The ‘Chelsea Chop’ is a useful trick designed to extend the flowering season of herbaceous plants which is carried out around the time of the Chelsea Flower Show in May – hence the name. It’s too late for that now, however, you can rejuvenate any tired July borders by employing the ‘Hampton Hack’, a method that happens to coincide with the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.

Shrubs that respond well to the Hampton hack include:

Philadelphus
Weigela
Helianthemums

These can all take quite tough mid-summer pruning which will prolong their life and stop them from becoming unattractively untidy or too big for their boots.

Herbaceous plants:

Alchemilla mollis
Astrantias
Herbaceous Geraniums
Nepeta

The degree of cutting back is specific to each species but the closer to the flowering time you prune, the greater the delay in flowering. Doing the ‘Hampton Hack’ can delay the flowering of perennials by four to six weeks. You can either prune all the stems on a clump, which delays all the flowers, or just half of them, which spreads the plant’s flowering over a longer period. This can have some positive results:

The plants are not so tall and leggy
They need less staking
The flowers are smaller but more numerous

This happens because the removal of the top shoots enables the side shoots to branch out (the top shoots would normally inhibit the side shoots by producing hormones in a process called apical dominance). Using this method, along with regular feeding and watering, ensures beds and borders look tidy throughout summer.

After Lupins and Delphiniums have finished flowering, chop them down to about 30 cm in height, apply a mulch around their base and give them a generous drink of water. They’ll start into growth again and may produce additional smaller flowers on shorter stems later on in the year and you’ll have new foliage to look at instead of a yellowing mess.

June is a wonderful time in the garden, the weather is warmer and it’s encouraging flowers to appear in abundance. Here are a few tasks to keep on top of at this time of the year:

Flowers

• Stake plants that are prone to flopping;
• Continue planting summer bedding in pots and borders, watering them regularly to help plants establish quickly;
• Tie in new stems of climbing and rambling roses horizontally to supports, this will encourage more flowers;
• Give a liquid feed to pots and hanging baskets every few weeks to encourage flowering;
• Prune late-spring or early-summer shrubs after flowering, such as Kerria and Philadelphus, and thin out any older stems;

Fruit and veg

• Plant out sweetcorn after hardening off, arranging plants in blocks to assist with pollination;
• Cover ripening fruits with netting or fleece to protect them from hungry birds;
• Water vegetables and fruit in containers regularly, especially during dry sunny weather;
• Go on regular snail and slug hunts, especially on damp evenings, to reduce numbers;
• Apply tomato feed regularly to fruiting vegetable crops, including tomatoes, courgettes, and chillies;

Greenhouse

• Sow biennials such as foxgloves and wallflowers in seed trays;
• Shade greenhouses to keep temperatures down on hot days and open vents and doors on warm days. Damping down your greenhouse on hot days will help with increasing humidity;
• Sow herbs such as coriander, parsley and basil in pots to grow on the kitchen windowsill;
• Pinch out the side-shoots of cordon tomatoes regularly and apply a weekly feed;
• Water plants daily in warm weather, ideally in the evening or early morning. Avoid splashing the foliage as sunlight can burn leaves with water sitting on them;
• Introduce biological controls to the greenhouse if you have pests such as whitefly or red spider mites;
• Harden off hanging baskets and pots of summer bedding that have been growing in the greenhouse;
• If your strawberries need a little help ripening, bring them in to the warmth of the greenhouse. This will also protect them against bird, slug and snail damage;

Garden maintenance

• Keep weeding and dead-heading plants to ensure your borders stay looking at their best;
• Continue watering any new plants until they’re well established;
• Water newly laid lawn regularly, for at least the first month;
• Before starting any trimming or pruning tasks, check hedges and shrubs for nesting birds in order that you don’t disturb them;
• Treat pots with vine weevil control if you’ve previously had problems with this pest. The larvae become active this month, feeding on plant roots, particularly in pots, and the adults feed on the leaves;
• Dig out perennial weeds such as dandelions as soon as you spot them;
• Feed lawns with a liquid or granular lawn fertiliser;
• Remove pond weed as it can quickly get out of control as the weather gets warmer;
• Place houseplants outside for the summer in a warm, sheltered spot to enjoy the fresh air and extra light;

With the autumn-planting season just around the corner, garden centres and on-line retailers are now stocking spring-flowering bulbs. If you want to ensure that you have the variety you’re after, then now is the time to purchase them.

What to look out for
Try to get big, firm bulbs, as usually the larger they are, the better they flower. Avoid any that are soft or have mould growing on.

When to plant spring bulbs?
Autumn is the best time to plant spring bulbs as the soil is still warm. Ideally, bulbs such as daffodils, crocus, muscari and hyacinths should be planted by the end of September if you want them to flower early next year.

 

Tulips should be planted a little later in autumn, so aim to wait until November when the soil is cold and this will help to avoid any potential viruses that may be lurking in the soil.

I often plant tulips in pots as this means that after flowering, when there is just the messy foliage left, they can be replaced by something else to extend the flowering season.

 

 

You can leave planting of Alliums until early in December to ensure that they flower over summer the following year.

 

 

If planting in a border:

• Dig a hole wide and deep enough for your bulbs. Most bulbs should be planted two to three times their depth. For example, for a bulb measuring 5cm high, dig a hole 10-15cm in depth and place the bulb in the bottom of it.
• Ensure that bulbs are placed in the hole with their growing tip facing upwards. If you don’t see a pointy side, look for where the roots are coming out. Sometimes it’s not always obvious, in which case planting them on their side will ensure the shoot grows towards the surface. Space them at least twice the bulb’s own width apart.
• Cover with soil and gently firm in.
• If the ground is moist there is no need to water, otherwise water straight after planting.
• Squirrels often love to dig up freshly planted bulbs. If you think this may be a problem, weigh down some chicken wire over the area to protect the bulbs.

Planting in a container:

• Use a mix of three parts multi-purpose compost with one part grit as this will help with drainage.
• Before planting, check that the bulbs are healthy and showing no signs of rot. Plant the bulbs three times their depth and one bulb width apart.
• Water after planting, ensuring that they don’t dry out. Once you start to see active growth, ensure that they are regularly watered. It will also help at this stage that you start to feed them with a liquid tomato feed. Once they have finished flowering and the foliage begins to die back, stop feeding.

If you find that after buying your bulbs, you forget about them or haven’t had the time to plant them, don’t worry too much. Plant them as soon as you remember. I’ve planted Alliums in late January some years, they will still flower but perhaps just a little later than expected.