Plants

Your plants will be in full bloom now offering a welcome pop of colour to enjoy during the hazy During the summer days, it is important to keep your plants well hydrated by checking their moisture levels daily and watering them either in the morning or evening if the soil is dry.

Container plants require more water than those planted directly in the ground, so be sure to place your finger on the compost to assess the moisture levels. To maintain the health of your plants, it is essential to feed them with a high potash feed as constant watering may wash away the nutrients from the compost in your pots and planters.

Make sure to deadhead your bedding plants regularly after the flowering period to promote new growth and maintain their tidy appearance.

This month is also an ideal time to take cuttings from bedding plants like fuchsias, pelargoniums, marguerites, and petunias, which can be potted up and prepared for next season. Additionally, it’s a good time to start planning for next year, particularly to plant spring bulbs in September. You can explore garden centres, online stores, or catalogues to get inspired and plan for a beautiful garden.

Lawncare

With the summer holidays fast approaching, your lawn is likely to see a lot of activity from children playing and entertaining guests. To keep your lawn looking lush and green, it’s best to let the blades of grass grow longer and avoid mowing more than once a week. Trimming your lawn too short can result in unsightly brown spots, so be sure to raise the blades when cutting. Water your lawn only every 7-10 days, and only when the soil is dry to avoid overwatering.

Grow Your Own

The harvest season is here, and a variety of crops are ripe for picking. Tomatoes, French beans, runner beans, courgettes, apples, plums, and cherries are all ready to be harvested, and doing so will stimulate further growth. It’s important to stay vigilant for blight and promptly remove any infected plants to prevent their spread.

This is a wonderful time to gather your main crop potatoes and savour them with a scrumptious BBQ and salad. You can also dig up the onion, shallot, and garlic plants once their leaves have turned yellow. If you own an herb garden, it’s an ideal moment to trim your herbs, promoting new growth before the frost sets in. But keep an eye out for butterfly eggs on your brassica plants since they can hatch into caterpillars that can devour your crops in no time.

Looking for some fresh fruit? Look no further! Strawberries, summer-fruiting raspberries, and blackcurrants are all ripe for the picking and perfect for a tasty fruit salad. Just be sure to protect your bounty from pesky birds with some netting.

But don’t stop there – it’s also a great time to start preparing for the cooler months ahead. Plant some radishes and salad leaves now and you’ll be enjoying a bountiful harvest in just a few short weeks. Happy planting!

Wildlife

During warmer weather, it’s important to ensure that birds have access to fresh water by topping up bird baths and ponds daily. With the hard ground, it’s also more challenging for birds to find food, so consider supplementing their diet by placing bird food in an outdoor feeder. As baby hedgehogs start to move around, leave out some meat-based cat or dog food and water to support their needs. Pollinator insects will also be more prevalent, so maintaining healthy nectar-rich plants is crucial for them. Don’t forget to keep plenty of empty tubes available for leaf-cutter bees, who are actively using insect boxes.