June Amateur Gardener Tips

Staking Herbaceous Plants

If you don't want the expense of metal supports for your herbaceous plants which are prone to flopping over in wind or rain, you can achieve just as much success by re-using prunings from beech trees or even bamboos to surround susceptible plants before they get too big. Good examples of plants needing support are Lathyrus, Papaver, Liliums and herbaceous Paeonies.
 

Slugs / Snails

Slugs and snails will be heading for some of the more choice plants in your garden especially after wet weather. Hostas, Delphiniums and Lupins are particular favourites. Slug pellets are the most effective solution but those who are more squeamish may want to put sharp grit around the base of the slug targets as a deterrent.
 

Daffodil dividing

Lift and divide up clumps of Daffodil bulbs once the leaves have died down. You can tell if bulbs in a border need dividing because the clump will gradually be forced to the surface due to shortage of space. Bulbs such as daffodil are divided in the same way as crocosmia & snowdrops.

Training Climbers

Pruning

Once flowering has finished on your Deutzia and Philadelphus bushes prune back and cut the older flowering stems and branches. These plants will flower even better next year on new young growth shoots which will develop now over the Summer.

 

 

Buddleja globosa which like other buddlejas can get too big, can now be pruned hard into shape and kept under control.
 

Cut down the flowered heads of the shrubby Euphorbias to promote basal growth and encourage bushier plants.

Olearia phloggopappa ‘Combers Pink’ and ‘Combers Blue’ can now be cut hard back and will break readily from bare stems, the same applies to Olearia x scilloniensis.
 

Cytisus Hybrids can be lightly pruned to keep the plants bushy and in shape but do not cut back into bare wood where there is no green growth.

Cytisus x Porlock can be pruned quite hard back on to the bare stems – especially if it is being grown as a wall shrub.

Water Collection

Watering Tree Ferns

Coastal planting ideas

Revmoing suckers from grafted trees.