11 June 2020 By Tash Ellens
‘No Mow’
In May Plantlife set everyone the challenge of ‘No Mow May’, a project to encourage wildflowers to bloom in a dedicated space on your lawn. This provides a vital source of nectar for bees and insects. Why not continue to provide a little sanctuary for bees and wildlife throughout the summer – we love Sarah Raven’s Wild Flower Meadow Mix.
Splitting plants to make the most of their potential
Vegetables and Flowers to sow in June
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Spring onions can be sown for continuous harvest into autumn. Once eaten, you can trim off their tops, put the whites in water on the windowsill and in a couple of weeks you’ll have new green leaves to harvest.
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Broccoli, both cultivars and calabrese can be sown in sheltered areas to prevent them from being exposed to wind damage.
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Florence Fennel can be sown successively in June, but be wary of slugs and snails.
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Sunflowers can grow to impressive heights, sow them now for them to shoot up swiftly in the summer sun.
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Nasturtiums are colourful and easy to grow, use them as companion plant for your French and runner beans.
5 ways to make the most of your strawberry plants
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Strawberries require continuous watering, do this at ground level to keep the humidity levels low and reduce the risk of mould.
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You’ll need to check moisture levels daily with new plants until the fruit grows.
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Once the fruit starts to form, feed them nightly with a high potassium liquid fertiliser, such as tomato food.
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To help them fruit for longer, you should trim off old leaves to discourage slug and snail damage.
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Towards the end of June you’ll need to thin out the plants if they are producing runners, so they don’t compete for water and nutrients.