June is bustin’ out all over
It doesn’t seem a minute ago that we were planting daffodil bulbs in containers for early spring colour. Now we are witnessing a real surge in growth as herbaceous borders are full of flowers and the vegetable patch is providing it’s first rich pickings. Salad plants are usually the first off the starting block with lettuce and rocket shooting up ahead of the radishes. If you have salad crops grown from seed, keep an eye on them and thin out early sowings. (Their final spacing is usually indicated on the seed packets if you still have them).
Give them some room
Congested seedlings never reach their full potential, as they distort one another as they grow, resulting in a much smaller crop. Carefully pull out unwanted seedlings, leaving the rest at the desired spacing. Water the row to settle the soil back around the roots of the remaining ones. If you are wanting to plant more veggies in the patch, June is the right time. Crops to sow outside in early June include runner beans, dwarf French beans, kohl rabi, carrots, marrows, cauliflowers, peas, ridge cucumbers, sweet corn, swede, lettuce, endive, squashes and spinach.
Attracting butterflies to the garden
Have you ever fancied having your garden full of butterflies in the summer? You might be pleased to learn that attracting butterflies into the garden doesn’t take much effort and just a bit of thought now will ensure that your garden is a riot of activity in the coming months. Even if you’re garden is tiny, butterflies will still be attracted to it as long as you have planted suitable nectar plants as it’s the nectar from the flowers that supplies the adult butterfly with food.
You’ll never work alone
To increase the number of butterflies in the garden, plant suitable flowers such as bluebells, dandelions, pansies, primroses, sweet william and wallflowers. If you want to encourage butterflies to stay right through until autumn, then chrysanthemum, French marigold, forget-me-nots, lavender, mint and honeysuckle could also be planted. Garden centres will be able to give you plenty of advice about nectar bearing plants for spring and summer. Plant them in a sunny but sheltered spot as butterflies enjoy the warmth. The more different species of plants you have, the greater the variety of species of butterflies you’re likely to attract. Keep the new plants well watered too as this helps them produce more nectar.
Feeding the caterpillars
You can also boost the population of butterflies by providing a good food source for caterpillars. Nettles, sweet rocket and garlic mustard are all ideal and most common species of butterfly will be happy to lay their eggs on these plants. Caterpillars will not cause noticeable damage but if you have problems with caterpillars eating the your cabbage leaves, take time to pick them off as opposed to spraying with pesticides. Alternatively, some gardeners prefer to cover their cabbages with fleece to stop butterflies from laying their eggs there. For those who are not that keen on having nettles growing with other plants, you might prefer to plant some nettles in pots instead and bury them in the ground in a sunny area where they will do the same job but not get out of control. If you grow herbs, plant enough for both yourself and the caterpillars as they enjoy eating things like fennel, parsley and dill and this will help to keep them away from other flowers in your garden. If you have any doubts about how effective this type of garden is at attracting butterflies, go down to Swan Park and have a look to see the activity in the butterfly garden.
It doesn’t seem a minute ago that we were planting daffodil bulbs in containers for early spring colour. Now we are witnessing a real surge in growth as herbaceous borders are full of flowers and the vegetable patch is providing it’s first rich pickings. Salad plants are usually the first off the starting block with lettuce and rocket shooting up ahead of the radishes. If you have salad crops grown from seed, keep an eye on them and thin out early sowings. (Their final spacing is usually indicated on the seed packets if you still have them).
Give them some room
Congested seedlings never reach their full potential, as they distort one another as they grow, resulting in a much smaller crop. Carefully pull out unwanted seedlings, leaving the rest at the desired spacing. Water the row to settle the soil back around the roots of the remaining ones. If you are wanting to plant more veggies in the patch, June is the right time. Crops to sow outside in early June include runner beans, dwarf French beans, kohl rabi, carrots, marrows, cauliflowers, peas, ridge cucumbers, sweet corn, swede, lettuce, endive, squashes and spinach.
Attracting butterflies to the garden
Have you ever fancied having your garden full of butterflies in the summer? You might be pleased to learn that attracting butterflies into the garden doesn’t take much effort and just a bit of thought now will ensure that your garden is a riot of activity in the coming months. Even if you’re garden is tiny, butterflies will still be attracted to it as long as you have planted suitable nectar plants as it’s the nectar from the flowers that supplies the adult butterfly with food.
You’ll never work alone
To increase the number of butterflies in the garden, plant suitable flowers such as bluebells, dandelions, pansies, primroses, sweet william and wallflowers. If you want to encourage butterflies to stay right through until autumn, then chrysanthemum, French marigold, forget-me-nots, lavender, mint and honeysuckle could also be planted. Garden centres will be able to give you plenty of advice about nectar bearing plants for spring and summer. Plant them in a sunny but sheltered spot as butterflies enjoy the warmth. The more different species of plants you have, the greater the variety of species of butterflies you’re likely to attract. Keep the new plants well watered too as this helps them produce more nectar.
Feeding the caterpillars
You can also boost the population of butterflies by providing a good food source for caterpillars. Nettles, sweet rocket and garlic mustard are all ideal and most common species of butterfly will be happy to lay their eggs on these plants. Caterpillars will not cause noticeable damage but if you have problems with caterpillars eating the your cabbage leaves, take time to pick them off as opposed to spraying with pesticides. Alternatively, some gardeners prefer to cover their cabbages with fleece to stop butterflies from laying their eggs there. For those who are not that keen on having nettles growing with other plants, you might prefer to plant some nettles in pots instead and bury them in the ground in a sunny area where they will do the same job but not get out of control. If you grow herbs, plant enough for both yourself and the caterpillars as they enjoy eating things like fennel, parsley and dill and this will help to keep them away from other flowers in your garden. If you have any doubts about how effective this type of garden is at attracting butterflies, go down to Swan Park and have a look to see the activity in the butterfly garden.
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