Your Monthly Planting Guide

Whether bought from a shop or garden centre, or raised yourself, June is the perfect time to plant out your seedings. You can plant the following fruits directly into your garden in June:

• Tomatoes
• Cape gooseberries
• Melons
• Strawberries

What fruit to harvest in June 

• June is a great month to start picking and harvesting your strawberries. Pick and eat straight from the plant or have them with cream just in time for Wimbledon at the end of June.
• You can harvest unripe gooseberries in June to make tarts, jams and sauces. Just pick around half, leaving the others to ripen and to be picked in July.

Fruit plant maintenance in June

• Pick rhubarb until the end of the month, then stop to give plants time to build up their strength for next year.
• Cover soft fruit with netting to protect them from bird damage.
• June is a great time to begin to prune plum and cherry trees.
• Place netting around your plants to protect developing fruits from birds and squirrels.
• Water potted blueberries, cranberries and lingonberries with rainwater rather than tap water – the lime in tap water will reduce the acidity of the soil over time.
• Be aware of shot hole on any fruit trees.
• If any suckers appear around the base of fruit trees, pull them off.
• For any fruit in containers, feed them with a high potash liquid feed to keep them healthy.
• Thin pears, plums, peaches and apricots earlier in June, and apples at the end of the month.
• Slug control is necessary now as slugs pose a threat to newly planted seedlings.
• Watering your tomatoes regularly should prevent blossom end rot.

As the conditions are hot and dry in June, it is essential to do everything you can to look after your lawn. 

• Watering your lawn is crucial in June. When the weather is dry, you should give your lawn a good soaking once or twice a week. Try and avoid giving it a light daily sprinkling as this can cause the roots to grow shallow and be prone to drying out. Spiking will also help water penetrate the soil.
• Try and water in the early morning or late evening as this ensures the water has a better chance of soaking in rather than evaporating.
• Consider feeding and watering at the same time to encourage a stronger and deeper root system.
• Mow your lawn about once a week with a grass height of 2.5cm (1 inch) – collect and compost all cuttings.
• Avoid cutting too short as this will encourage weeds and moss.
• When it is really hot, your lawn will become stressed. Reduce the amount of mowing and let the grass grow longer.
• Feed your lawn with a liquid lawn food to keep it lush, green and healthy.
• In hot dry weather, don’t apply a feed – the grass has slowed its growing process and may become scorched.
• If weeds are a problem in your lawn apply a selective lawn weedkiller, specially formulated to target your lawn weeds without harming the grass.
• If both weeds and moss are a problem, opt for a suitable 4 in 1 lawn care product.

So, what flowers to plant in June? June is the last chance to plant any annual flowers, including:

• Zinnias
• Clarkias
• Marigolds
• Mexican marigolds
• Pheasant's eyes
• Morning glory
• Cosmos
• Lavatera

It is also the perfect time to dig in your summer flowering bulbs, originally sown in April. These could include:

• Begonias
• Dahlias
• Gladioli
• Lilies
• Peonies
• Crocosmias

What flowers to prune in June

• Deadhead and cut back oriental poppies once they have flowered. If you cut them close to ground level it will stimulate new foliage. A quick snip with secateurs is always effective. Feed, mulch and give them a good watering.
• June is when you should cut back delphiniums. Do this right to the ground and remove the leaves as well as the flowers. Doing this now, may give you a second round of flowers in August and September.
• Prune back sedums – cut back the stems by around a third to stop the stems flopping outwards.
• Your hardy geraniums will likely have finished flowering by the end of June. When they have, cut them back to encourage new flowers and foliage.

Flower maintenance in June

• Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of bulbs.
• Plant up containers and hanging baskets with summer bedding and patio plants for a summer full of brilliant colour.
• Check that hanging basket brackets will hold the weight of a fully watered basket.
• Water container plants regularly - probably daily, depending on the weather.
• Cut back the old leaves of spring-flowering perennials, such as Doronicum and Pulmonaria, for a fresh flush of new, healthy foliage.
• Thin out drifts of hardy annuals if they’re becoming overcrowded.

If June is hot and there isn’t much in the way of rainfall, planting new trees and shrubs is best avoided. It may be a better choice to wait until autumn – when the weather offers better conditions for planting.

What trees and shrubs to prune in June

There is plenty to do in the way of pruning of trees and shrubs in June. The following should keep you busy: 

• Ensure you trim evergreen hedges right down to the base to keep the growth dense. 
• If you have any wall-grown shrubs that have finished flowering, it’s important to prune them now.
• Prune early flowering shrubs – such as Ceanothus and Chaenomeles – to within 10cm (2-4in) of the old wood.
• Look after the early flowering clematis in June. This won’t need to be done every year – just when they begin to overcrowd their neighbours.
• Deadhead lilacs, azaleas, and rhododendrons as they finish. This will keep them healthy and strong as well as tidying up your garden. Opt for a light pruning. You can give them a more severe pruning the following year in early spring.
• Pinch out the tips of fuchsias to encourage further growth in summer.

Tree and shrub maintenance in June

• Water any newly planted trees and shrubs with rainwater or recycled water.
• Check for any tree ties that are digging into the bark. If they are, loosen them. Also check for those that may dig in once the trunk girth expands – loosen them now or make a note to do so later on.
• Look out for damage on deciduous trees, including bacterial canker.
• Check for signs of blight on box and holly trees.
• Check for caterpillars, aphids and other fly pests. Implement effective control and treatment.

Before the weather hots up too much for reliable germination, sow seeds of herbs in June including:

• Coriander
• Basil
• Chervil
• Fennel
• Dill
• Parsley
• Rosemary
• Sage

June is also the ideal time to transplant any container-grown herbs that have been either bought or propagated and raised.

Herbs and spices plant maintenance in June

June is the ideal time to chop back herbs to remove tired old leaves. This should stimulate the growth of fresh new ones in their place. Do this to:

• Mint
• Chives
• Sage
• Thyme

It is also essential to water herbs regularly during dry periods. There may be plenty of these in June.

The likes of coriander, dill, basil and wild rocket can be quick to bolt when overcrowded or in poor and dry soil. Keep your soil well fed and thin out where required.