With weeds growing rapidly and plants requiring more and more water, as they seem to grow more as each day passes, it can be a busy time of the year in the garden. It is also the most colourful time of the year as a lot of plants come into flower and bedding plants are at their peak, producing all sorts of wondrous colours.

There are also many plants that produce all kinds of wonderful scents, either by way of their flowers or, in the case of herbs, through oils excreted from their foliage. So sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labours, as this is a time of year when the garden can become very much an extension of the house and where people spend more time relaxing, eating and socialising.

• Remove any seedlings from trees such as Ash and Sycamore before they become established.
• Remove any faded flowers from shrubs such as Laburnums and Lilacs and hard prune Broom avoiding any old wood.
• Trim hedges such as Berberis, Escallonia, Hawthorn and Privet.
• Take softwood cuttings of shrubs such as Cotoneaster, Deutzia, Fuschia and Philadelphus and put them in a cold frame to root.
• Provide a mulch of bark or compost around moisture loving plants as the weather starts to warm up.

• Continue to earth up main crop potatoes and lift early varieties that should be ready during this month.
• Plant out tomatoes and provide support for bush varieties making sure you keep them well watered and fed with a liquid tomato fertiliser.
• Start to sow things such as Chicory, Spinach, Swede, Chervil and Dill and thin out the seedlings as they start to grow.
• Pick herbs regularly to keep the plants bushy.
• Tie in any long shoots of cane fruits such as Raspberries and Loganberries and protect any fruits you may have with netting to stop the birds taking them all.
• Cut back new shoots of Vines to about 60cm.

• Any gaps you may have in containers can be filled with a selection of bedding to give extra colour and interest to an area.
• Pinch out the shoots of container plants to encourage a nice bushy plant but remembering that you will have to allow about a month from this being done for flowers to produce from these points.
• Hanging baskets can now be put out, making sure that you turn them regularly to encourage plants to grow evenly on all sides.
• Take side shoot cuttings of Pinks and put them in a cold frame to allow them to root.
• Pinch out the growing tips of Dahlias and Chrysanthemums to encourage larger flowers.

• By now you should be mowing your lawn regularly and if the weather becomes really dry it can help to retain moisture by leaving your clippings on the grass.
• Now is a good time to lay new turf but you will have to keep watering it regularly to ensure it doesn’t dry out and shrink.
• By now it is advisable not to weed and feed your lawn unless you can keep the lawn well watered.
• Make sure your pond is regularly topped up with water as during dry spells it is amazing how much water disappears due to evaporation.
• The buds of the water lily have a tendency to be attacked by aphids and obviously you can not spray these with an insecticide as it would pollute the water, so a good tip is to use some netting to immerse the plant fully in the water for a few days which should drown the pests.

• To help maintain a good shape and stop them spreading too much prune back shrubs such as Choisya, Jasmine and Philadelphus after they have finished flowering.
• Take semi-ripe cuttings of shrubs such as Buddleja, Callicarpa, Cotoneaster, Deutzia, Euonymous and Vibernum and place them in a cold frame. You can also take heel cuttings of Choisya, Hibiscus and Jasminum Officinale.
• Feed your Roses with Rose fertiliser and also spray against black spot, greenfly, mildew and rust.
• Remove the fading flowers of roses making sure you cut back to a leaf bud, which will then encourage a second flush of flowers.

• To get a late summer crop sow such things as Beetroot, Peas, Chicory, Endive, Radishes and Swiss Chard along with other salad crops.
• Greenhouse plants such as Cucumber and Tomatoes such now start to get to a size where you can start to harvest them.
• Lift Shallots and spread them out in an area where they can be dried before putting them into storage.
• In windy areas where you have such vegetables as Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts and Calabrese earth them up and take if necessary to prevent damage.
• Pinch out the side shoots of tomatoes apart from bush varieties that will produce fruit from these.
• Cut down the canes of Raspberries that have produced their fruit and tie in the new canes that will produce next year’s fruit.
• To provide a better crop of Apples and Pears it is as well to remove all but one of each cluster of fruits. For Apples leave the one in the centre and for Pears leave one from the edge of the cluster.
• Give any plants that are looking a bit tired a good feed with a general fertiliser.

• Keep borders looking tidy by cutting back any early flowering perennials and tie in any plants with tall flower spikes.
• To prolong the season of colour for you’re borders plant autumn flowering bulbs such as Amaryllis, Autumn Crocuses, Nerine and Sternbergia.
• To provide larger blooms pinch out the side buds growing below the terminal bud of Dahlias.
• To provide a second flush of flowers prune perennials such as Achillias, Delphiniums, Hardy Geraniums, Lupins and Salvia Superba right down to the ground.
• Lift and divide the rhizomes of Irises and replant the best pieces to produce better flowering for next year.

• During dry weather continue to keep the lawn well watered.
• Carry on mowing the lawn on a weekly basis unless we get to drought conditions, which is when it is best to keep the grass a bit longer as it will help to retain the moisture.
• Watch out for fungal diseases in the lawn, which tend to be at their worst during hot, humid conditions.
• To prevent bare patches try to avoid walking on areas of the lawn that have been scorched.
• Keep the bog garden weeded and watered so that the soil does not dry out.

• Trim hedges such as Beech and Yew and give Privet its second cut of the year.
• Shrubs such as Ceanothus, Escallonia and Lavender can be cut back as soon as they have finished flowering. This will promote a nice bushy plant that will flower well again next year.
• Cut back the side shoots of Wisteria leaving 2 to 3 buds.
• Now is an ideal time to take semi-ripe cuttings of both evergreen and deciduous shrubs, which can be put in a cold frame to root.
• Stop applying fertiliser to Roses now as it may encourage too much soft growth in the Autumn.
• Continue to look out for mildew on Roses and spray with a fungicide if necessary. This tends to occur in dry weather and positions such as a hot sunny wall.

• Any tomato plants you have that have not ripened yet can be encouraged to do so by removing about 50% of the foliage. It is also advisable to stop feeding now, as it will not have any effect at this late stage.
• Now is a good time to take cuttings of herbs such as Bay, Lavender, Mint, Rosemary, Rue and Sage and placing them in a cold frame or a protected spot outdoors. Chives can also be lifted and divided to provide you with more plants.
• Sweetcorn should be ready for harvesting now along with Celery, which should be picked to avoid any early frosts.
• Any early Apples and Plums should be ready for picking and the Apples eaten fairly soon as they tend not to store very well.
• As soon as you have finished harvesting your Plum trees cut out any dead, diseased and crossing branches. On fan-trained trees you can cut the lateral branches back by half.

• Tie in and feed chrysanthemums and Dahlias and keep late flowering perennials well watered and weed free. Keep deadheading any fading flowers.
• A large selection of spring bulbs should start to be available towards the end of the month, which can be planted out ready to give a colourful display next year.
• Any over-crowded rhizomes of Irises can be lifted, divided and re-planted.
• Pinch back trailing plants that are becoming straggly such as ivy-leaved pelergoniums.
• Take cuttings of half-hardy plants such as Fuschias and Pelergoniums and keep frost-free so that you have stock for next year just in case you lose the original plant during the winter.

• Prepare the ground for the laying or sowing of new lawns by forking over the area, treading it down well and then applying a low-nitrogen lawn fertiliser and raking over the area. About a week after doing this you can sow the lawn seed making sure you apply it evenly and then protecting it from the birds by way of some netting.
• Look out for signs of ‘Red Thread’, which is where patches of grass begin to deteriorate and red or pink fungal growths appear on individual blades of grass. If you have kept your grass well aerated and fed you shouldn’t have a problem but if necessary it can be controlled with a fungicide.
• Keep your pond well topped up with water as otherwise it can cause stress to any pond life you have and also to the plants in and around it.