Courtesy of the RHS, here are a few things that we should be getting on with this month. There is always something to be done in the garden!
Fruit
- Change the feed for pot-grown fruit to a high potassium liquid one.
- Where possible, prevent the skin splitting on ripening cherries by erecting polythene covers over the trees.
- Peg down strawberry runners and remove cloches from outdoor strawberries once cropped.
- Water blueberries, cranberries and lingonberries regularly with rainwater. Use tapwater when butts run dry.
- Water and feed indoor melons daily once they are established and plant into growing-bags in a heated greenhouse.
- Avoid using insecticides on crops when they are in flower.
- Make sure fruit isn’t drought stressed, especially in containers, against a wall or newly planted.
Vegetables
- Regularly feed ridge cucumbers with a liquid tomato feed, following the instructions given.
- Peas need staking with pea sticks, netting or pruned garden twigs.
- Continue to earth up potatoes not ready for harvest (unless planted through black plastic).
- Do not harvest asparagus spears from crowns less than two years old.
- Hoe between rows on hot days to make sure weeds dry up and die without re-rooting or they will compete for moisture and nutrients. Weedkiller might kill or damage your crops as well as the weeds.
- Water tomatoes and peppers regularly to prevent blossom end rot – a symptom of calcium deficiency due to erratic water supply.
Flowers and Shrubs
- Hoe borders regularly to keep down weeds
- Use water sparingly, particularly in areas prone to drought
- Place out summer hanging baskets and containers
- Mow lawns at least once a week
- Plant out summer bedding
- Stake floppy or tall flowers and shrubs
- Prune many spring flowering shrubs