Summer gardening tips

Important tasks for the whole season

Watering

Use water wisely and concentrate your efforts on the following:

• Plants growing in pots, containers and hanging baskets as these can dry out very quickly
• Newly planted trees and shrubs. As a guideline specimen planted within the last four to years falls into this category.
• Any freshly sown or newly planted parts of garden.
• In the kitchen garden leafy vegetables such as and spinach should never be allowed dry out.  Mow less often with the blades on higher setting during dry periods. You find that dry brownish patches will but these should disappear with the conditions of autumn.

Weeding

The best time weed is just after light rainfall when the weeds can be pulled out very easily. Weeding is particularly important in the kitchen garden as any weeds will compete with your crops for essential moisture and nutrients.

Feeding

Plants in pots, containers and hanging baskets will suffer if you don’t supplement the nutrients in the compost throughout the growing season. Either incorporate a slow release fertilizer at planting time or use a water soluble feed every week to ten days through the summer. Fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and aubergines, will definitely need extra feeding,.

June

The ornamental garden

This is your last chance to stake or support plants before it is too late - once they’ve flopped it’s very hard to rectify the situation! Use ready made plant supports from the garden centre or construct your own using canes or twiggy sticks pushed into the soil around the plants. Many spring flowering shrubs will benefit from pruning in early summer as this will give them time to make the new growth necessary for next year’s flowers before the end of the season.

The vegetable garden

In the vegetable garden pinch out side shoots on tomatoes and enjoy harvesting and eating the first early potatoes - delicious! Lettuce, radishes and other salad crops should also be ready now - don’t forget to make repeat sowings at two or three week intervals so that you can enjoy these crops all summer long.

July and August

The ornamental garden

Try to make the time to deadhead your bedding and repeat flowering plants to keep them producing blooms over a long period.

The vegetable garden

In the vegetable garden harvest your vegetables as soon as they are ready to eat. Harvest courgettes and other continuous producers regularly to encourage more fruits to develop.

Garden ponds

Clear algae and blanket weed from your garden pond and keep it topped up - preferably with rainwater.

Holidays

Prepare for your holidays by making arrangements for friends or neighbours to pop round and water any containers, hanging baskets, and crops growing in your greenhouse.

Forward planning

As you will be out in your garden much more during the summer months, take the opportunity to assess your garden and make a note of any changes you would like to make - it always helps to take some photos to remind you what your borders looked like at various points in the season.