THE SCENT OF SUMMER
June is a lovely month to be in the garden – and although there are still plenty of jobs to do you can take time to sit back and smell the roses, as they will be in full bloom.
Fragrant gardens really come into their own at this time of year and the key to success is to balance the different elements of scents, shapes, foliage and flower colours.
For stronger-smelling plants, find a place away from the house or building that gets early evening sun. Jasmine is perfect for this as it has a sweet musky scent that grows stronger in the evening and makes sitting outside a joy. Roses are the crème de la crème of the scented flower bed and containers and can be planted in most places in the garden. Combining fragrances can produce an amazing mood enhancing outdoor space that also attracts wildlife such as bees and butterflies. For a tranquil haven a mix of mild-scented flowers like lily-of-the-valley, lilac and rose can be the perfect choice, whilst for a calming and relaxing feel you could plant some chamomile, scented geraniums and lavender as well.
A classic summer scented plant is the sweet pea – colourful and easy to grow in containers or in the ground. Sweet peas have different strengths of fragrance, but the super-scented ones tend to be creamy or have bluish tints, and their scents are distinctive – sweet, citrus, musk or spice. Keep in mind that the scent of sweet peas is strongest on warm and sunny days and in newly opened flowers. They like to be in open sunny locations with supports put in place before planting. Make sure you guide the developing shoots in the right direction and tie them in if needed and if you pick flowers or deadhead frequently you will get them flowering through to about September.
If there is one job to be done this month it’s to …feed your plants. Feeding is an easy thing to forget to do and not all plants benefit from being fed in the same way so tailoring your feeding to suit different plants will give the best results. Add controlled release plant food to the compost when planting new pots – which releases nutrients throughout the growing season. If you sprinkle rose food around the base of your rose bushes this month it will help promote a second flush of flowers. Dilute liquid tomato feed in a watering can and apply to damp compost – this will give you a bumper crop if given to veg plants in containers such as tomatoes and peppers.
For fruit and veg growers, now it the time …. to plant out the last of the tender crops, including tomatoes and courgettes. Make sure anything you plant out is watered and given support if needed. Continue sowing salad crops, such as beetroot, lettuce, pak choi and radish and there’s still time to sow French and runner beans, peas, squash, sweetcorn, and outdoor cucumbers directly into prepared beds outside.
Some of the other garden jobs for June suggested by the RHS are:
- Plant up summer hanging baskets and containers
- Use water wisely to keep your plants thriving
- Pinch out sideshoots on tomatoes
- Harvest lettuce, radish, other salads and early potatoes
- Hoe borders regularly to keep down weeds
- Mow lawns once a week – but consider leaving some areas uncut for wildlife
- Plant out summer bedding
- Stake tall or floppy plants
- Prune many spring-flowering shrubs
- Shade greenhouses to keep them cool and prevent scorch
