JOBS for the week

Unless frost is forecast, your pots and hanging baskets can go outside permanently if you have been gradually acclimatising them to outside in the past few weeks. If not, start to leave them outside during the day so they can adjust gradually.

If you’re further south, you can plant tender plants such as cannas and dahlias outside and sow tender annuals outdoors. It’s summer bedding time so if you fancy some colour, plant pelargoniums, begonias, lobelias and antirrhinums into pots and beds. If you’re nervous about frost, keep horticultural fleece handy for warmth at night.

Aphids will be visible – keep an eye out and remove by hand.

In the veg garden, you can sow seeds directly outdoors that had to be done indoors until now such as pumpkins, courgettes, squash, French beans and sweetcorn. If you haven’t planted potatoes yet, get them in this month. Earth up potato plants – draw soil up to stem to create ridges of soil.

Keep successional sowing of quick to crop veg such as salad, beetroot and radish.

Lightly hoe borders to remove weed seedlings, which will dry out on the soil surface.

Open vents and doors in glasshouses on warm days to improve air circulation.

Overcrowded spring bulbs can be lifted and divided once they start to die down.

Hang pheromone traps in apple trees to reduce codling moth damage to your fruit.