by Janis on 28th June 2024 / 0 comments
Our flourishing patio pots
Well, I can’t believe we are already at the end of June. Where did that month go?
On a more upbeat note, the sun has been shining in the southeast of the UK, which is very welcoming. Our tomatoes and bedding plants desperately need the sunshine. It also means we’ve slipped in a few more BBQs, which is always a winner.
We recently visited the National Trust site of Ightham Mote for a little inspiration for our own garden. We headed to Ightham Mote a few years ago under COVID restrictions, so it was pleasant to explore the house and gardens without any constraints.
We’re soon heading off for a mini break to Wells and Salisbury, and then a week later, we’re exploring Normandy for four days. We can’t wait. Luckily, we installed an irrigation system around our patio a few years ago, and it works a treat, so we don’t have to worry about our pots while we’re away.
Pinterest?
Why not Pin it for later?
During our visit to Somerset and Wiltshire, we plan to visit the National Trust sites of Stourhead and Mompesson House, which should give us further thought and inspiration for the garden.
Ightham Mote
What we’ve been up to in June
In the garden and on the websiteIn May, we visited the local nurseries and garden centres to buy lots of bedding plants for our ever-growing number of patio pots.
For the last few years, we have bought our bedding plants from the local charity garden centre, Spadework. They are always good specimens, so we revisited them again. They have a lovely selection; however, I always go overboard.
A beautiful potted viola
I was hoping to find some annual climbers as my Canary Creeper seedlings are a little thin on the ground, and I’m not too sure if they’ll fill our obelisk. I have previously bought Black-eyed Susie, and they were stunning.
I did track down some Black-eyed Susie; however, they are struggling to get going, and with the lack of warmth and being eaten by slugs, it’s a bit of a challenge for them, but fingers crossed.
Large butler sink Fuchsia
The patio pots and tubs are now filling out a treat, and our eight tomato plants are picking up, too. This year, I thought I would cut down on our chillies, but I couldn’t stop myself from potting some young seedlings. I wasn’t going to let them die, so now I have 10 chilli plants in the conservatory.
We continue to weed and manage the cottage garden bed; sometimes, keeping up with the weeding and dead-heading is quite a challenge. We’ve also been trimming some of our garden shrubs; we’ve been quite hesitant up until now as I wanted to ensure that the nesting season was more or less finished.
Squirrel using the nut box
Our bird feeders, especially the peanut feeders, regularly get visitors. We’ve had a family of three Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, a Jay, and finally, the local squirrel has learnt how to use the squirrel box.
Achievements for June
Let’s keep ticking those boxesThe last week of June has been beautiful in our county of Kent, and sitting out on the patio watching and listening to the birds chirping is so therapeutic I can’t recommend it enough. Just being outside in the garden brings a smile to my face.
Flourishing patio pots
A delicate foxglove
Our patio pots are all planted up, and every day, the delicate, gorgeous little flowers stretch their roots and blossom more and more. This time of year, is wonderful.
Vibrant Cosmos
During our last visit to a garden centre, we couldn’t resist buying another clematis. This one is for the patio and it only grows to around 1.5 metres. It’s a Clematis ‘Piilu’, and it is just on the cusp of coming into bloom.
So, let’s see what we’ve managed to tick off for June.
Potted up our remaining chillies plants; we now have 10.
All our patio pots and tubs are full; I’m just waiting for them to flourish.
Continued to nurture our tomato plants, as they got a little waterlogged.
More weeding in the main cottage garden.
Pruned our bushier garden shrubs.
Planted some Cosmos and Osteospermums in the main beds and under the trees.
Trying to control the black spot on our roses.
Lessons learnt & mistakes made
You live and learnThe main issues I have at the moment is trying to fend off critters and disease to our indoor and outdoor plants.
I recently bought an indoor Blue Star fern; it was coming along leaps and bounds with fresh new growth and then suddenly some scale insects have moved in and they are proving to be a stubborn pest. I have been removing them as much as I can but they appear to jump from leaf to leaf and latch themselves on. I’m hoping persistence is going to pay off.
Additionally, our roses are suffering from ‘black spot’ and they are losing their leaves so quickly that the poor roses are bare in no time at all. We’re now trying to keep on top of it but they look so sad.
Our plans for the coming month
What’s on your to-do list?Nurture and feed my flourishing tomato plants.
Tidy up the front garden,
Tackle the raised bed area of our garden.
Continue to control the black spot on our roses.
Weed the driveway.
Maintain the irrigation system.
Continue to monitor our garden tasks on the RHS Planner; this online tool is so handy.
Continue clearing weeds and unwanted planting in the Cottage Garden section.
Maintain and clear some of the herb garden.
Decided on the planting for our two front garden beds
Prune unruly shrubs in the secret garden.
Please let us know what you have planned in your garden this month; we’d love to know.
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