Jobs in June’s garden

If you grow gooseberries in your garden look out for the pesky sawfly larvae that devour the foliage in a matter of days. The small caterpillar-like grubs can appear at various times through the summer and can be controlled by hand picking, spraying with an insecticide such as Westland’s Resolver Bug Killer or by applying Nemasys Grow Your Own nematodes.

At last the roses are starting to flower and to keep them blooming all through the summer it is important to dead head on a regular basis. As soon as a flower fades it gets snapped off.

Parsnips, carrots and beetroot that were sown in the veg garden in April should now be growing well and many need to be thinned out to give the roots space to grow. As a guide, thin the seedlings so they are approximately 5cm apart and water along the rows afterwards to settle to soil.

Tomatoes growing in the greenhouse need supporting to keep them upright and one of the simplest ways it to tie the main stem to a garden cane with some soft string.

 

 

 

 

The herb basil is very handy to have because it can be used in all sorts of dishes and salads through the summer months. It likes warm weather and the seed is best started off in small pots on a windowsill or greenhouse where it will germinate and grow fast.

There is still time to sow many summer vegetables and the oriental types such as pak choi are ideal for sowing now. Sow the seeds outside in shallow drills and keep the soil moist in dry weather. Seedlings will soon appear and in around 5 weeks time you’ll be picking fresh produce.