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The lawn should be at its best but dry weather will soon start to brown it off so keep it well watered. Sprinklers are easy but use a lot of water and most of us in the village are now on meters.
It’s been a cool spring so you may have held off from planting out, but now is the time to do so with the risk of frosts passed. Plant out your annual summer bedding and containers and hang up the baskets which should all be nicely hardened off. Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of spring bulbs and remove the foliage once it has died back naturally. Pinch out the tips of Fuchsias to encourage a bushy habit and more flowers, pick sweet peas to bring on more growth and dead head the roses. Continue to tie-in and support tall and climbing plants as they really get going.
Start light pruning of plum and apple trees to remove dead, damaged or weak growth and prevent overcrowding. Do not worry if your fruit trees shed some fruit (called the June drop) this is natural, but If your crop is looking bumper then thin out the fruits before branches are ripped off or you end up with a mass of small fruit. This will also help to prevent biennial bearing where the crop is very light the following year as the plant has exhausted itself. You may wish to protect developing fruits from birds and squirrels by netting your trees. Now is also a good time for a high potash liquid feed which encourages fruit to form. Keep an eye out for the many pests which plague fruit trees and start spraying in June. This may take a bit of research to identify the pest and how to deal with it, alternatively come along to the Horticultural Society and we can help you. Remove strawberry runners or peg them down to encourage propagation for next year.
Tie-in outdoor tomato plants to supports which should now be strong enough to resist wind, remove side shoots when they show and starting feeding when the first truss is setting fruit. Potatoes should be up and running and continue to earth up if you wish to. Some early potatoes will be ready for harvest when the flowers drop. Also start taking salad crops even if they are a bit young, especially lettuce or else it will bolt before you can pick it all. Successive sowing and planting will keep you going throughout the Summer and into the Autumn. Climbing beans should be under way but if not plant seed straight into the ground. Keep watering marrows, courgettes and pumpkin.
Keep watering everything in hot weather and use a liquid feed every 4 weeks. Be generous and allow the water to sink deep into the soil, just wetting the surface does more harm than good. If you haven’t done so already think about a water butt, they come in all sorts of ingenious designs these days and a bi-metallic disc inside will keep the water bright. Watch out for blackfly and greenfly and start spraying before you get an infestation and start battling the slugs. A good old Winston’s cigar can devastate tender plants. Think about nesting boxes as Blue Tits will cleanse a garden of bugs when feeding chicks and a frog pond will produce the best slug killer known to man. Top up bird baths it’s a delight to watch them splashing around.
One last thing to do.......that’s right.......Good Health!!
We are always looking for new members and try to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables and flowers or even enter any of the 3 shows we hold each year, then please get in touch, we would be happy to hear from you.
If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Rosey on: 01634 377812 (evenings) or Email: rosemary@ringwoodaccounting.co.uk
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
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