Trees, Shrubs and Roses
• It is time to clip hedges of all kinds before the wood gets tough. Any heavy cutting back of a hedge should be left until the start of the growing season next year.
• Roses may need to be sprayed against blackspot disease if there is wet weather.
• Prune shrubs that flowered earlier, but only if they are too big for their allotted space.
• Check young trees for signs of drought.
• Check beech hedging for signs of beech aphid, which is woolly, and spray with insecticide if the infestation is heavy on a young hedge.
• Take cuttings of shrubs, using soft shoots of the current year’s new growth.
Flowers
• Water containers of all kinds as often as necessary, or set them up with an inexpensive automatic irrigation system.
• Feeding is also essential and can be given in every third or fourth watering, or weekly if preferred.
• Bedding flowers should be in flower now in the open ground, also begonias and dahlias.
• Usually the problem of weeds is greatly lessened when the plants grow large.
• Perennial flowers are appraoching their best time and many can be used as cutflowers for the house.
Lawns
• The quality of a lawn at this time of year will lagely depend on whether there have been adequate rainfall and whether fertilizer was given.
• Do not water a lawn in dry weather – it is a waste of time and of scarce water.
• If a lawn is pale or yellowish, it probably could do with feeding – lawns need to be fed at least twice each year. Taking the spring feeding in March/April as the first, most need a second one now.
• Feeding at this time is always a bit tricky because it will be counter-productive if the weather turns dry. Watch for rain on the way to make sure the fertilizer gets washed in.
Fruit, Vegetables and Herbs
• The early varieties of potatoes will generally be used up before potato blight disease harms the tubers, later crops will need spraying in blight weather.
• Remove vegetables that have gone over and, to avoid gluts, try to use vegetables as soon as they are large enough.
• Make some late sowings of Chinese leaves, lettuce and radishes.
• If the soil is dry, some vegetables, notably peas, cauliflower and broccolia as well as cabbage might need watering.
• Sow spring cabbage seeds for planting out in September.
Greenhouse and House Plants
• Continue watering and feeding greenhouse plants. Water plants in pots or grow-bags regularly. Train and side-shoot tomatoes and tie in cucumbers and melons. Take semi-hardwood cuttings of • deciduous shrubs in the greenhouse, inserting them in compost made of two parts peat/ one part sand or vermiculite, use rooting powder. Cover wth white polythene