The weather is warming up and now it's time to enjoy the fruits of your labours. Summer is just around the corner when outdoor living becomes reality, get jobs done now so you can enjoy the barbecues and parties the coming months will bring.

This month is a case of putting the finishing touches to your borders. Make sure you stake your taller growing perennials to prevent them suffering from wind damage. Whilst in your perennial border, you can lift and divide your Hostas as they come into leaf. Lupins and Delphiniums that have come into flower and are now going over should be dead headed. This will tidy the plant up but also encourage a second flush of flowers later in the year. The same can be done with trailing Geraniums, Heuchera and Doronicums. If you have not already done so, you must lift and divide overcrowded clumps of bulbs now. If you are sure that the risk of frosts are over, now is a good time to plant out your Dahlias and Canna Lillies, you can also finish planting out Gladioli. Finally finish off planting out your summer bedding and seed raised plants from the greenhouse to add that final touch of summer colour.

More general shrubs and trees in the garden also need some work in June. Climbing and rambling Roses need to be tied in, as horizontal as you can get the stems. This reduces the flow of sap, causing more side shoots along the stem, therefore producing more flowers. Whilst with Roses, HT Roses should be disbudded. This means that the cluster of buds on the end of each flowering shoot should be thinned out to leave just one bud, the king bud. This will develop into a fantastic strong bloom.

Tender shrubs such as Caryopteris and Penstemon should be cut back now, as should deciduous Magnolias. Early spring flowering shrubs such as Weigela, Deutzia and Philadelphus should also be cut back as soon as they finish flowering. If left too late you will get little or no flowers on these plants next year.

Vegetable and Fruit Gardens

June is still a busy time for the vegetable gardener, but at least you start to reap some reward for your early labour. Early Peas may now be ready to harvest, when done don’t forget to cut off the tops of the plants and leave the roots in the ground for the time being, as these are legumes they naturally fix nitrogen from the air into the soil.

Early potatoes may also be ready to harvest, make sure you dig far enough away from the plant to reduce the chance of damage to the tuber. You should continue to earth up your later crops.

Salad onions, salad leaves, beetroot and radishes may also be ready now.

Crops such as peas, broad and runner beans should be offered supports now, so the plants will not flop over.

Continue to do succession sowings of salad crops, as the month goes on it is probably better to plant these in partial shade, as too much sun can make the leaves go bitter.

Tender crops such as peppers and tomatoes can go outside now in containers; regularly pinch the side shoots out of tomatoes as these will reduce your yield. It is also not too late to plant out the herb garden or pots. A good alternative for herbs or salad leaves would be to use a strawberry pot, giving you an attractive look, but also high yield to space ratio.

In the fruit garden, any wall trained fruit trees should be carefully pruned now, this will help the plant keep its shape, but also improve the fruiting performance. This will also prevent biennial bearing, or good year bad year cropping.This should only be done to pears if the fruit set is particularly heavy.

Strawberries should have straw put around them to prevent soil splash on the fruits, you can also peg down runners to make some new plants.

Hoe or pull out raspberry suckers, thin out gooseberries and tie in new blackberry canes.

Lawns

Maintenance is the key now, mow little and often always removing your clippings, you can add these to your compost heap.

Get the edging shears and half moon out to keep the edges of your lawn neat.

You can apply a summer feed to your lawn to encourage a healthy looking lawn throughout the summer. Also remember grass is a plant and does need to be watered from time to time, especially if a relatively new lawn.

Patio and Greenhouse Gardening

All of your early bedding sowing can be removed and put outside now, leaving it in for too long will promote leggy soft growth. Hanging baskets and containers can be put out as well.

Tomatoes should be looked after, removing side shoots to promote better yield and pinch out the growing tip just after the fourth or fifth flower truss.

Cucumbers that have already started to set fruit should be harvested now to encourage more to form.

Get some shading in the glasshouse and make sure you vent well on warm days. Also be watchful for pest such as Red Spider Mite and Glasshouse Whitefly.

Planting shrubs and bedding into containers and placing on the patio is a great way to make a feature but making them very easy to care for. Be imaginative with your choices, there is so much to choose from now, and you can grow almost anything in a container, even potatoes.

General Tasks

The main tasks for this month are to keep up with the hoeing and weeding in your borders, and keep up with your slug and snail treatments.

Evergreen hedges can be trimmed now and also make sure any new plants are kept well watered. Try and save as much water as you can to prepare for any dry spell we may have. You can never have enough water butts; also you can use grey water from the house, ie bath and shower water.

Finally make sure your patio furniture is in good order and your barbecue is still intact, so you can make the most of the summer and outdoor living experience.

Plants of the Month

A selection of plants that are especially interesting this month.

• Hemerocallis
• Lonicera (Honeysuckle)
• Astilbe
• Geraniums
• Centranthus
• Meconopsis
• Philadelphus
• Cytisus Battenderii
• Tradescantia

June is a great month to be in the garden, and if you’re looking for ideas or a bit of inspiration visit us at Redfields where our staff can help you with all of the above and MUCH MORE.