Gardeners’ World – June 2024

After the rain and now warm weather plants (and weeds) are growing quickly. It’s time to prune early flowering shrubs such as forsythia and viburnum to control their shape and size, keep them healthy and promote next year’s flowers. Using shears or hedge trimmers can give an unnatural appearance; if you use secateurs or pruning shears for larger branches, they will look more natural.

New growth of early flowering clematis such as Montana needs to be controlled and if possible tied in. Although this growth is excellent for covering old trees. Snap off the heads of dead tulips to prevent them wasting energy setting seed, and let their foliage die down naturally. Pull out forget-me-nots before they set seed everywhere, there should be no need to shake them.

Early potatoes are now growing quickly and need earthing up to prevent a late frost taking their leaves, ensure there is plenty of soil over the potatoes to exclude any light which will turn them green and make them inedible.