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Fourteenth edition - June 2002
June is not such a frantic month for the gardener, as
most of the heavy work has now been done. The bedding plants, tubs and
hanging baskets are in place and growing nicely and all those maintenance
jobs have been seen to, so stand back and take stock of your garden. The
next three months are the best in the year for relaxing in the garden and
enjoying the fruits of your labour, before the Autumn arrives...
Did any of you manage to get to the Chelsea Flower
Show? I would love to hear your comments about the exhibits and the
atmosphere of the event..
I have been reading with some concern about a fungal disease
that has entered our shores and is killing native oak trees. It is called
"Sudden Oak Death" - abbreviated to SOD which is unfortunate - and comes
from America. The condition has also been identified in Viburnum plants on
sale at nurseries in West Sussex, Dorset, Lincolnshire and Lancashire,
believed to have been imported from the Netherlands. The fungus which can
also be carried by Rhododendrons is thought to have been in Germany for
about eight years. Emergency measures introduced by the Department of
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - DEFRA - include a ban on importation
of rhododendrons and other susceptible plants from areas of the U.S. where
the disease is known to occur. I find this all very worrying as I remember
the loss of our Elm trees to Dutch Elm Disease. If anyone wishes to find out
more about "Sudden Oak Death", type those three words into a search engine
to get to appropriate websites... I welcome your views on this potentially
serious situation,
please e-mail me
with your thoughts...
Jobs for the month - June
House plants
 Many
houseplants can be put outside safely now that all risk of frost has passed.
Put them in a sheltered place out of strong winds and sunlight and check
them regularly as they will dry out a lot quicker than if they were indoors.
Keep woolly leaved and tender plants indoors. Experiment with cuttings from
all types of houseplants. I had a cutting of a hardy flowering shrub brought
back from Greece two years ago that has now grown into a beautiful house
plant that I am propagating for other people. The only snag is that I don`t
know what it is called!
Lawns
A tip I learned recently was to rake the lawn before mowing
it at this time of year, which lifts up the creeping stems of many lawn
weeds. I have noticed that the "Weed and Feed" the lawn was recently treated
to, has not killed off the clover in my lawn, so I have given it an
application of Verdone lawn weedkiller. I have bought the same brand in a
spray to use as a top up spot weedkiller for the stubborn ones. I WILL get
them!
Herbaceous borders
 Remove
May-flowering tulips to make room for your bedding plants, forking a general
purpose fertiliser into the soil before replanting. I have been very busy
these past two weeks digging in the two lorry loads of mushroom compost I
had delivered. I do make my own compost but it takes a while to mature and
the soil badly needed a quick fix.
Vegetables
Careful planning now will provide you with young crops for
the rest of the summer. Plant quick growing colourful lettuces in between
your flowers. Search the garden centres for tomatoes that you can grow
outdoors for those of you without a greenhouse. And why not have a go at
growing exotic chilli and pepper plants that are for sale at some garden
centres.
Roses
Disbudding, to get large blooms is an important job this
month. Take out all the smaller buds on a stem, leaving only the biggest two
or three, or just leave one bud if you want show flowers. Supplementary
feeds will keep your roses in top condition. Watch out for mildew, black
spot and insects, spraying accordingly.
 Water
gardens
June is an excellent time for planting all aquatics. The
stocking of new pools or the Spring cleaning and re-planting of established
ones can be continued throughout this month. Be careful though not to lose
any tiny, newly hatched fish (fry) if you are changing the water in your
pond. Don`t let blanket weed smother your fish and plants, hook it out with
a stick, taking care not to catch any frogs or fish in it..
Wildlife
The hedgehog can be encouraged to come into the garden in
the evening with his favourite drink of milk, and Barn Owls are often seen
at twilight at this time of year. It is said that our native Sparrow is on
the decline, but we have literally hundreds of them nesting under our roof
tiles and in our garden hedges, and what a noise they make..
Some garden shows to visit
this summer:
*BBC Gardeners` World Live
19th - 23rd June 2002, NEC Birmingham
Ticket Hotline 0870 902 0555
www.bbcgardenersworldlive.co.uk
| Kent Garden show |
Sun - Tues. 2nd 3rd & 4th June |
| South East Garden show |
Sun/Mon 25th & 26th August |
| Sussex Garden show |
Sat/Sun 7th & 8th September |
And some web sites of interest to
gardeners:
www.alantitchmarsh.co.uk
Alan Titchmarsh MBE, TV gardener, writer, broadcaster and thoroughly nice
person. Just a few choice words to describe the peoples` favourite TV
gardener. See his website....
 Thompson
and Morgan:
a growing resource for gardeners worldwide. The site includes the
international online seed catalogues, the young plants catalogue (UK only),
the wholesale seeds catalogue, together with the award winning Germination
Times and a host of other useful information.
www.carryongardening.co.uk
 Gardening
is an important part of many people's lives. You don't have to give up
gardening because of accident or illness, the onset of disability or the
problems associated with growing older. The information on their website is
designed to provide you with the information to Carry on Gardening.
Carry on Gardening was initiated by the horticultural charity
Thrive
and is funded by the National Lottery
Charities Board. It brings together information on easy ways of
gardening gathered over 23 years by Thrive and research carried out since
the early 1970s by Mary Marlborough Centre, Oxford, on tools and equipment
for disabled and older people.
www.edenproject.com
The living theatre of plants and people
The Eden Project is a gateway into the world of plants and people. A
meeting place for all to discover how we depend on plants and how we can
help to manage and conserve them for our mutual survival.
The founder of
www.maple-landscapes.com is my eldest son.. give him a call if you live
in the Leicester area of the UK and have need of his services..
Good reading:-
"The Yellow Book" contains information
of all Gardens of England and Wales open for charity, and can be bought
priced £5 from National Gardens Scheme
www.ngs.org.uk
National Trust Gardens Handbook is
£6.99 and the new edition is out in May Telephone 01394 389 950 or
see their website
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
RHS Garden Finder is £12.99 from
Dorling Kindersley www.dk.com
Have a look at previous
editions of Gardener`s Diary
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