I'm a Gardening pro – do these 6 tasks this weekend to fill your outside space with colour plus the time to water plants
Whether it is worry about having planted enough seeds or what do to with all the overgrown bits, we have got lots of June jobs to get you organised.
5
Tackle key gardening jobs now to keep your plants in bloom the entire summer
Credit: Getty
THE CHELSEA CHOP
This cutback is usually done around late May or early June, the same time as the
Chelsea
Flower Show.
It means cutting back your herbaceous perennials — flowers with non-woody stems that come back year after year — by a third. This encourages a second flush of blooms and extends the flowering season.
Good plants to practice on include Asters, Echinacea, Phlox, Sedum, Rudbeckia and Helenium.
SOW SEEDS
As the soil has warmed up, sow your seeds straight into the ground instead of messing around with pots.
Broccoli, carrots, swede, beetroot, runner and French beans and sweetcorn can all go in now.
Courgette can still be grown in pots for a later harvest.
You can also scatter Nigella seeds on the soil for lovely blue flowers later in the season, and plant marigold and nasturtium seeds.
WEEDING
June is the month in which weeds flourish. A Hori Hori tool, below, is fantastic for getting them out, especially those with long roots.
Most read in Fabulous
Just spending five minutes getting your hands dirty will make it feel much less tiresome and out of control — and is also good for your mental
health
.
WATERING
We have finally had rain but after months of dryness your garden still needs a boost.Water in the early morning or late evening and avoid sprinkling the water all over the leaves. Concentrate on watering around the roots.
BEDDING
Fill your gaps with summer bedding but try to protect it from slugs and snails.
Lobelia brings a lovely blue while fuchsias and petunias are always good around this time too.
LAWNCARE
Because it has been dry and warm, you need to raise the cutting level to avoid scorching.
If you haven't already, apply a spring/summer lawn feed to provide nutrients for healthy growth.
Or you could consider using a weed and feed fertilizer to control weeds while feeding your lawn.
Saving tip
5
£42 Niwaki Mainichi Secateurs
Credit: Niwaki Mainichi
5
Burgon & Ball's Flora brite version for £18 from B&Q
Credit: B&Q
BE precise in your Chelsea chop with these £42 Niwaki Mainichi Secateurs, top, or cut the price with Burgon & Ball's Flora brite version, below, for £18 from B&Q.
Alan is garden chief
5
Alan Titchmarsh is set to take over a prestigious role from Dame Mary Berry
Credit: Getty
DAME Mary Berry is stepping down as the president of the National Garden Scheme after ten years – handing the baton to Alan Titchmarsh.
The NGS helps gives visitors unique access to more than 3,300 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern
Ireland
and the Channel Islands.
Alan said: 'There is nothing quite like the National Garden Scheme, either in the world of gardens and horticulture or beyond.
'Not only does it offer thoroughly affordable enjoyment and education – while championing the varied gardening skills of the British nation – it also raises and distributes quite extraordinary sums of money.'
To find out what National Gardening Scheme gardens are open this month or inquire about opening up your own garden, see ngs.org.uk.
Win!
WE'VE got a stunning Copper & Green water feature, worth £250, to giveaway.
It is handcrafted in the UK using traditional, power-free techniques – and showcases Copper & Green's signature copper lily, cascading bowls and leaves.
To enter, visit
Include your name, age, email or phone.
Open to UK residents aged 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm, June 14, 2025. T&Cs apply.
Kate is so rosy
5
A rose endorsed by Princess Kate will go on sale at B&Q later this year
Credit: Splash News
B&Q will be the main stockist of Catherine's Rose, bred by Harkness Roses and named after Her Royal Highness, The Princess of
Wales
.
Launching in stores in late September, the rose seeks to raise awareness of the important role that spending time outdoors plays in bringing us joy.
Read more on the Irish Sun
Funds from every sale of the rose will go to The Royal Marsden Cancer
Charity
.
- JOIN Hever Castle & Garden's historic rose tours – taking place June 23 to July 6. See hevercastle.co.uk.
Learn!
Q) I'VE just planted some hollyhocks and they are now covered in rust. Should l dig them out?
Daphne Sharp, via email
A)
Did you grow them from seed or buy them as is?
Are they absolutely covered? If they are really struggling you might be better to dig them out.
You could try taking off the affected leaves and getting rid of them – not in your compost.
They do still flower even if they're heavily infected, so you could try hiding the bad parts by planting other plants in front of them. Good luck.
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"If we're not careful, unrestrained use of this technology could end up causing diplomatic instabilities with neighbouring countries engaging in tit-for-tat 'weather wars'." Andrea Flossmann, a scientist at the World Meteorological Organisation, explained in a WMO report: "The atmosphere has no walls. "What you add may not have the desired effect in your vicinity, but by being transported along might have undesired effects elsewhere." In 1977, the UN banned all military or hostile use of environmental modification techniques. Since then, countries have tried to use weather modification for civil purposes - but there is no evidence that they necessarily worked. Countries that have modified the weather MORE than 50 countries currently have weather modification tech - and it has been used by many nations in the past. BRITAIN Between 1949 and 1952, the British government launched what it called Operation Cumulus - an attempt to modify the weather for potential military gains. 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UAE When Dubai was swamped by flash floods last year, some claimed it may have been the result of cloud seeding. Meteorologists at the National Centre for Meteorology said they flew six or seven cloud-seeding flights before the rains commenced. Flight-tracking data reportedly showed that one aircraft affiliated with the UAE's cloud-seeding efforts flew around the country. CHINA In 2008, China claimed to have used weather modification techniques to ensure good weather for that year's Olympic Games. According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), rockets were used to induce rain by cloud seeding other areas in a bid to prevent rainfall in Beijing. The report says the Beijing Meteorological Bureau has a Beijing Weather Modification Office dedicated to controlling the weather in the city and surrounding areas. In 2020, China also unveiled plans to create artificial rain - boasting that artificial rain will be able to cover more than 2million square miles - an area some 22 times bigger than the UK. Chinese officials also claim that 223,000 square miles will be covered by "hail suppression" - and the nation boasted that its technology could be at an "advanced level" by 2035. Dr Flemming said: "We know now the Mongolian and Chinese dust clouds come across into Korea. "And there are a lot of transboundary concerns. There are concerns in Europe as well. "These things do trigger concerns. And the people planning for things have to think about those things." And the scientist fears these techniques could be weaponised in the "worst case scenario". He told The Sun: "I think you have to think of the worst case scenario which would be a rogue actor, whether it's a rogue billionaire hoping to do good or a rogue nation - they could intervene. "There's this theory of nuclear winter, so you could trigger off some very adverse effects. "But I see the risk as being too great. I see it as something that is not desirable at all." He added: "It's the scale of what you would have to do that is sort of beyond even small countries. "You need rich countries like China or the United States to develop a program over many years, and the only way it would make any sense is for all the countries to agree to do it. "Not one country wants the climate one way. "How do you set the planetary thermostat? If people don't agree on how to do it, that could lead to conflict." Cloud seeding has been branded dangerous by some scientists and medics over fears that the chemicals that are dropped can be toxic to animals. There are also concerns over what the artificial process could do to the earth's natural weather patterns if rogue actors interfere. 9 Lightning strikes the Empire State building in New York City Credit: Getty 9 A supercell forms over Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Credit: Getty
