What To Do In The Garden In June

“June — the time of perfect young Summer, the fulfilment of the promise of the earlier months…”  Not that there was much promise to hope for after a long, cold Winter that lasted for what felt like six months. This year, several parts of our garden in June are a few weeks behind where they were last year. But there’s still plenty of colour, scent, and new life pushing through. So, a warm welcome to this month’s garden update, let’s take a look at what we’re enjoying here, as well as what to do in your garden in June.

What To Do In The Garden In June

Regular readers will know my monthly garden updates are usually quite long, so I break them down into sections: flowers, vegetables, fruits, jobs, wildlife, liberally sprinkled with all my June gardening tips. Please feel free to skip to whatever section you’re most interested in, depending on what things to do in the garden in June you’re most keen to know about. 🙂

The Flower Garden in June

As I mentioned above, our flower garden is several steps behind this year. We have no Philadelphus Belle Etoile (aka Mock Orange), no large Poppies, and no Lupins flowering yet. However, what we do have are lots of fabulous Alliums in all shapes and colours. Easy to plant as bulbs in Autumn, and easy to grow as they come back every year. Perfect low maintenance, fuss-free blooms. Like the Purple Sensation (this month’s cover pic), the firework-effect Christophii, the chandelier Nectaroscordum, and the little yellow Moly.

Other low maintenance and good value garden essentials are perennial plants and shrubs. Like these beautiful starry, crimson Astrantias and frothy purple Thalictrum Black Stockings (also known as Meadow Rue).

Scent in our garden in June is coming from my favourite wallflower, Erysimum Bowles Mauve, whose perfume welcomes us whenever we step in or out of the back door. And from all our Summer flowering Honeysuckles, in various places around the garden, which the bees are going mad for.

In the cutting garden our Sweet Peas* are romping away – I’m tying them in weekly and have already picked the first few posies for the house already. Super easy to grow from seed and pumping out a heady, natural perfume that you can’t find in any shop, they’re a Summer garden staple.

Big and blowsy attention-grabbing blooms are great for making a statement in any garden – like our neon pink perennial Peonies and tender Geraniums. The Peonies come back every year, and require very little care now they’re established. The Geraniums probably won’t last through Winter, but they’re so cheap to buy I’m more than happy to replace them next Spring.

Other splashes of June gardening colour come from our lovely group 2 Clematis whose name I can’t remember. Group 1 clematis flower late winter/early spring, Group 2 flower late spring/early summer, and Group 3 flower after June. They all have different pruning rules, but you don’t need to get too hung up on these rules as most plants are pretty resilient. And our Wisteria, who has established very happily against the same sunny wall.

Dianthus and Violas are cottage garden favourites and great for little pops of colour. Tip: plant a handful near your seating so you can appreciate their little jewel-like blooms more easily.

Other cottage garden staples are Foxgloves, which I think Sarah Raven once described as high rise cafes for bees. I’ve yet to read a better description, and they are stunning.

Pollinators are spoilt for choice between the cats’ favourite, hazy mauve Nepeta aka Cat Mint (can you spot the tiny deep purple wild Foxgloves in the foreground too?) and our hardy and reliable Geranium Rozanne.

Honourable mention to all the yellow wildflowers thriving in different parts of our garden that are nothing to do with me as I didn’t plant them! From the Welsh poppies to the Toadflax, they’re a lovely sunny zap that’s a magnet for bees.

And our first blue Cornflower has bloomed by the pond, next to the ever-reliable white Leucanthemum daisy. The Cornflowers are annuals, grown from seed sown last Autumn. The Leucanthemum is a perennial, which comes back every year now she’s established.

No June gardening post would be complete without featuring some of our gorgeous roses. First up, we have a pale pink climbing rose, and a bright pink/red bush rose that thinks it’s a climber…

And then we have one of my success stories, a fabulously voluptuous white climber, Madame Alfred Carriere, taken from a cutting some years ago. She has a gorgeous scent, even if she’s rather out of control now.

Lastly, we have my absolute favourite scented rose, the glorious pale pink rambler that is Paul’s Himalayan Musk. I planted her about 9 years ago as a tiny little bare root rose at the foot of our old peach tree. Just look at her now <3

Her prolific clusters of flowers only last around 3-4 weeks every June but wow is she ever worth it. Stunning to look at, perfect as a cut flower, and with the most incredible perfume that follows you wherever you go. It’s true, the best things in life really do come to those who wait.

The Vegetable Garden in June

And after what seems like a VERY long wait, our January-sown Broad Beans* are ready to harvest! They are absolutely delicious, tiny and tender, no need to cook them, we’re eating them raw in salads, or grazing as we pass their raised bed. Next to them, in the odd-angled photo taken from above, are the Mange Tout that I cheated and bought as seedlings, and the Carrots* and Spring Onions*. Tip: I always plant carrots and onions together as the smell of the onion masks the smell of carrot, deterring the carrot fly.

The French Beans*, Sweetcorn*, and Courgettes* are all planted out in a new veg plot too. As are the Cucamelons* in their own little box. And I’ve sown some Calendula* flowers alongside to attract beneficial insects such as bees who will also pollinate the Courgette flowers. Here are some more tips on Companion Planting, or what plants to grow together to help each other, that I wrote about recently.

Our favourite ‘Rainbow Blend’ F1 Hybrid tomatoes* and Burpless Tasty Green cucumbers* are all newly planted out. Some in grow bags in our old glass greenhouse and some in some new plant halos* in a new plastic lean-to greenhouse* as I ran out of space! We have some baby cukes already, and I’ll make sure to pinch out all the side shoots on the tomatoes so their energy goes into the main stems and flowers rather than getting distracted.

Tip: keep your greenhouse doors and vents open now as it’s so hot, and water the floors to generate some humidity too.

The eagle-eyed among you might spot a couple of Chilli plants in the last picture. Tip: I’ve planted them directly into the soil but cut the bottoms off their pots, to give their roots more room. And I’ve planted out a tender Verbena in one of our flower beds, which doubles up as a kitchen garden. Verbena leaves make a delicious tea as well as smelling amazing. I’m a big fan of the potager garden fashion, and grow Fennel in our flower beds, cutting their feathery fronds for foliage fillers in our vases as well as using them in cooking.

The Fruit Garden in June

Some fruit in June is also ready to harvest! I’ve already made a few jars of our favourite Rhubarb and Ginger jam. Tip: always pull your Rhubarb stalks, never cut them as that could introduce a disease to your plants. I’ve also harvested some of our tiny Wild Strawberries, which are intensely flavoured and incredibly sweet.

We’re still keeping our fingers crossed for a good Summer harvest of Apples, Pears, and Cherries on our fruit trees.

The Figs and Damsons are looking good too, so far.

As are the Blackcurrants, Blueberries, and Gooseberries. I’ve ordered a fruit cage from Amazon* as I really want to be able to harvest at least some of our Blueberries this year, before the blackbirds beat me to the lot.

And there are plenty of new fruits on the Raspberry vines and our ever-reliable Grapevine for some good crops this year, barring any unforeseen inclement weather. The Raspberries I want to harvest for us, the Grapes I’m happy to leave for the birds.

Gardening Jobs To Do in June

Gardening in June centres around dead heading, tying in new growth, moving around plant supports as growing plants need staking, and watering all the newly planted garden plants and the pots regularly – every couple of days in the really hot weather to keep them healthy and growing. (If you have hanging baskets, you should definitely be watering them regularly too). Other than this, my garden chores this month are minimal as most of our hardy annuals and Summer bedding plants are in the ground now.

That said, there’s still time to sow some seeds – I’ve just sown a packet of wildflower seeds into an old wheelbarrow filled with topsoil. Hopefully, this will produce some pretty flowers for us and a great mix for pollinators – stay tuned 🙂

Although most of our Spring bulbs have finished flowering, until their foliage goes brown, we’re leaving the grass around them long. This is because the foliage is still feeding the bulb, ready for flowers next year. Alan can probably cut all the longer grass towards the end of this month though. And the buttercups will grow back again very quickly, just closer to the ground this time.

June lawn care is very easy this month as the grass isn’t really growing very much thanks to the lack of rain. It’s more about strimming the edges, and leaving low-growing plants like this pretty white Clover for the pollinators to enjoy.

Lastly, a word about your houseplants, because June gardening isn’t only for outdoor plants. Tip: now the warmer weather is here, take your indoor plants outside and let them get some fresh air, they’ll thank you for it. Like our Aloe Veras, which were getting sun-scorched in our conservatory – even though they’re supposed to be desert plants…

June Gardening For Wildlife

What with all our ponds, and the different flowering plants we grow, I think we do a pretty good job in supporting the wildlife. We also have a couple of bee houses or bug hotels* for solitary mason bees and any other insect that needs a home. And Alan keeps our bird feeders topped up with quality wild bird food* and high energy fat balls* on a daily basis, which is particularly helpful for garden birds now they’re nesting and raising young.

Over in our main wildlife pond, Flora has been pond dipping and catching lots of newts – aren’t they cute? (And yes, of course she puts them back afterwards, before I start getting any hate mail).

Lots of our eleventy billion tadpoles have developed legs, some have even grown up into tiny little frogs. Which is another reason Alan’s not mowing the grass – frog murder by mower blade not being something we want to be doing inadvertently.

Looking for more ideas and tips to encourage and support wildlife? This post about easy ways to make your garden more wildlife friendly may help.

Our Garden In June

And that concludes my sixth garden post of 2023. Reading everything back, I realise I’ve spent quite a lot of money on gardening aids this month. Gardening certainly isn’t a cheap hobby, but the rewards are priceless 🙂 Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my garden round up, and found it a useful guide and reminder of things to do in your garden in June. And that you’ll join me next month for my July garden update, when we should be harvesting and picking even more Summer flowers, fruit, and vegetables.

Did you enjoy your virtual visit to our garden and orchard this June? What was your favourite photo or tip? What are you growing and harvesting in your garden or outside space this month?

* This post features affiliate links but all opinions are my own (see my Disclaimer).