Tips for June 2023

Tender plants started off indoors, such as aubergines, courgettes, sweet corn, squashes and tomatoes can be hardened off carefully and planted outdoors this month.

Finish planting dahlia tubers 10-15 cm deep in well prepared, enriched beds or containers of John Innes No 3 compost.

Cut back any remaining leaves from spring – flowering bulbs, once they have started to tun yellow and die down naturally, if they are in lawns mow the foliage when cutting the grass.

Pinch out tips of new growth on Figs at the end of the month, once shoots have made 5 leaves.

Half circles cut out of rose leaves mean you have been visited by leaf cutter bees. They don’t harm plants and are great pollinators.

Stop harvesting Asparagus in late June to allow plants to regain strength for next year. If growth is weak, apply a general purpose fertiliser.

Wait until the flowers open on early potatoes, then gently fork around one plant to see if the tubers have reached the size of a hens egg egg before lifting.

Clean and refresh water in bird baths regularly to help prevent diseases such as Avian Pox spreading.

Sweet corn relies on the wind for pollination so, to increase the chances of success, plant out young plants in a block of several short rows, spacing plants around 40 cm apart.

Prune gooseberries, red currants and white currants by shortening this years new growth (green stems) back to five leaves.