Buoyant. Energised. Vibrant. Playful. This is the time that keen gardeners want to make sure that everything in the garden is thriving and looks good – for the non-gardeners to enjoy. A gardener is seldom idle in the garden, but we can enjoy a rest with friends and loved ones on occasion.
Jobs to do in summer
- Give your garden a shot of colour with summer flowering bedding plants in containers, borders and hanging baskets.
- Get your watering right. Water the soil around plants really thoroughly, making little ponds around them so the water can really soak in. Watering this way supports plants for much longer, so you need to water less often.
- Control slugs and snails in your garden or allotment with broken eggshells, beer traps, copper barriers, slug pellets to name but a few.
- Regular dead-heading of flowers
- Water and feed sweet peas regularly, pick the flowers every few days, and remove seed pods to prolong flowering.
- Cut back early summer perennials, such as hardy geraniums and delphiniums, after flowering for a second flush.
- If you have a pond, keep it aerated and the water level topped up.
- Plant autumn-flowering bulbs, such as colchicums and sternbergias.
- Keep on top of the weeding and feeding.
