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Andrew Tokely's Gardening Tips for June! 02 June 2023

Now June has arrived, it is all systems go in the garden, this month is a busy time planting out for the summer ahead now frost should be long gone.
 
1.    This month's Sweet Peas are starting to bloom, pick the stems regularly to prolong the flowering period otherwise they will set seed and stop flowering. Our Sweet Pea fields look stunning at this time of year.
 
2.    Around the second week of June, I make my last sowing of Runner Beans. For this later sowing I choose a white flowered variety such as White Lady or Moonlight. White flowered varieties are more tolerant to heat and will produce you a bumper harvest, which will often continue well into October, depending on the weather.
 
3.    This month you can finish planting your Summer Bedding plants into borders and containers. Hanging baskets can be hung out. Once completed you can sit back and enjoy your display for many months.
 
4.    As June has arrived all those tender Vegetable crops can be planted out. Sweetcorn, Courgettes, squashes, Runner and French Beans and outdoor tomatoes can all be planted outside on your plot.
 
5.    As space comes available on the vegetable plot, or if you have some spare containers fill these areas up with further sowings of summer salads like Rocket, Lettuce, Radish, Beetroot, and mixed salad leaves.
 
6.    Make a sowing of Carrot Eskimo this month under Enviromesh and these will be ready to pull as finger carrots for your Christmas lunch.
 
7.    This month the soft fruit bushes will be producing a bumper crop of fruit, so it is important to erect some protection nets over the bushes, to stop any birds having a feed of your Raspberries and Blackcurrants or your Strawberries before you do.
 
8.  Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Peppers growing under glass in grow bags and pots need regular watering.  As soon as the first fruits set on Tomatoes and Peppers these can be fed once a week with a high potash feed. As soon as fruits start to appear on Cucumbers, start feeding once a week with a teaspoon of dried blood (a high nitrogen feed) sprinkled around the root, but away from the stem and watered in.  
 
9.    June is the ideal time to sow another decorative vegetable the Swiss Chard for a late crop of succulent leaves. These can be grown in borders, the vegetable plot or in large containers, and their decorative brightly coloured stems will make an attractive feature late in the season, and a delicious additional vegetable to harvest for the kitchen.
 
10.    Keep a close watch out for black fly on broad beans, which if seen can be treated with a suitable insecticide. Also, keep a close eye on bedding Dahlias, Nasturtiums and Salvias as black fly also love to take up residence on these plants as well. It is always best to keep a close watch over your plants and if these pests are seen, they should be dealt with as soon as possible, otherwise, they can quickly take over and make your plants a mess and reduce their performance.