Gardener's Diary is a regular feature of Age-Net run by our Deputy Editor

Rosemary Martin

June 2009

A 'must' for this month is the Gardener's World Live show at the NEC in Birmingham. For 'foodies' there is a double treat because the Good Food show is on at the same time and one ticket will allow you entry into both shows.

With our kitchen garden in full swing for the season I am planning making jams, chutneys and pickles using our own produce, and have already made some rhubarb and Ginger jam which is delicious and surprisingly easy to make!

If you are having trouble identifying bugs and pests in your garden try the BBC's Pest and Disease Identifier - it's brilliant and has helped me identify several previously unknown bugs!

Jobs for the month..

Bedding Plants

Now that you've planted out the summer bedding plants give them plenty of water during dry spells until they're well established.. If the ground is very dry you will need to continue watering the plants until it can be seen that they are growing away on their own. Some bedding plants will need more water than others so check instructions. It is usually pretty obvious however, if a plant is not happy.. 

Hanging baskets and tubs

I often find that as soon as I put out my hanging baskets there are strong winds that can batter them to bits within minutes, but it is worth just putting them in a sheltered place until the winds die down. The plants will soon grow stronger and be able to withstand a battering.

Vegetables

June, what a wonderful (and very busy) time in the vegetable garden, the sheer variety of different weeds and the speed at which they grow never ceases to amaze me!

About twenty percent of my time on the plot is dedicated to weeding at this time of the year, but it is very necessary to give the crops space and to reduce competition for water and nutrients (I actually find weeding quite therapeutic and satisfying!)

Planting out of seedlings is now is continuing apace;

sweetcorn seedlings have been planted in blocks of around six plants so that they pollinate one another easily, marrows, courgettes and runner beans have been planted out into their final growing positions and sowings of small quantities of salad crops continue.

Potatoes have been earthed up to around six inches, the early crop (International Kidney) should be ready at the end of July, but the main crop (Desiree) will stay in the ground until late September.

The brassicas are netted over with fine mesh netting to try to keep the butterflies off - so much easier than picking off caterpillars!

Broad beans are growing strongly and are flowering well, and in the middle of June I will nip the tops out to discourage blackfly.

The greenhouse has now been emptied of flower seedlings and is being organized for tomatoes, cucumbers and melons.

Shade the sunny side of the greenhouse to prevent the greenhouse getting too hot in mid summer by using a glass whitewash such as Coolglass.

Fruit

The strawberries look like they will be ready in time for Wimbledon, so they will be netted over in a couple of days. It is important that if you do net your fruit, do so securely, because if birds get in then cannot get out, there will be no fruit at all left! I moved the raspberry bed over winter, so it is new this year and I was not expecting much fruit, but incredibly there seems to be a lot of flowers, so who knows?

The blackcurrant bushes are loaded with fruit and the blueberries, again new this year, have blossomed and set.

The gooseberries are swelling and I am planning to try to make some jam with them this year, as I have with the rhubarb (absolutely delicious)

The new plum trees have failed to blossom and are just making new growth, so I will be pruning them at the end of June to get them to a better shape. It can take five years for them to establish and start flowering.

At the garden centre the other day I couldn`t resist buying a nectarine tree, which has been potted up into a 15” pot and placed in the sun on the patio. I must remember to bring it inside the greenhouse next spring, to blossom!

Lawns

It is still a good time to Weed & Feed your lawn now the rain has arrived.. It should be applied three days after and three days before cutting the lawn. If the grass is too wet to use a spreader for the job, just broadcast it by hand.. Don't put the first three mowings on your compost heap as they will be full of chemicals from the lawn.

Lilies

If you have lilies growing in your borders that appear to have their leaves eaten away, look out for red lily beetles (see left) and zap them with Provado ultimate bug killer.. Fail to eradicate the beetles and your lilies will get too weak to survive after a couple of years..

Ponds and Water gardens 

Remove blanket weed using a stick or fork, taking care not to damage any wildlife. Add tender water plants to your pond and add new varieties of hardy plants to your existing stock. Feed the fish more frequently this month. Keep water levels topped up in hot weather. A good month for visiting your aquarist for new fish to add more interest. They will have four months to grow and get acclimatised to your pond.. Watch out for the beautiful dragonflies near your pond.