by Janis on 3rd July 2026 / 0 comments
It’s a jungle out there
I need to confess upfront that very little has been attended to in the garden this month. This is mainly due to our two-week trip to southern France in search of beautiful lavender fields in Provence.
Yes, we were successful, which is the main thing. We had an incredible time in France, even with the 40-degree heatwave that many regions and countries were experiencing in June.
Now we’re back home, we have a mountain of jobs to complete, many of which revolve around the garden. The lawn has now become a jungle. After no-mow, it had a brief haircut and then progressed into no-mow June.
Well, “quelle surprise”, we have another hosepipe ban which kicks in on 3rd July.
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What we’ve been up to in June
In the garden and on the websiteIn early May, prior to my breast surgery, I bought all my bedding plants for the patio, as I knew that when I was feeling stronger and able to plant them all, the garden centres would be low on stock.
Blooming wild poppies
So, it took me a few days to clear all the pots, as we have a lot of them, but luckily, planting them all took just a couple of days, which I was pleased with. Gary installed an irrigation system a few years ago, which is a godsend, as during our 2-week trip, they were being drip-fed twice a day for 20 minutes. Luckily, irrigation systems are permitted during a hosepipe ban.
Delicate blooms of our clematis
Our Turkish Delight scented rose
I also wanted to get our young tomato seedlings potted up and in place, which I did in early June. They were about 8 inches tall, although upon our return, they have grown two feet, which is incredible. The only problem is they have grown a bit unruly, and they didn’t stick to the rules of using the string to climb up.
I gave some little tomato plants to our friend and his have also come on leaps and bounds.
Black-eyed-Susan’s first flowers
Another job I needed to do before we headed to France was pot on our chilli seedlings, which we bought from ‘The Coastal Chilli Company’. They weren’t as established as I would have liked, but they needed to be rehomed so that they could be watered whilst away.
The chillies are looking ok; the ‘PeppaPeach’ have been slightly eaten by slugs, but I have now brought them back into the conservatory so that they start to flourish (well, that’s the plan anyway). However, I will need to repot them into larger pots for further growth.
Achievements for June
Let’s keep ticking those boxesWe've managed to tick a few jobs off the list for June, considering our two weeks off galivanting around France.
A maturer garden
So, let’s see what we’ve managed to tick off for June.
Potted on our new varieties of chilli seeds.
Planted out our bountiful bedding plants.
Planted out our numerous tomato plants.
Cut the grass after no-mow May.
Transferred our Money Trees to the patio.
Potted on our sunflowers.
Keep the garden waste bin as full as possible.
Lessons learnt & mistakes made
You live and learnOver the last couple of years, when I planted out our tomato plants, I rolled up a few rings of twine and placed them under the tomato plants when I potted them on. I then pull the twine up through the hooks above, making it easy to wrap the tomato plants around.
This year, I made the school-girl error of using string instead of twine and now, before the plants have even started to climb, the string has snapped.
Note to self; use twine and not string.
Our flourishing Cottage Garden bed
Our plans for the coming month
What’s on your to-do list?Plant out my sunflower seedlings.
Tie up the tomato plants.
Pot-on chilli plants.
Clear and chop up our fallen tree.
Cut the grass.
Tidy front garden.
Keep an eye on the hedgehogs with our new Trailcam.
Weed the driveway using a scraper.
Continue clearing weeds and unwanted plants in the Cottage Garden section.
Prune more of the many shrubs in the back garden and check the pruning seasons.
Replant the Alpine Garden.
Clear more of the old raised beds.
Clean patio table.
Please let us know what you have planned for your garden this month; we’d love to hear about it.
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