Gardening in June
Lee Senior brings some more tips for growing on board or on land.
GARDENING provides a welcome distraction from the lockdown period which looks likely to continue in some form during the summer.
Our summer bedding plants should be nicely planted out now in their containers and window boxes. The flower display they will provide will give us all a much-needed boost. Keep them damp but not overwatered. Pansies in particular can be prone to rot.
For an evergreen all-year-round low maintenance display, nothing can beat the humble box plant (buxus sempervirens). It is a relaxing, stress-releasing task to cajole, snip and nurture these hardy plants into shapes ranging from chickens to pyramids or simply left as they are. Whatever you do, they look great as specimen plants in even the most modest of containers.
Chickweed is a prominent summer weed and is perhaps surprisingly edible, eaten in moderation. The fresh young tips harvested away from roads and local dog walkers’ routes are the ones to select. It is very common weed and it may well just simply appear in your pot!
Early potatoes are ready to harvest this month and are one of the highlights of the grow-your-own calendar. That lovely ‘new’ potato taste with (or without) butter and homegrown mint or a sprig of rosemary fresh from a pot is unbeatable.
Another easily grown summer speciality that looks to be on course for a June harvest this year is strawberries. Warm sun-ripened strawberries, eaten straight from the pot, are an unbridled joy.
Growing our own food has never been more important than during these unprecedented times. There is plenty to do this month to ensure a regular supply of food throughout summer. Sowings of mini beetroot, little gem lettuce, mizuna, loose-leaf salad leaves, radish, dwarf French beans, spring onions and either stump or finger carrots can all be made now, all of which will grow in a container or even a good-sized window box. There really is something for everyone.