June Jobs

General:

• Keep deadheading roses to keep the display going for as long as possible.

• Prune late spring flowering shrubs such as weigela, deutzia and mock orange towards the end of June, once they've finished flowering.

• Continue weeding and deadheading to keep the garden looking it's best.

• Bedding plants and annuals can be planted out now that the risk of frost has passed.

• Containers will need to be watered daily in dry spells, and fed weekly with a high potash feed such as tomato food.

• Plant gladioli to fill any gaps once alliums have finished flowering.

• Pick sweet peas regularly to keep the display going.

Fruit & Vegetables:

• Hoe off annual weeds in the veg patch early on a sunny morning - they will dry up and wilt and can be removed later in the day.

• Pinch out sideshoots on cordon grown varieties of tomatoes. Bush varieties don't need to be pinched out.

• Peg down runners on strawberry plants if you want more plants for future years or remove them from the parent plant if you prefer.

• Transport vegetable seedlings to their growing positions.

• Water crops regularly in dry weather.

• Harvest early potato varieties, spring onions, salad leaves, baby leeks, early varieties of carrots, radishes and summer-sprouting varieties of broccoli.

Wildlife:

• Take a stroll around the garden with your morning cuppa, observing the wildlife going about its business, and listening to the birds and the bees enjoying the beginning of summer.

• If you find a hedgehog nest in your garden, don't disturb it as the mother may abandon her young.

• Ladybirds are great predators and deserve to be encouraged. Leave a patch of stinging nettles in a corner of the garden to encourage aphids for the ladybirds to feed on.

• Herbs take the accolade for optimum wildlife value due to their insect attracting properties. Some of the best include mint, lavender, rosemary, thyme and marjoram.