Midsummer weather in July should bring plenty sunshine with long warm days that continue late into the evening. Sadly this year, we haven’t had much warm days, but don’t despair, summer is not over yet! At least your water butts are full, ready for drier spells when regular and wise watering will be needed.

Flowers 

Weekly deadheading and feeding will help to maintain healthy growth and encourage more flowers. 

• Cut lavender for drying

A great way to keep shrubs neat and compact. Choosing flowers just as they mature, when they are the most fragrant. The best time is late morning – after the dew has dried but before the sun draws out the essential oil. Hang bunches upside down in a well-ventilated, warm dark spot.

• Care for sweet peas

1. Pick often
2. Water regularly: they are thirsty plants so check the soil at the base to see if they need water.
3. Feed regularly: every 10-14 days with tomato fertiliser, seaweed or homemade liquid comfrey. 

• Harvest cut flowers 

Early mornings or evenings are the best time when the stems are full of water and less likely to wilt.

• Collect and store seeds 

From ripe seed-heads from aquilegias, nigellas, poppies. Ensure that your seeds are dry before storing them in paper envelopes in a dark, cool and dry location.

Fruit and veg

• Water thirsty plants such as celery, beans, peas courgettes, pumpkins and tomatoes regularly during dry weather.
• Make the last pickings of rhubarb and and leave the stems in place; this will allow the plant to build up reserves for next year. Remove any flower spikes that start to form, cutting right down at the base. 
• Thin out heavy crops of apples, pears and plums and remove and remove any malformed, damaged or undersized fruits.
• Sow a last batch of beetroots, peas and dwarf beans  before mid-July for an autumn crop.
• Sow veg to harvest during the winter months. Kale, winter cabbage spinach, radicchio, carrots.
• Sow small batches of fast-maturing salad leaves and radishes every few weeks for continuous pickings.
• Cover brassica with fine netting to prevent cabbage white butterflies laying their eggs on the leaves.
• Continue pinching out any side shoots growing from the leaf joints of cordon tomatoes, also known as vine tomatoes. This will encourage the plants to put their energies into producing flowers and therefore fruits. 
• Peg down strawberry runners into pots of compost to root new plants.

Tackle summer pests and diseases 

Pests and diseases can thrive in warm weather. 

• Keep watch for pests such as lily beetles, snails, aphids and vine weevils and remove before they do too much harm.
• Look out for clematis wilt. Symptoms are wilting leaves and black discolouration on the leaves and the stem. Cut out all affected material and dispose of it in your household waste. 
• Stop rust damaging hollyhocks by pruning out affected leaves and dispose of them in your household waste.
• Watch out for blight. In warm damp weather check for dark edges on the leaves of potatoes and tomatoes. Cute out affected leaves and dispose of it in your household waste.

Don’t forget 

• Clear weeds regularly around your crops as they compete for nutrients and water.
• Continue slug hunting.
• Deadhead flowering plants (unless you want to keep and store seeds): to ensure the plant keeps producing more flowers rather than putting its energy into forming seeds.
• Cool down the greenhouse:  In hot weather,  temperatures inside can rise to extremes, causing plants to become stressed and to dry out. Make sure that vents are open on sunny days. Drape shade nettings over the outside of the greenhouse. Damp down in the morning, wetting hard surfaces inside the greenhouse (floor and shelves) to help plants cope with the heat.
• Prevent powdery mildew.  This fungal disease tends to affect plants in dry spells. Give plenty of moisture in summer and mulch after watering with a compost layer. 
• Prune wisteria. Cut whip stems back to five or six leaves after flowering for healthy growth and to control the overall size. Don’t cut the woody framework. 
• Continue to tie and train new growth on climbing plants.

The weather has not been as warm and sunny as we would expect for this time of year, but at least we have passed the danger of frost and night temperatures are getting milder. The longest day of the year falls on June 20th, bringing warmer temperatures and extra sunlight. June is the month when we can finally move those tender plants outside including houseplants. 

June is a month of plenty in the garden: plenty to harvest, plenty to grow and plenty more to do!

Refresh your roses 

They will benefit from extra attention now to provide plentiful blooms in the weeks to come.

1. Regular deadheading to encourage new flowerbuds.
2. Give them plenty nutrients: sprinkle a granular feeds around the base or water on a liquid rose feed.
3. Control pests by rubbing them off by hand or using an organic spray.
4. Tie in climbing or rambling roses. 

Tidy spring perennials  

Chop scruffy-looking spring-flowering perennials for potentially a second flush of flowers. Cut Alchemilla mollis, early geraniums and Oriental poppies back to ground level and remove flowering stems of lupins and delphiniums for more blooms.

Sow poppies

If sown direct now, when the soil is warm, many varieties flower within eight weeks. Poppies prefer to be sown direct rather than into a seed tray as they hate root disturbance. Follow Sarah Raven rule of the 4 T’s to succeed with direct sowing: 

1. Sow into a fine Tilth.
2. At the right Time (when the soil is warm and moist). 
3. Sowing as Thinly as you can. 
4. Thin the seedlings to leave them spaced 10-12in (25-30cm) apart.

Plant ahead for next spring: sow biennials

Next spring’s biennials, such as wallflowers, sweet williams, foxgloves and honesty, need time to establish. 

1. Sow them now direct into seedbeds spaced a couple of inches apart. 
2. Thin in three or four weeks to 30cm (12in), and transplant to their flowering position in early autumn. 

If you are short of space, sow them in pots in a sheltered spot until the autumn when they can be planted in their final positions. 

Tomatoes

You can now bring your tomatoes out of the greenhouse.

1. Plant them: at the base of pre-prepared supports. The key for a good harvest is to make sure you dig in plenty of garden compost just before planting and to keep the roots well watered. Tomatoes are hungry plants!
2. Train them: train cordon tomatoes (also known as vine tomatoes) by pinching out the side-shoots that sprout from the joints between the leaves and the main stems. For bush tomatoes, let them develop naturally by leaving the side-shoots unpruned.
3. Feed them: when the fruits start to set. 

Plants cucurbits

Young courgettes, marrow, squash and pumpkin plants started off indoors can be planted out. They need a sunny site with rich soil enriched with garden compost. 

Direct sow outdoor

Regularly sow and harvest beetroots, spring onions, radishes, herbs and salads leaves. Water well in dry weather to reduce risk of them running to seeds.

It is not too late to direct sow in the ground, runner beans and french beans, courgettes and squash.

Plan for a winter harvest

Sow slower-growing vegetables such as cabbages, broccoli and kale for harvesting in winter. Sow seeds in module tray or seedbed for transplanting to final position later. 

Don’t forget 

• Keep on top of weeds … but don’t worry about a few weeds: you don’t want them to smother young seedlings but a few left in borders will support wildlife.
• Get slug hunting: watch plants closely for signs of slug damage.
• Deadhead flowering plants: to ensure the plant keeps producing more flowers rather than putting its energy into forming seeds.
• Cool down the greenhouse:  At this time of year temperatures inside can rise to extremes, causing plants to become stressed and to dry out. Make sure that vents are open on sunny days. Drape shade nettings over the outside of the greenhouse. Damp down in the morning, wetting hard surfaces inside the greenhouse (floor and shelves) to help plants cope with the heat.
• Top up water features.
• Use water wisely: use water butts as much as possible and re-use water from the kitchen  such as water that has been used for boiling food or washing vegetables. Try to water early morning or late evening when it is cooler, to slow evaporation. Soak the soil around the plants roots once or twice a week rather than watering little and often every day. This will allow the water to seep deeper into the soil so the roots will grow down in search of it.  Create a shallow bowl in the soil around young plants – this ill act as a well. 

With the weather getting warmer and risk of frost having passed, there is a lot that can be planted in both the flower and vegetable garden in May. 

Weather watch:

Although the risk of frost is diminishing, it is still a possibility as warm, cloudless days can be followed by cold nights. Keep an eye on the forecast and don’t be tempted to plant out tender plants until the end of the month. 

Toughen up tender plants 

Seedlings nurtured indoors cannot be planted outside straight away. Instead toughen them up by placing them outside in a sheltered spot for a few hours during the day then bring them inside. Gradually increase the amount of time they spend outdoors . Do this for a period of one or two weeks before planting directly into the ground. 

Divide Primroses

These spring plants can become congested over time . To reinvigorate them  and keep them producing blooms in future years, divide after they finished flowering:

1. Dig them up: choose a cool day when the ground is moist
2. Separate the plants: Using a spade pull apart the clump or slice into sections.
3. Replant your divisions: backfilling the planting hole with compost or leaf mould. 
4. Water well. 

Prune spring-flowering shrubs 

Flowering shrubs such as forsythia, ornamental currants, viburnums, chaenomeles (flowering quince) need to be pruned straight after flowering so there is plenty of time for new growth to develop and produce flowers next spring. 

1. Use sharp, clean secateurs or loppers for thicker stems and remove any dead or damaged growth to a healthy bud or to the base of the stem.
2. Prune out any stem growing in the wrong direction and spoiling the shape of the plant
3. If the shrub is very congested, thin out the stems by removing a couple from the centre of the plant right down to the base. 

Plant out summer bedding and sweet peas 

Towards the end of the month, plant out begonias, tender salvias, pelargoniums, lobelias, sweet peas… Acclimatise plants to outdoor conditions  by putting them outside during the day and bringing them in at night for a week or two. Put the necessary support in place for climbing and trailing. 

Plant up baskets and window boxes with tender plug plants 

For long lasting summer colours it’s the right time to plant up hanging baskets and pots. If it becomes too cold for these plants to stay outside, keep your baskets and containers in a porch or greenhouse for a couple of weeks. 

Sow beans runner beans and French beans 

1. Sow dwarf, French and runner beans:  5 cm deep into deep pots of peat-free compost and germinate on a sunny windowsill. 
2. Set up supports ready for climbing types:  simply place three to four bamboo canes into the ground and tie to gather at the top. 
3. Plant the beans outside once they have established, from late May. 

Earth up potatoes

Once the stems are 20cm tall, draw soil up to form a ridge along the row. 

This protect shoots from frosty and excludes light, which turns potatoes green and inedible.

Grow salads

Ensure a continuous supply of fresh leaves by sowing a small amount of seed every two to three weeks. 

Plan for a winter harvest

Sow slower-growing vegetables such as cabbages, broccoli and kale for harvesting in winter. Sow seeds in module tray or seedbed for transplanting to final position later. 

Don’t forget 

• Keep on top of weeds: regularly hoe off or pull out annual weeds to prevent them establishing  and setting seeds.

• Get slug hunting: watch plants closely for signs of slug damage.

• Train climbers: tie in soft new shoots of climbing clematis and honeysuckle to their support. 

• Apply a mulch:  to retain moisture: late spring is the perfect time to apply mulch. Adding a 5-7cm layer will help to retain moisture before drier summer conditions arrive.

• Set up plant supports: put plant support in place before perennials get too big.

• Water wisely during dry spells: focus watering on newly planted specimens. Do your watering in the early morning or early evening to minimise water loss from evaporation.