Early summer finds the borders in an explosion of colour with the hope of plenty more to come. If the majority of the border is in full flower at the moment then fill any gaps with something which will flower later in the year to provide an extended flowering season.

(Our full Herbaceous listing is available to view here.)

Now is the time to prune shrubs that flowered earlier in the year, for example weigela, philadelphus, kolkwitzia, lilac and deutzia. Rules to follow is that, if the plant has flowered before Midsummer’s day, then prune it straight after flowering. This is due to the fact that the plant will flower on old wood (i.e. growth that it has produced the previous year). A third of the branches should be removed to open up the bush to light and air and to encourage new growth for future flowers. Make sure that you feed the shrubs after pruning and mulch them to help conserve any water loss.

Keep on top of training climbing roses and pull off any leaves which have black marks (black spot disease) on them before it takes hold on the whole plant. Prune Wisteria after it has finished flowering as now is the time to prune it back hard and (if needed) carry out drastic maintenance.

Watch out for those sneaky weeds and don’t let them get out of control. It can be very easy suddenly to realise that the weeds are taller than the plants. Remember that one year’s seed is seven years of weed!

Keep dead-heading all plants to encourage further flowering unless you want to collect the seed. If you are unsure of which herbaceous to prune then look down into the crown of the plant to see whether there is a fresh growth of leaves, if so cut the old leaves back to the new growth. Plants with a single stem at the base such as Penstemons should be lightly trimmed.

Topiary shapes and hedges would benefit from a light trim at this time of the year as trimming them now will encourage a strong and bushy framework.

Plants for June are:

• Clematis and Lonicera (honeysuckle) with all types of flower shapes and colours.
• The classic bearded irises arrive in their flamboyant shades accompanied by . . .
• lavenders and
• cistus

For a more ideas on plants for your garden this June, browse our full listing, or check out our Garden Plants page.