Gardening

Don’t let the cold stop your green fingers

If you haven’t already planted garlic, get onto it this month. June is the best time to do this. It is traditionally best to plant before the shortest day of the year and then harvest by the longest day.

Key points for the month:

• New seasons roses will be in store.

Decide which varieties you want. • Start pruning existing roses. • Plant new deciduous trees

• Prune deciduous fruit trees.

• Plan a clean-up spray programme for fruit trees and spray

June/early July as the weather allows. • Plant new seasons strawberries.

Kitchen Garden

Sow green crops of lupin and mustard in any empty spaces in the vegetable garden for digging into the soil for green manure. Refresh soil for crops by adding new compost and sheep pellets. Plant seedlings: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, silverbeet, spinach, onion. Sow seeds: spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, onions, and peas. Transplant to the garden as the weather warms and when they are showing at least two sets of true leaves.

Broad beans can be planted directly in to the soil, stagger your sowing for a continuous harvest. Tidy up old strawberry beds and prepare for new plants. Sprout new potatoes, stand upright in a light dry place for them to sprout ready for planting. Prepare the beds for when they are ready. Garden Colour

Plant lily (Lilliums) bulbs, they like a sheltered sunny position - they can be left in place for a few years. Sow seeds: alyssum, calendula, cineraria, cornflower, primula, polyanthus, lobelia, nemesia, stock. Transplant to the garden as the weather warms and when they are showing at least two sets of true leaves.

Lift dahlia tubers and gladioli corms, remove any excess soil and store in a dry place. Trim autumn perennials and divide if necessary. Finish pruning all roses; give them a clean-up with a general rose insecticide spray. Remove all fallen leaves from the area around the bottom of the plant to help control the spread of disease. Trees and Shrubs

If your plants get hit by a frost, don’t prune off the damaged parts, as this will promote new growth that will be at risk again. Wait until all frosts are over before pruning. Check your larger trees for any wind damage and prune and seal any larger cuts with pruning paste. Hydrangeas can be pruned back after the flowers have finished. Also mulch with compost and feed blue flowers with aluminium sulphate and red flowers with lime. Collect autumn leaves for composting. Cover frost tender plants with frost cloth; drape the cloth over but not so it is touching the plants. If it is too close a hard frost will freeze it to the plants.