Time to prune! June's gardening column with Kate Giffen

​Hello and welcome to June! We have seen an increase in temperatures during the day, but the

nights have been very cold. So, let’s start with a bit of reassurance. If your plants and seedlings

aren’t making massive progress, do not worry! I have talked with several seasoned gardeners, and everyone is saying it is a tricky year for growing. Some things are doing remarkably well like garden perennials and blossoms, but others are just not moving.

The lamb’s lettuce I mentioned last month has hardly grown at all. Three sowings of courgettes have brought…nothing. So, if it isn’t all going brilliantly well, don’t give up. Just try again.

Last month we mentioned beans. Beans are amenable and will grow up any kind of structure you rig up for them.

The tee-pee arrangement is probably one of the easiest where you put bamboo sticks in the ground and tie them firmly at the top. This works well for peas too.

We haven’t talked about Pak Choi before, but I wanted to introduce you to this fabulous vegetable choice that often gets overlooked. It is easy and quick to grow, super versatile and sowings can be made repeatedly from now on to harvest right the way into winter! You can use it as a cut and come again crop like a salad or spinach leaf, use the stems in a similar way to asparagus and if it starts to bolt (flowering prematurely) pinch out the flowers and use them in a stir fry.

Sow in pots or direct into the soil (beware though, slugs love the young seedlings). They prefer a fertile soil and a lightly shaded or sunny position in the garden.

Your tomatoes could well be coming along nicely. If they are, it could be time to do some ‘pinching out’ which encourages longer and heavier cropping.

Compact varieties like Tumbling Tom that I recommended previously have been bred to be

bushy so do not need pruning. It will simply reduce your yield! That’s why, if growing more than

one variety, it is really handy to label them until you get used to how each variety looks when they are developing.

So, using your fingers, take out any side shoots that grow between the main tomato plant stem and the trusses (the ones that are flowering and will therefore bear the fruit). A side shoot which needs to come out is shown in the photo.

If you want shorter plants, you can also pinch out the top growing shoots, but you need to be careful here. Wait until you have about five fruit trusses before you do it.

Broad beans: If your beans are romping on and the lowest set of flowers has pods developing, you can pinch out the top shoots.

This will make sure the plant’s energy goes into developing the bean pods and will deter blackfly as that is where they like to gather. The top shoots are also delicious in a stir fry.

Watering: Obvious I know but a few small tips which will make a difference. Firstly, water either

first thing in the morning or in the evening when evaporation from the ground is less. Water slowly otherwise you will just have runoff or even wash out some of the smaller seedlings. Lastly, water directly to the base. Watering the leaves can result in scorching when the weather warms up.

TOP TIP: If you only have a few minutes, doing a tiny bit of weeding helps your seedlings enormously.

It might be time to harvest:

 Peas – peas are typically ready about 9 to 10 weeks after planting. You can just test one to

see if they are big enough and then once you start harvesting, more will follow. Don’t

forget to keep a few back for planting next year!

 Potatoes – not sure if they are ready. Did you know you can simply dig down into the earth

with your hands to test if you have any potatoes ready for harvesting. Still a bit small?

Leave them a little longer. If you do lift some potatoes, you can fill the space with pencil

sized leek seedlings. Of course, if you tried our trick of planting in tubs with cutaway

sections, you will be able to see your potatoes really easily before deciding whether to

harvest!

Still time to sow outside:

 Radishes

 Beetroot

 Pak Choi

 Carrots

 Parsley

 Lettuce

Still time to sow inside:

 Spring Onions - they are happy in a pot but do needs lots of watering.

 Pumpkins – starting them off inside in pots means there should be enough warm days to really get that giant pumpkin ready for Halloween! They are super tasty and versatile too.

Lastly, don’t forget that foraging is also a brilliant way to get some free fruit! Elderflowers are beginning to come into bloom and there are some fabulous recipes online for using these gorgeous flowers from cordials to fritters to zinging up a rhubarb fool.

Happy Growing! See you in July.