TRIMMING

June is the ideal month to trim back evergreen hedges once flowering has finished. All flowering shoots of plants such as Berberis darwinii should be cut back sufficiently to give the hedge a neat, tidy appearance.

PRUNING

Any shrubs that fl owered during May or early June can also be pruned now, but this is not to say that pruning is always necessary. This will depend on the type of shrub that is being grown and the amount of space that it has been allotted. For example pyracantha should be pruned annually when grown against a wall, but it is not necessary to prune them at all if they are grown as free standing shrubs. Climbers such as Clematis montana and chaenomeles, quinces should be pruned to keep them tidy. With free standing shrubs such as mock orange and deutzia it is a good idea to prune approx. one fifth of the older shoots out each year. This will keep the plant young and vigorous and produce a stronger growing, more free fl owering shrub.

RUNNERS

If strawberries are left to their own devices they will produce innumerable runners during the summer and autumn. To produce new plants, runners should be pegged down with a metal pin into either a sunken pot or directly into the ground. After approximately three weeks the runners will have rooted and can be transplanted into their new positions. It is important to keep the runners and parent plants well watered during the rooting process. With the rising cost of fruit why not start off a new strawberry bed or give some to your neighbour!

SOWING

Now is an ideal time to make successional sowings of crops such as radishes, turnips and lettuce. These can provide an ongoing harvest throughout the summer months.

WATERING

With the recent dry spell of weather some of the soil around potatoes will have disappeared. It is important that the soil is earthed up around the stems to stop the tubers turning green. Continuing on that note, watering can take up a lot of our spare time during the summer. Have you considered using a variety of mulches around the garden? These can be very attractive and enhance your garden’s appearance, they conserve moisture and fi nally help prevent weed growth. Materials such as composted bark, bark, gravel, broken slate, garden compost, pebbles and manure can all be used in a variety of garden situations.