Arthur's top tips

• You want a green lawn, but you don’t want to be constantly cutting grass. Use after cut now, it encourages a lush green carpet without excess growth.
• See our Facebook account for details on how to receive a free spreader. Less work!
• Give extra water to ripening soft fruits such as raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, and currants.
• Harvest early potatoes, carrots and salad crops.
• Spray potatoes against blight.

Tasty, Rhubarb is a gem in spring, but at this of the year it gets boast and it takes more sugar than its worth to make a nice pie, but the girls here in the coffee shop have been making rhubarb and ginger jam, which I must say is seriously tasty. Come out and try some, I guarantee you will be planting more rhubarb next year. Our recipe is up on our Facebook page and it's quite easy to make I’m told. The ladies in the shop have all the jam making accessories in the homewares department. I hear rumours of strawberry and rose petal jam, interesting…we shall see.

Come July, especially with the kind of weather were having you will be forgiven if you were not as enthusiastic about your vegetable patch as you were in spring, but persevere and you will be rewarded. Now is the right time to plant seeds for vegetables that will mature in the autumn and in some cases over winter. Cabbage “wheelers imperial” is worth mentioning. This is a select variety that you sow now for spring greens or left longer to develop ahead. This is from our heritage collection which has many varieties well tried and tested in our climate. Sow carrot “mignon” for succession sowings as they mature quickly about 12 weeks from sowing. All types of beans can be planted now climbing, French, dwarf and all year round lettuce. In the garden centre we have a very helpful pamphlet on what to sow and also when to harvest, it’s free, so some time when you’re out, pick one up. 

Anybody that is new to growing potatoes it is now time to spray for blight otherwise, all your hard work will go to waste. If your space is limited traditionally turnips would have been sown in the area where early potatoes will be soon dug up. So get planting, don’t throw in the trowel it’s still only half-time.

• Prune out plain green shoots from variegated trees and shrubs.
• Water runner beans, celery, marrows, courgettes and salads.
• Thin heavy fruit crops, leaving developing fruits about 10-15cm apart.
• Sow seeds of herbs now, including basil, parsley and coriander.
• Water tomatoes regularly to prevent fruit splitting and blossom end rot.
• Ventilate your  greenhouse daily, blight warning for the coming week.

Lavender can be used for culinary use. Choose an angustifolia variety. We find lavandula angustifolia “hidcote” the most successful lavender to grow in the midlands. Next time when you are barbequing your meat, try sprinkling some dried lavender on the hot coals. Not only will this add flavour that is good to the taste buds, it will also adds scent that is pleasing to the nose.  We have posted up on our Facebook page a few other uses for you to experiment with. Blueberry and lavender jam?

Patio orchard  Growing fruit trees in large pots on the patio is a great way of increasing the range of fruit you have in your garden without taking up valuable border space. The warmth of a sunny patio means you can try more exotic fruits such as figs that need a good summer to ripen. It is also an ideal way of squeezing a fruit tree into a very small garden without it dominating the whole design. Raising trees in pots allows you to grow fruit that would otherwise fail to thrive in your garden. For example, you could try plums that need a well-drained soil even if your garden is heavy clay, or acid-loving blueberries in a garden with alkaline soil. There are other advantages, too. The trees are easier to protect from late frosts because you can move them inside or cover them with garden fleece. They can be protected from pests and diseases more effectively and sprayed more easily. Since the tree will remain small it will be easier to prune and harvesting is a real pleasure. Cherries make excellent patio trees, with spectacular blossom and colourful fruit. It is essential that you choose a variety on a dwarf rootstock such as Colt or Gisela, even then it will make a medium-sized tree in the garden. However, in a container it will remain quite small, so that it is easy to look after. You can even cover it with near-invisible fine-mesh netting just as the cherries start to ripen to prevent the birds beating you to your crop. A self-fertile variety such as ‘Stella‘ or ‘Sunburst‘ would be an excellent choice for growing in a container on the patio. If you want to try acid cherries for cooking, ‘Morello‘ is worth considering. Plums can make large and difficult-to-manage trees in the garden, but in a container they are kept small enough for any size plot. Choose a dwarfing rootstock such as St Julien A or Pixie. Apples are probably the easiest fruit to grow in a container. Plant one called scrumptious it is scrumptious. Squeeze in a mini peach tree in your glass house.

• When the first flush of roses is over, prune back lightly and feed with a rose fertilizer.
• Be sure to water plants in tubs, raised beds and on walls thoroughly.
• Feed your houseplants regularly with a liquid feed.
• Treat weeds with a lawn weed killer before they get a firm foothold.
• Continue to feed tomatoes and cucumbers.
• Ventilate your tunnels and greenhouse.

Reap the rewards of all your hard work! This month you should be harvesting the following: blackcurrants, strawberries, raspberries, peas, spinach, rocket, endive, beans, spring onions, new potatoes, lettuce, broccoli (calabrese and purple sprouting). Harvest shallots and hand them up to dry. Enjoy.

How to plant good companions

Plants have friends and enemies, too and you can use this to get bigger and better crops in your vegetable patch. Some plants have the same needs; others will help deter pests while a few will even act in a supporting role. The trick is to know who gets on with whom and which ones you definitely need to keep at opposite ends of the garden. Smell is very important; some plants can confuse garden pests with their scent. If your carrots were plagued by carrot root fly this year then try growing alliums, such as chives or leeks, between the rows to throw them off the scent. Strongly scented marigolds can also help to deter carrot root fly. Black fly when growing beans is my number one problem, this year we grew the poached egg plant beside them and so far no blackfly. Ladybirds are our best friends in the garden centre, so much so that we encourage them to come live here, by placing little wooden houses for them amongst the rose beds. It sounds strange but ladybirds are big fans of greenfly for lunch. You can encourage them into your garden by planting fragrant midsummer perennials such as phlox, evening primrose, lavender and catmint.

Take advantage of the different ways you grow plants, tall, trailing and climbing can help each other out. Native American Indians used a technique called the ‘three sisters’ this involves planting sweetcorn, pumpkins, and beans together, the tall sweetcorn provides a climbing support for the beans, which in turn fix nitrogen in the soil to feed the other two hungry plants. The best bit is that the pumpkins trail along the ground and smother the weeds. You can also offer up a sacrifice, nasturtiums play the role of victim particularly well; their smell keeps the bugs off pumpkins and broccoli while caterpillars love them and will happily eat them rather than your prize cabbages.   

• Shorten half the shoots on broom and genista to encourage new growth.
• Thin heavy fruit crops, picking off the smallest. Aim to leave developing fruits about 10-15cm apart along the stems, perhaps thinning congested spurs down to just a single fruit.
• Sow seed of herbs now, including basil, parsley, and coriander.
• Sow vegetable seeds now, including endive, lettuce and salad leaves, beetroot, radishes, spring cabbages, kohl rabi, Swiss chard, winter spinach, Oriental greens, spring onions, turnips.
• Summer prune your wisteria.
• Water tomatoes regularly to prevent fruit splitting and blossom end rot.
• Spray potatoes and outdoor tomatoes with Bordeaux mixture to prevent blight.

How to summer prune your wisteria

Summer pruning wisteria encourages the development of short-flowering spurs that will carry the long racemes of bloom in spring. To be less technical if you neglect to prune you will have little or no flowers next year. The long vigorous shoots are cut back to a couple of buds from the base of the current season's growth. During initial training of young wisteria plants, select a few strong shoots to tie into wires or trellis. Once you have created these, you can prune any sideshoots back to this framework. Use secateurs to cut back all the long shoots that have been produced during the late spring and early summer. Make the cut just beyond the second or third bud from the base. Make sure that your secateurs are sharp when cutting back the long shoots of climbers as it's easy to crush or tear the stems, which may lead to die-back. Don’t waste these as green, leafy summer prunings from wisteria can be added to the compost heap where they'll rot down quickly.

Hydrangeas explode with colour in July in gardens around the country. All looking great right up until autumn. Their ability to weather wintry conditions of late and still produce blooms each year means they are a must for any garden. Some varieties perform better than others in the midlands so we no longer stock them, instead we now concentrate on finding different colour shades of the species that do well. At their best for mass landscaping and border planting, however because of their long season of bloom, they are also great in a container. There are hundreds of varieties to choose from different shapes as well as different colours. We have a lovely one at the moment called hydrangea quercifolia (oakleaf hydrangea) that will have stunning autumn foliage colour, definitely one to add to your collection.  

• Pinch outside shoots of tomatoes to increase yields and keep feeding with tomato feed.
• Stay on high alert, the war on slugs continues.
• Pot up houseplants that have become top heavy or pot bound.
• Be on the lookout for developing pest problems and take action.
• Re-seed bare patches in lawns.
• Treat weeds with a lawn weed killer before they get a firm foothold.
• Sow seeds of herbs, including basil, parsley and coriander.
• Bury shoot tips of blackberries and peg them down to raise new plants.
• Keep an eye on your greenhouse or tunnel. Ventilate daily and add extra shading if temperatures get too high.
• Cut back pansies that look straggly to encourage new growth.
• Shorten half the shoots on broom and genista to encourage new growth.
• Thin heavy fruit crops, picking off the smallest. Aim to leave developing fruits about 10-15cm apart along the stems, perhaps thinning congested spurs down to just a single fruit.
• Trim conifers and other garden hedges.

We in the midlands are so lucky to have our lovely lakes and rivers to revive us in this glorious weather. There is I find nothing more relaxing than the sound of a trickling stream. Throughout the centuries the addition of a water feature in garden design was extremely important in fact garden design at its pinnacle revolves around water. Some of the great gardens of Europe manipulated the natural course of rivers to create lakes and waterfalls for their own pleasure; of course I’m not suggesting you to this! But you can create a very pleasing natural water feature which involves more work than money. Its success will be measured by the amount of planning you do. Decide on your format, is it going to be formal or natural, of course this will be influenced by your site i.e. if you have a slopping site you can create a waterfall quite easily.  Do some research before you start one or two good landscape books on the subject will point you in the right direction regarding the feature best suited to your garden. Also consider if you are going to include fish in your pool. Filtration is very important, make sure to get some professional advice. Growing plants in and around water will bring you into a whole new world of gardening, usually I would be telling you to pick a sunny well drained position for your plants but not this time as water plants are the other end of the spectrum. Many of them growing directly in the water, which in turn helps keep the water clear as well as looking beautiful. I always look forward to the first water lily to flower as it marks the beginning of summer to me and on evenings like we’ve just had you reap the rewards of your labours. 

• When the first flush of roses is over, prune back lightly and feed with a rose fertilizer.
• Be on the lookout for developing pest problems and take action.
• Re-seed bare patches in lawns.
• Treat weeds with a lawn weed killer before they get a firm foothold.
• Sow seeds of salad leaves, beetroot, radishes, spring cabbages, kohl rabi, Swiss chard, spinach, Oriental greens, chicory, swede and turnips for green tops.
• Pinch out the shoot tips on fuchsias and bedding plants for bushier growth.
• Cutting back growth in hanging baskets can encourage new flowers and foliage and will revive the display. Make sure you that feed your baskets well after doing this.
• If you need to prune your deciduous Magnolia, now is the best time to do it.
• If you're growing aubergines pinch out the growing tip once they have 5 or 6 fruits. Pick fruits while they are young. You can expect to start harvesting in mid to late summer.
• Harvest garlic when the tops start to bend over and yellow. To find out more about harvesting and growing garlic read my ‘how-to' guide.

How to Protect Veg Plants from Pests

Just when your vegetables are almost ready to eat, invariably something else finds it first & feasts on your hard work before you get a chance for harvest. The first step in protecting your crop from pests is to ensure that your plants are strong & healthy. A well-grown plant withstands the ravages of pests better than an ailing one. Keep the soil well fed & well drained by incorporating plenty of organic matter before planting such as organic Farmyard Manure& feed your plants with a quality and dedicated plant food to keep them at their peak all of the time. Many pests that affect our plants are transitory problems moving around the garden at will. Before you reach for the pest spray, consider whether you could protect your plants with a mesh, a barrier or a trap. This keeps edible plants free from residues and helps support a wildlife friendly garden. Use a fine mesh over brassicas and carrots to keep out cabbage white butterflies, carrot fly and many other flying pests. Remember to use slug barriers around susceptible plants to protect against slugs & snails, or trap them in beer traps.  The best weapons in the war on slugs are natural predators that eat them for breakfast. Frogs, beetles, hedgehogs& birds consider these slimy slugs a protein-rich delicacy. Keep an area of the garden wild. Feed the birds consistently to identify your garden as a food source and try to use pesticides as a last resort.

Harvesting your garlic. Garlic is best planted between November and April although you will generally get a bigger and better crop if you plant it in the autumn. Garlic bulbs are sold according to their suitability for spring or autumn planting.  Autumn-planted garlic will be ready to harvest in June and July and spring-planted garlic will be ready slightly later. Simply wait until the leaves have started to wither and turn yellow, and then loosen the bulbs from the soil with a trowel. Be careful not to cut the garlic bulbs with your trowel as this will reduce their storage potential. Also, be careful not to leave the bulbs in the ground too long after the leaves have withered as the bulbs are likely to re-sprout and may rot when stored. Lay the garlic bulbs out somewhere warm and dry before storing them. Any dry soil left on the bulbs can be gently brushed off. Bulbs should then store for up to 3 months in good condition. It really is so easy to grow your own garlic so maybe give it a try this autumn and ease yourself into the GYO movement!

• Thin heavy fruit crops, picking off the smallest. Aim to leave developing fruits about 10-15cm apart along the stems, perhaps thinning congested spurs down to just a single fruit.
• Sow seed of herbs now, including basil, parsley and coriander.
• Sow vegetable seeds now, including endive, lettuce and salad leaves, beetroot, radishes, spring cabbages, ‘Eskimo’ carrots, Swiss chard, winter spinach, Oriental greens, spring onions, turnips.
• Summer prune your wisteria.
• Water tomatoes regularly to prevent fruit splitting and blossom end rot.
• Spray potatoes and outdoor tomatoes with Bordeaux mixture to prevent blight.
• Resist the temptation to harvest more rhubarb stems. This allows the plant to build up reserves for next year.
• ​Pick runner beans regularly to prevent them becoming stringy and to make room for developing pods. Leaving mature pods on the plant can prevent further flowers forming and reduce your crop.
• Prune your plum, apricot, peach and cherry trees now. Pruning these species in the summer reduces the risk of these trees getting silver leaf disease.
• If you've trained your apples and pears as cordons, fans or espaliers, give them their summer prune now to maintain a good shape.
• This is your last chance to feed your lawn with a special lawn fertiliser to encourage healthy green growth.

Over the last number of weeks I have covered hydrangeas in all their many forms. All the beautiful colours that you would hope for will only materialise when you care for your plants by feeding and pruning properly, but firstly you need to pick the right location and soil. There is nothing new about this as the same apples to most plants. The problem that arises for most of us is deciding when all these different plants need pruning. With hydrangeas, there are basically two sets of guidelines when it comes to pruning. All the Macrophylla family, that is the hydrangeas with big round heads in pinks, blues, whites and reds that you see in many peoples gardens require very little pruning. A light pruning in late march removing the previous seasons flower heads and taking out any wispy old branches. If the plants are overgrowing their space reduce the overall size of the plant by taking out a number of the old stems right back to ground level, this will encourage new growth and flowering in subsequent years. In the midlands leaving on the flower heads over winter is very important as it protects the emerging buds from late frosts. Not following these rules will explain why some hydrangeas never flower. Apart from benefiting from a good feed in early spring hydrangeas are best planted where they get shade from the early morning sun, especially after frost in late spring. The hydrangea Paniculata family they are the ones that produces a large white cone shaped flowers on current seasons growth and are pruned right back to ground level every spring. Given a good feed they will grow strongly and flower in the same season. Hydrangeas planted in groups in the garden or individually on the patio are excellent for summer/Autumn colour.

• Pinch out side shoots of tomatoes to increase yields  and keep feeding with tomato feed.
• Feed roses to keep them flowering strongly.
• Pot up houseplants that have become top heavy or pot bound.
• Be on the lookout for developing pest problems and take action.
• Cut down delphiniums once flower spikes fade.
• Treat weeds with a lawn weed killer before they get a firm foothold.
• Sow seeds of herbs, including basil, parsley and coriander.
• Bury shoot tips of blackberries and peg them down to raise new plants.
• Keep an eye on your greenhouse or tunnel with this ever changing weather we are having. Ventilate daily and add extra shading if temperatures get too high.
• Cut back pansies that look straggly to encourage new growth.
• Shorten half the shoots on broom and genista to encourage new growth.
• Thin heavy fruit crops, picking off the smallest. Aim to leave developing fruits about 10-15cm apart along the stems, perhaps thinning congested spurs down to just a single fruit.
• Trim conifers and other garden hedges.
• Spray apples and gooseberries with a fungicide to protect against mildew.
• If you are away on holidays from your greenhouse for a few days Stand pot plants on capillary matting and hang up sticky yellow traps to catch whitefly and flying insects.

Hydrangeas

Following on from last week’s article on hydrangeas, I will now introduce the more unusual varieties like Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle which produces an abundance of round white fluffy flowers from mid-summer onwards. Best grown in a large pot or at the back of a shrub or herbaceous border as it can reach up to 1.5 meters (4-5ft).  There is a pink variety called pink invincible Annabelle which is also well worth planting.  Another variety well worth seeking out is Hydrangea Aspera Sargentiana which grows into a large shrub up to 2 meters high, its distinctive magnificent fuzzy, blue-green leaves is smothered from late summer onwards with a white lacecap type of bloom which spans 8 inches across. The dome shaped bloom will have florescent purple fertile flowers that radiate colour in the summer. This is a very unique hydrangea and a must have for the serious collector. Sargentiana can serve as an outstanding backdrop for other blooming hydrangeas, leave it some room and it won't disappoint. One of the best plants for brightening up a north facing dark wall is Hydrangea petiolaris, it will succeed and thrive in such an aspect where most other climbers struggle. Hydrangea petiolaris is a free flowering variety producing an abundance of white lace cap flowers. Last but not least is Hydrangea Quercifolia and as the name suggests this Hydrangea has a leaf the same shape as an oak tree leaf, it turns vivid shades of orange, crimson and purple in the Autumn, after producing cream flowers all summer  that fade to pink. If you have room for this large shrub which grows 1.8 x 1.5 meters plant one or three! Confused – we’ll deal with feeding and pruning next week.