Jobs / Tips

    You should be mowing the lawn regularly by now, little and often is best, don't leave it more than a week at most. If you have a cylinder mower, then twice a week is better.

    Trim quicker growing hedges such as laurel, privet and Lonicera nitida. If you've a hedge that you want to extend in any way, now is a good time to take cuttings for more plants, see below.

    Stake tall growing perennials such as Delphiniums and Lupins if you've not done so already before they flop. They will flop as the flower heads open, even if the wind doesn't get them, when it rains the water will weigh down the petals and over the flowering spike will go.

    A good time to start taking softwood cuttings of shrubs. There are very many that can be propagated this way and as it's so easy, you can try with almost anything.

    Start watering containers regularly. If you don't need to water them daily, they should be checked daily as a hot day, particularly if there's a drying wind, can suck all of the water out of a container.

    Feed container plants regularly too. Get a soluble plant food and use it according to the instructions, little and often is best, so have one day a week as your feeding day where you do the rounds.

    Dead-head perennials and shrubs such as roses. This keeps them producing more flowers rather than putting their energies into seed and fruit production.

    Water autumn and spring planted trees and shrubs during hot dry spells. If you "baby" trees and shrubs through their first summer, them they're usually fine from then on.

    Look for and remove "suckers" on roses or grafted trees. These are shoots of the wild-type rootstock that the ornamental foliage is grafted onto and will emerge below the graft union which should be fairly obvious as a knobbly irregular region at the bottom of the stem or trunk.

    Look out for and remove plain green branches on variegated shrubs and trees.

    Keep pruning spring flowering shrubs as they fade, they can be pruned back to get a good display next year. Forsythia, Ribes (flowering currants),  Kerria japonica, Chaenomeles (Japanese quince) and early flowering Spireas should all be pruned regularly to keep them vigorous and flowering well.

If you have a neglected plant, then they can withstand being cut pretty much right down to the ground, drastic renovation is best carried out over at least two years.

    Keep watching out for aphids and other pests. If you can spot them early, then life gets an awful lot easier later on in the year.

    If you've an apple tree, then expect the "June drop" this is where the tree rids itself of the excessive fruits that have set. Fruit set depends on the weather and pollinators at flowering time and so is somewhat variable, the tree therefore produces far too much and then thins it out itself as appropriate. A baseball bat (or stick) and dog are another good way to use the fallen fruit, use bat to hit fruit - dog chases fruit - much fun had by all.