Monthly Garden Diary - June 2006

Introduction

Long days give us all the time to plant out tender bedding plants to give a mass of flower colour that will last throughout the Summer. It’s also time to find space for productive vegetables such as runner beans and tomatoes. All tropical flowering plants can also go outside on the patio and with suitable feeding these plants will be a riot of flowering colour in no time at all.

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Ornamental Gardening

Hardy plants such as lupins, foxgloves and delphiniums should be providing tall spires of colour in the garden between beautiful roses and other flowering shrubs. Modern roses differ from other shrubs in that they are repeat flowering. Consequently they require repeat feeding if they are to give of their best and a second application of Miracle-Gro Rose Plus during June pays good dividends.

To fill in the gaps between your roses and shrubs, plant out tender bedding plants such as penstemons, pelargoniums, geraniums, petunias, nemesias, salvia and verbena. To clean up the flower bed before planting, kill new seedling weeds with Weedol 2 or Weedol Gun!. There is no delay to planting, simply wait until the Weedol liquid has dried on the weed leaf and you can plant out your new bedding plants immediately.

To achieve a great looking display in the minimum of time these plants need to be fed regularly. For maximum growth and many more beautiful flowers feed over the leaves and around the roots with Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food.  A growth tonic like this applied just before you remove the plants from their trays, pots or containers will see that they quickly get over the shock of transplanting. Regular feeding will make all the difference and you can easily grow plants twice as big with Miracle-Gro.

When you’ve finished planting and watered the plants in, cover the surface of the soil with a mulch to retain that moisture and to help prevent weeds too. New this year is Levington Constant Colour Mulch which has many advantages over normal bark products. Because it’s made from re-cycled seasoned wood, it is drier and more durable, so lasts 3 times longer than bark. And because the wood has been dyed it promises to remain rich dark black for at least 12 months.

Slugs and snails will have a feast day on these lush new leaves, so protect them with SlugClear Mini Pellets or water on SlugClear.

While slugs are champing away at leaves, so greenfly and blackfly will be breeding at a phenomenal rate now that temperatures are high. These aphids, also called plant lice, are sap-sucking pests that cause stems to twist and leaves to roll. Aphids not only disfigure the plant, but they also transmit virus diseases and make the plant weak. They absorb the goodness from the sap and the plant is therefore not able to produce so many flowers or such strong growth. Different types of aphids have their particular favourite plants so it’s worth keeping an eye on the ones that are most susceptible to attack. Roses, nasturtiums, honeysuckle and fuchsias are good indicators of aphid activity and when these plants have a visible pest population then it’s time to get out the sprayer.

There are plenty of sprays to control aphids, but it’s worth treating them as soon as you see the pests because they reproduce so prolifically.  Use Natures Answer Natural Pest Control or BugClear Gun! for ready-to-use sprayers that needs no mixing or measuring. If you have a pressure sprayer and the pests are widespread use BugClear.

Roses are susceptible to powdery mildew disease at this time of the year as well as greenfly. For them and for other flowering plants such as chrysanthemum, verbena, hollyhock and antirrhinum that get powdery mildew, spray with RoseClear 3 or RoseClear 3 Gun!. They both contain a combined insecticide and fungicide product that kills the aphids and give control of powdery mildew, rust and blackspot. The fungicides are systemic and work from inside the leaves of ornamental plants.

Patio Gardening

All pots, tubs and hanging baskets should now be planted up ready to provide an attractive display for the rest of the Summer. To light up your patio with a blaze of orange colour why not try the new tuberous begonia called Bonfire? It produces a multitude of fiery orange, pendulous blooms throughout the Summer. A native of Bolivia, Begonia Bonfire has a cascading growth habit and unusual shaped flowers reminiscent of a fuchsia for displays in tubs and baskets.

Despite insecticides and growing composts being formulated and available to amateur gardeners to give long term control of vine weevil, these pests continue to be a serious problem in UK gardens. All too often we discover in mid Summer the damage and destruction these root-eating grubs, and leaf-notching adults create on our patio plants.

To prevent the intrusion of these plant-killing pests check the roots of the plants you buy for crescent shaped white grubs with brown heads and if they are clean plant them up in a special compost that contains insecticide.

For those decorative plants that are especially vulnerable to vine weevil attack such as begonia, fuchsia, primrose, auricula, geranium, gloxinia and busy lizzie plant up in fresh Levington Container & Hanging Basket Compost with Vine Weevil Control.

This is a special compost impregnated with the insecticide imidacloprid that gives 12 months control of vine weevil larvae and 3 months control of greenfly and blackfly.

Make sure your pot is a good size as the smaller the pot the more quickly it will dry out. Add a layer of broken crocks or gravel to improve the drainage and line absorbent terracotta pots with plastic to reduce water loss through the walls of the pot. Fill the pot with a good quality Levington compost.

Cram in as many plants as possible using a colour theme for the best display. Most successful planting will have the tallest plant in the centre, medium ones next and edged with trailing material.

To feed your potted plants for six months push Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food Tablets below the surface of the compost. Use two or three in a 20-25cm pot and four to six in pots over 30cm. Hanging baskets are just as easy. Line the basket with polythene, fibre liner or moss and place a saucer in the bottom of the basket to stop water draining straight through. Half fill the basket with a quality compost such as Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost. This unique formula contains special Acquacoir fibres that help the compost hold extra water which is released to the roots when required. Tests showed that baskets made of this compost needed to be watered 30% less often than with an ordinary Multi-Purpose compost. So if you have hose restrictions this is the compost for you.

The Lawn

Summer sunshine and leisure weekends mean that the garden needs to look at its best just now, especially if you are entertaining. Your guests at barbecues and patio parties will be taking note of the overall look and for most gardens the lawn will make the biggest impact. See that it is cut at least once a week and that it is well fed and that lawn weeds are kept under control.

As we approach the Summer when we can expect hot, dry weather and hose-pipe bans, it’s worth taking the time to apply a lawn feed that will give a slow and steady release of nutrients over several weeks and that doesn’t need watering in. For most people this is Scotts Lawn Builder Lawn Food which has a slow release, no-scorch formula so the lawn stays thicker and greener for up to 8 weeks.

Keeping the grass weed-free is a problem during the early Summer as the weeds begin to flower. It’s not too difficult to dig up a few buttercups or use a selective spot lawn weedkiller in a handy gun get rid of the weeds with bigger leaves such as plantains and dandelions. However getting rid of the small-leaved weeds such as lesser trefoil, black meddick and common mouse-ear has, until now, been a big problem.

But in recent years the best-known name in lawn weedkillers has been updated and will now give even better control of more weeds and for the first time give season-long control. The new formulation is called Verdone Extra and can be either sprayed all over the lawn or applied with a watering can with a fine rose. It kills common broad-leaved weeds and the problem ones with small leaves that ordinary lawn weedkillers leave behind.  Just apply once a year in Spring to get season-long control of lawn weeds throughout the Summer.

Fruit and Vegetables

Seeds for lettuce and Summer salads need to be sown every couple of weeks to provide young fresh leaves. The loose leaf varieties such as Red Salad Bowl, Lollo Rosso and Bijou are tolerant to hot weather and seem to do better at this time of the year than the cabbage head types which can annoyingly run to seed. Tender herbs such as parsley, marjoram and coriander can be sown now or you can buy plants from your local garden centre.

Sow marrows, courgettes and squashes outdoors in soil which has been well improved with organic matter such as well rotted garden compost or Miracle-Gro Eco Sense Soil Improver. They appreciate a deep root run which holds plenty of moisture, so sink a few empty plant pots below the surface, so that when you water from hose or watering can the water gets straight to the root area without wetting the surface. To hold in this available moisture, mulch the surface with Levington Mini Chipped Forest Bark or Levington Farmyard Manure.

Pick broad beans as the pods swell. If blackfly are a problem on the growing tips pinch these out and spray the rest of the plant with BugClear Gun!. This insecticide has a 0 day harvest interval and will allow picking and eating of the crop on the same day as treatment.

With all these tender seedlings coming up remember to protect them from slug attack with SlugClear Mini Pellets. You will need to use the same protection in and around any strawberry bed before you protect the fruit from mud splashes with straw or a protective mat.

Caterpillars can be a menace on cabbages and apples. Whenever you see the first signs of attack spray with BugClear.  On apples spray the whole plant in June and again three weeks later to prevent the pale pink maggots of the codling moth eating into the fruit.

In gardens that have little space for vegetable growing, copy the patio gardener by growing them in suitable pots, containers and even hanging baskets. Choose a quality compost such as Levington Container and Hanging Basket Compost and enrich this with a controlled release fertiliser such as Miracle-Gro Slow Release Plant Food or Osmocote.

Grow the right variety for the container. ‘Tumbler’ tomato was bred for hanging baskets and cauliflower ‘Candid Charm’ was bred for fast maturing of heads that are eaten when tennis ball size. Other mini vegetables include Beetroot ‘Pronto’ and carrot ‘Amini’. Search the display at your local garden centre for the right variety or find them listed in most seed catalogues.

In the Greenhouse

When growing really fast, tomatoes do need a good supply of magnesium or the leaves develop a yellowing between the veins called chlorosis. This can be avoided if the plants are treated to regular doses of a special fertiliser such as Tomorite that contains a good quantity of this nutrient. Tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers and aubergines will also need feeding to ensure they produce a good tasty crop. Add Tomorite to the water every couple of weeks to encourage good strong growth to the plant and plenty of flavour to the fruits.

Shading is essential at this time of the year.  Coolglass is an excellent white material that clings well to the glass yet can be easily removed with a dry cloth at the end of the Summer.