from plants that have finished flowering, but leave foliage.  Continue deadheading to prolong the flowering period. Leave those which form decorative heads for winter interest such as hydrangeas.  Also leave poppies as these can be hung upside down to dry and then used as an indoor display. 

Containers and Urns
Sow tender perennials to flower in autumn and winter, take soft cuttings to grow on into pots.

In the pond
Thin out oxygenating plants such as water milfoil and water thyme to keep within bounds.

Lawn Care
Prepare ground if seeding next year.  Apply summer dressing of lawn fertiliser.

Prepare for Next Year
Have a long look at your garden; make plans for improving your August planting display and herbaceous border for next year.  Sedem, cyclamen and asters give wonderful late-summer colour. 

Planting
Plant autumn crocuses, and colchicums.  Plant out spring flowering bulbs such as narcissi, alliums and muscari.  Create a sweeping effect using large numbers of the same variety.  Sow pansy and violet seeds for winter and spring flowering.  Sow newly harvested meconopsis seeds for next year’s flowering.

Collect Seeds
Collect and dry seeds from annual plants.  Label and store the seeds ready for sowing next spring.  

Spread Compost
Late August is a good time to spread compost to the plants that benefit from a feed.

Rose Garden
When the last flowers of rambling roses have faded, remove those stems which bore flowers earlier in the year; new young shoots will have time to mature before winter arrives.  Feed with fertiliser to give last blooms a boost.  Should you need any bare-rooted plants for late autumn, order them up this month.

In the Vegetable Garden
Loosen onions and shallots resting them on the soil to ripen, and then when ripe hang up to dry before putting into storage.    
Spread compost around asparagus, fruit bushes and other areas that need feeding.  After the longest day, sow Chinese vegetables that will grow right into the autumn for autumn and winter use.

AUGUST

General Maintenance
Together with watering well, provide mulches of well-rotted leaves or old compost to guard against drought.  Keep a careful lookout for greenfly attack on any young, soft shoots.  Hoe flower beds and borders regularly to keep them free from weeds.  Continue thinning out shrubs that have finished flowering, including philadelphus and weigela, cutting old stems down to base. 

Control Hedges
With leylandii hedges growing between 2 to 3 feet most seasons they need to be kept under control.  As soon as they start to bulk out begin trimming to maintain the width and height you want to maintain.

Deadheading
Deadhead and remove any yellowing foliage from herbacious perennials. Keep annuals flowering continuously by deadheading regularly.  Remember to follow suit with urns, containers and hanging baskets.
  
Containers and Urns
Ensure that all plants are kept watered.  It is a good idea to move containers to areas of the garden that are going over, topiary, lilies, crocosmias and blue agapanthus all work well.  Keep deadheading.

Water and Feed
Keep on watering the garden, especially box hedging.  Containers of box hedging need monthly feeding and lots of water during the summer.  Remember that hanging baskets need to be watered well even during rainy weather, as the root balls will become dense.

Lawn care
Water regularly and copiously in dry weather and do not cut too close.  If the lawn is shocked by close cutting it will turn brown in dry weather.  In hot weather mow less frequently leaving the grass 1 inch high.  If rain is forecast give the lawn an extra feed.  Prepare new and worn lawn areas ready for autumn sowing.

Rose Garden
Deadhead your roses as soon as the blooms fade, this will encourage new growth.  At this stage whilst the roses are in full bloom feed with a proprietary fertilizer.  If there are still signs of attack from aphids and diseases continue to take action.

Planting
To add late summer colour, replace plants that are past their best and block plant with dahlias, salvias, verbena, penstemons, cannas and gazanias.  These should last until the first frosts.

Ponds
Carefully rake algae from ponds and discard.

Wisteria
Now is the time to prune the long stems back, they should be left just within six inches of the stems or leaders.  This will promote more vigourous flowering.

Harvesting
Now is the time to pick all ripe fruit and vegetables. Shallots and garlic need to be ripened well in the sun

Herbs
Mint, marjoram and tarragon will respond well to a good trim this month and produce new leaves.  Harvest your crop of herbs and either dry or freeze ready for the winter.

In the Vegetable Garden
Although you may only get a small harvest you can still repeat-sow lettuce, spinach, beetroot, carrots and parsnips.