Gardener’s Diary: June

Passionate gardener, and sustainable flower farm owner.

My 10 enormous borders for cut flowers are now either full of dahlias, newly sown seeds, seedlings that I've planted out, or weeds!

It has been a bit of a battle, as the ground was initially very dry and lumpy and I had to work the soil with a hoe and rake before sowing some seeds. I had a busy May so I am quite behind – hence the daunting amount of weeks.

I planted my dahlia tubers straight into the ground in April and then planted the potted dahlias in late May once I was confident that the chance of frost had gone.

My next major job for June, other than weeding, is to stake the dahlias before they get too big.

On May 1st, I sowed spinach, radishes, and rocket and all of these are ready to pick. The spinach and rocket are cut and come again but I am going to sow more of each variety.

My first batch of sweet peas is beginning to flower so I will be picking them daily. My emphasis this month is to concentrate on picking flowers twice a week – it is best to pick early in the morning, and allow the blooms to sit in water in a cool room for 12 hours before arranging.

I have anemones, sweet William, alstroemeria, and snapdragons ready to pick. My roses have done extremely well this year and I will be incorporating these into my arrangements.

The pelargoniums have suddenly taken off and are looking good in their pots and the Mexican daisy is the same. I have also tried dwarf cosmos in pots and they are looking very green and healthy so I hope they flower before the end of June. I will need to keep deadheading them once they do flower.

I potted my tomatoes up in the greenhouse in the 2nd week of May. I had bought them as seedlings and grown them on. They didn’t look overly healthy on arrival but the majority grew on well. I potted them in Dalefoot tomato wool compost, which is high in nutrients that tomatoes need – potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen.

However, a few of my plants have got yellow leaves. This could be a case of irregular watering as I have been away and they have not been looked after brilliantly. It could also be a case of Magnesium deficiency. To treat this, I have applied some Epsom salts, in the form of pellets to the base of the plants. I hope that this works as I love to have an abundance of tomatoes in the summer for salads – there is nothing better.