June Gardening Tips 2024
Walking in the rain, or after rain, may actually be good for your body and mind – according to an article I was reading on the BBC Newsfeed. Well, that is just as well given the weather we have been experiencing pretty much all year so far.
Now, I rather like the lovely scents that seem to be released by spring rain as it gently dries. But I have to admit I am looking forward to brighter and warmer days ahead, and I rather suspect our native wildlife is too (except for the slugs and snails that is). It can’t be quite so easy building a nest in soggy and windswept branches or making your burrow in waterlogged ground. Cool wet springs generally hit butterfly and bee populations too. So there never has been a better time to plant for wildlife.
Certain varieties definitely attract more insects than others – think Scabious ‘Butterfly Blue’, Lavender, Pulmonaria, Sedum to name but a few. But my top tip is to plant a wide variety of plants. That way you encourage a wide variety of insect life. It is now widely understood in farming that monoculture reduces the variety of wildlife both plants and insects. Allowing wild flowers to bloom along field edges and in hedgerows stimulates a much more interesting and diverse habitat and landscape. In a small way we can do the same in our gardens.
There are plant shapes, particularly single flowers rather than complex double blooms, that make food more accessible to insects. This is particularly noticeable in roses I think. Some of the single flowering varieties such as the bush roses ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘Ballerina’, and the climber ‘Open Arms’. However I don’t think we should be too prescriptive. I love seeing bees foray into the snouts of Foxgloves, Honeysuckle and Antirrhinum. And we shouldn’t be sniffy about the benefits of bedding plants such as marigold and cosmos, the bees aren’t.
Similarly the longer you can extend the flowering and fruiting season the more food your garden can give. From early flowering shrubs, Hellebores and bulbs through to high summer perennials and bedding and on into autumn with rose hips and berries. So, plant a diverse selection of subjects and just see your garden come alive.
Talking of roses, do join us at Shepperton if you can on Sat 29 and Sun 30 June for the annual Rose Festival Weekend which we host in association with the Rose Society UK. Growers from across the UK will be attending to exhibit their beautiful blooms which will be accompanied by a stunning floral art display. It really will be a feast for all the senses and certainly just as good for you as a walk in the sunshine after the rain.
