“Top Jobs for Summer Gardening: A Guide to Keeping Your Garden Looking Fabulous”

Introduction:

Summer is the perfect time to enjoy the great outdoors and tend to your garden. However, if left to its own devices, a garden can quickly become overgrown and unproductive. To keep your garden looking fabulous and productive this summer, there are a few key tasks you should focus on. In this article, we will be discussing the top jobs for summer gardening that will help keep your garden in tip-top shape all season long. So, grab your gloves and tools, and let’s get started!

Pruning Spring-Flowering Shrubs:

Pruning spring-flowering shrubs is an important task to keep in mind after they have finished blooming. This will promote strong growth and blooming next year.

Control Weeds:

Weeds can quickly take over a garden if left unchecked. Lightly hoeing around plants and vegetables will help control weeds and create a “dust mulch” that helps conserve moisture.

Attracting Wildlife:

Attracting wildlife to your garden is a great way to promote biodiversity and create a beautiful outdoor space. Planting Rudbekia, Lavender, Rosemary, Calendulas, Scabiosas, Salvias, Verbena, Cosmos, Borage, Pulmonaria, and Thyme, to welcome bees, butterflies, and other insects. Consider building a “bug hotel” to attract solitary bumblebees, ladybirds, and lacewings.

Selecting Heat-Tolerant Edibles:

Summer is the height of the growing season, especially in the vegetable garden, so select edibles that will withstand heat! Tomatoes, cucumber and peppers thrive in hot weather, as will beetroot, carrots, broccoli, eggplant, sweetcorn, spinach a sweet potatoes. Some herbs like chervil, dill, thyme and parsley can be successfully sown now.

Monitoring for Pests:

Keep checking for pests on roses. Prevention is better than cure, so spray aphids by spraying with a solution of washing up liquid mixed with water. Prune faded flowers to ensure more blooms. Regular watering is a must for roses, and chopped banana skins spread around the base is a very cheap, effective feed!

Other Tasks:

Make sure containers and hanging baskets are watered and fed with a liquid fertiliser.Pick the fruit from fruiting bushes as it ripens so you can enjoy some before the birds! Plants will be thirsty so it’s important to water deeply and efficiently by only watering early morning or evening, and making sure the water goes directly to the roots, never the leaves. Alternatively, a good soaking once a week is preferable but not always achievable. Lastly, sit back, relax and enjoy your beautiful garden!