Garden jobs for midsummer

I know we always say it, but WATERING

It’s that time of year when we’re not even going to apologise for reminding you to water your plants. They will get very thirsty in this heat and should really be being watered, at the very least, every three days. You will find that they’ll probably need more than that, especially if they’re in full sun for a lot of the day. My shady north-facing balcony gets a water every three days, with a top up as needed for smaller pots. 

Remember that smaller pots will need watering more regularly – as their moisture will take less time to evaporate, or be used up by the plant.

Dig Top Tip: Water the base of the plant to avoid wasting water on leaves. 

Use a watering can, if you can

As an addition to the above advice, do try and use a watering can if you can. It will give you far more control when watering, avoiding blasting soil everywhere, and, because you can measure the water you’re using – and fill from a water butt if you have one – it’s a far more environmentally-conscious option. 

Mulch for water retention

If you want to cut down on the amount of watering you need to do, there aren’t many ways around this beyond watering systems which, though great, can sometimes overwater. Mulching your beds however (i.e. applying a thick layer of compost between plants, can prevent water loss and help with moisture retention – with the added bonus of extra nutrients for your beds. 

Mulching with wood bark instead of compost can, though slightly more expensive, help to create a more considered look as well.

Plant out Dahlias

If you haven’t got them in the ground yet, you’ve still got just enough time to plant out young Dahlias. By late summer you’ll have tonnes of blooms to brighten things up as the garden begins to slow down ready for autumn. 

Add some annuals

Annuals are amazing. They’re cheap and tend to produce tonnes of flowers through the summer months. Many will, often, come back the following year too. Though listed as annuals, We’ve seen many annual plants self-seed and return the following summer, even in pots.

Haircut time – pruning and deadheading

Removing spent flowers, either with your hands or a pair of snips or scissors, will give you plenty more enjoyment through the summer. By removing a spent flower, you’re removing a seedhead – meaning that the plant is forced to channel its reproductive energy into remaining or even new blooms in its bid for survival. It’s also quite a pleasant evening activity – wandering round the fruits of your labour and plucking off any unsightly dead flowers.

Good plants to remember to deadhead/prune: Roses, Lilacs, Geraniums, Lupins, Sweet peas, Cosmos, Rhododendrons, and, though later in the summer, Dahlias too.

Stake out tall plants as needed

As tall plants begin to grow upwards, they might need a little support. If you notice plants becoming ungainly of buffeted by the wind, a bamboo cane or similar stake, tied gently with garden twine, can save them from being blown over and snapping. Plenty of taller plants will be able to support themselves (Thalictrum, and Verbena being good examples) but others – including Hydrangea and Dahlia – will likely benefit from a bit of support.

Control climbers

As climbing plants burst into action, extending tendrils up and out, it’s a good idea to tie in loose ones to enable you to guide the plant where you’d like it to go. Whether over an arch, up a trellis, or along a railing, a few carefully chosen placed knots of loosely tied garden twine can really help keep them looking their best.

Clematis such as Clematis ‘Armandii’ can be neatly guided with careful tying.

Weed out weeds

As the plants you’ve chosen to put in your garden take off, so too will the ones that you haven’t chosen to be there. June is a great month to get on top of weeds. They’re a little sturdier, meaning you can hoik them out easily – before they really strengthen through July and August. A summer evening, with long hours of daylight, is a nice time to do this for an hour or two, because weeding in the midday sun is definitely an unenviable task.

Plant up a herb box and multiply your herbs

A quick trip to the supermarket can give you a decent selection of fresh herbs for less than a fiver. Instead of letting them wilt on your kitchen windowsill, plant them out into a long terracotta pot or window box and enjoy fresh herbs for the rest of the summer. If you really want to get bang for your buck, many herb pots in supermarkets will continue multiple plants – and by carefully separating them and carefully replanting into smaller pots, you’ll soon have many more than you started with.

Supermarket herbs in a balcony window box

Our Herbs Galore theme is also an option – especially if you’re looking for a visual statement as much as a culinary one!

Nature Watch

Blooms = Bees – Many of the plants in our six themes are natural bee magnets. Certain annuals are beloved by bees too – so, if you feel like your garden is more foliage than flowers but you’d love to help out local pollinators, simply add some annuals.

We’ve noticed that Bacopa, Borage, annual Salvia, Cosmos, Marigolds, Nasturtium, Campanula and many others often attract bees, even as we’re planting them up. 

Bee bath time – a bee bath is a shallow water bath filled with stones to allow bees and butterflies and other insects to hydrate. Much like humans and plants, bees and butterflies need water to survive. You can really make one of these however you want – as long as the water is accessible, and there are plenty of places for visitors to stand.

A bee bath – here filled to above and below the surface with gravel and shells

Add a log pile – A log pile can be an inviting refuge for bugs. It’s very easy to introduce one into a quiet corner of your garden and immediately provide a new habitat. Simply pile logs in any old fashion in a unused bit of your garden – next to a wall is often good – and then leave it be. 

Create a wildlife pond – Water in a garden is a lifeline for so many forms of wildlife. From aquatic and amphibian creatures – newts, water insects, frogs etc. – to visiting birds and mammals, to airborne insects, a wildlife pond can transform the biodiversity of your outdoor space. Size really doesn’t matter either – it can be the size of a kitchen sink, or a bigger more ornamental pond. The important thing is to ensure that wildlife can easily get into and out of it, and that its topped up if the water level looks to be dropping in these warmer months.