Summer Bedding
June is the month to plant out your bedding and other half-hardy plants. These plants can’t tolerate cold weather, so ask our staff for help and advice – and have some fleece handy to provide extra protection. If you’ve grown your own, make sure they’re hardened off first – that is, acclimatised to the cooler outdoor conditions – again, using fleece will help. And water the plants well before and after planting out. Remember to feed regularly for a summer display to be proud of. Take a look at our superb range of bedding, patio and container plants to ensure your garden is a riot of colour this summer in store. And don’t forget that larger plants will provide instant impact.
Rosa designer sunset patio
Pond Care
Green ‘pea soup’ water in ponds is often caused by a lack of aquatic plants. Make sure your pond is stocked with plenty of oxygenating plants and marginal’s, and cover at least a third of the water surface with floating plants – including water lilies. Adding barley-straw or an algaecide to the water or installing a pump and filter might also help. Ask our experts if you need any advice – we’re here to help.
Furniture, BBQs
If you haven’t seen your garden furniture or barbecue since last summer, now’s a good time to rescue them from the back of the shed and give them a good spruce up ready for plenty of outdoor entertaining. We stock a wide range of cleaning and renovating products. And if your furniture and barbecue are past their best then this is a good time to replace them.
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Garden Health Check
Keep your Spring bedding displays – including bulbs – flowering well by feeding weekly with a high potash liquid fertiliser. And remember to deadhead – that is removing the faded flowers – and you’ll be rewarded with a further flush of flowers or an extended display. Many border plants will need support and tying in to prevent them from being damaged and flopping all over the garden. Make sure the supports are in place early as it can be difficult to do when they’re in full growth.
Plant Up Tomatoes
Now’s the time to plant out greenhouse tomatoes for a bumper crop; and we have a good selection of plants in stock. You’ll need something to grow them in – such as growing-bags, 8 inch pots or growing rings filled with potting compost. If you find that growing-bags dry out too quickly – and the bottom of the fruit turns black – then cut the bags in half widthways, stand them on end and put one plant in each half. And don’t forget you’ll need to regularly water, feed and support the plant, so take a look at the products we have available.
Prune Hedges
This is a good time to get hedges back into great shape. And you can even rejuvenate overgrown evergreen hedges – but not conifers – by cutting them back hard. When cutting, make sure the hedge is wider at the base then it is at the top to prevent it becoming bare at the bottom. To do a good job you’ll need the right tools, so take a look at our secateurs, shears, loppers and hedges trimmers.
Stop Codling Moth
If you’ve bitten into an apple only to discover a maggot inside, then you’ll need to be on the look out for codling moth. Now’s the time to take measures to stop maggoty fruit this year. One of the most effective methods is to hang a codling moth trap in the tree. It’s completely organic – it doesn’t use any pesticides. The trap contains a pheromone that attracts the male moths, which become stuck to a sticky pad. No males means no fertilised eggs and so you can say goodbye to the maggots. Alternatively, spray with an insecticide containing bifenthrin after the flowers have faded, and again three weeks later.
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Patio Containers
Add instant colour to your patio and garden with our ready-filled pots, or plant up your own. Add a controlled-release fertiliser and water-retaining gel to the compost to make feeding and watering easy. And fix up a micro-drip watering system for even better results – believe me, it’ll make life easier too! Remember to pick up everything you need including containers, plants, compost, feeds, gel and watering system, and get planting today for a superb splash of colour through spring and summer.
Bulbs
Remove the faded flowers and seed heads of spring-flowering bulbs as they start to go over. And remember to feed the plants during and after flowering with a soluble plant food applied over the foliage and around the roots. This will help to make large bulbs to ensure another superb display next year.
Clean Up
Make sure you’ve carried out any cleaning and repair jobs. Clean the patio and greenhouse, preserve and stain wooden features, and clean out water butts. Not sure what products to use? Just ask – we’re here to help.
Summer Bedding
Prick out seedlings of tender bedding plants and pot up young plug plants and cuttings so that they can grow into sturdy plants ready for planting out once the fear of frosts has passed. Always use fresh potting compost and make sure that seed trays, pots and cell trays are thoroughly cleaned – or buy some new ones. Plants will need hardening off before planting out, and they can be protected from cold, wind and light frosts with horticultural fleece.
Seed Sowing
Hardy annuals can be sown outside now where you want them to flower. Indoors you can sow a selection of annual climbers. Also sow tender vegetables indoors ready for planting out next month. Wondering what to sow? Just ask a member of staff, and don’t forget – you’ll need seed trays, cell trays, small pots, a propagator, compost and labels, so buy them before you leave.
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Plug Plants & Seedlings
Buy your bedding and patio plug plants and seedlings now for growing on – and you’ll have your biggest and best bedding displays ever. We have a wide range of varieties, including all your favourites, for potting up and planting out after the frosts in beds, borders and into containers and baskets. Remember to pick up everything you’ll need – including pots, seed trays, labels and compost.
Rejuvenate Houseplants
This is the perfect time to rejuvenate your houseplants. Start by re-potting those plants that need bigger pots. And this is the time to start giving all your houseplants a good feed. If you can’t remember to feed regularly, controlled-release fertilisers are a great way to simply feed and forget. Pests will be on the increase now so check regularly and deal with any you find. We’ve got everything you’ll need to give them a spring treat – from pots and compost to fertilisers and insecticide sprays. And if you’re looking to brighten up your home, take a look at the fabulous range of plants we have in our houseplant section.
Stem Colour
Plants grown for their colourful stems – such as dogwoods, rubus and some bush willows – will produce more intense colours if the stems are cut back hard now. And if you want to add a selection of these colourful shrubs to your garden, take a look around our plantarea for those you can plant today.
Herbs
Herbs are not only good to grow for the kitchen – many also have colourful flowers and foliage, so plant some today. They can be planted in a herb bed, mixed in with other plants in beds and borders, or grown in pots on the patio where they’ll be handy to pick and provide excellent colour and scent.
Seed Sowing
If you have a heated greenhouse or similar warm, light place, then you can get a lot of your bedding plants and vegetables off to a flying start by sowing them now. Take a good look through our seed display to see what can be sown now – and remember you’ll need a heated propagator, pots, trays, compost and labels.
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Climbers
Plant climbers now to provide colour, height and interest for clothing walls, fences, arches and arbours. As well as for screening compost heaps and other unsightly objects. Fast growing plants like clematis, ivy, honeysuckle, Virginia creeper and roses are perfect choices. If your soil is too wet and sticky, wait until conditions improve before planting.
Weeds
Keep those annoying weeds at bay and you will enjoy your gardening a lot more. Small weeds are best dealt with by hoeing them off. Beds and borders can be kept weed free by applying a 2-3inch thick mulch; and weed suppressing planting membranes ensure the perfect start to new beds and borders.
Annuals
Now’s a good time to make a start on sowing summer bedding indoors, as long as you can provide the right heat and light conditions. You can sow sweet peas, dianthus, lobelia, ageratum and bedding geraniums. Don’t forget to pick up everything you’ll need such as propagators, compost, pots, seed trays and labels.
Check Garden Structures
Now’s the perfect time to check your fences, trellis’ and pergolas before climbers burst into growth and make the job more tricky. You can make any repairs or improvements as necessary as well as install any new features you want for the coming year. Just ask a member of staff for details of what we have in-stock.
Pruning
Now’s the time to prune a number of garden shrubs. These include winter jasmine after the flowers have faded, bush and climbing roses, many summer flowering shrubs and most clematis; apart from the spring flowering Montanas, alpinas and macropetalas. After pruning feed with a controlled release or slow-acting fertiliser to ensure healthy regrowth and more flowers. Don’t forget to pick up any tools you’ll need such as secateurs, pruning saws, loppers and gloves. If you need more information, just ask any of our friendly, knowledgeable staff.
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