This is the JUNE installment of Horticulture Week's month-by-month guide to essential maintenance and management tasks for parks, gardens and grounds maintenance staff.
Office
Update pesticide
records
Update sowing records
Organise holiday cover as needed
General
Control weeds, pests and diseases
Water as necessary
Top up mulches
Trees, shrubs and hedges
De-sucker roses
Remove fading flowers from roses, rhododendrons, camellias and lilacs
Cut back straggly lilacs
Finish pruning spring-flowering shrubs
Prune philadelphus, weigiela and deutzia as they finish flowering
Continue taking softwood cuttings
Beds and borders
Cut back and tidy spring-flowering perennials
Deadhead faded flowers
Continue staking as needed
Fill in gaps
Plant out summer bedding and water regularly
Thin out hardy annual seedlings sown in situ
Take cuttings of dianthus
Sow hardy herbaceous perennials and biennials
Sow polyanthus and pansies for winter/spring colour
Tidy hellebores, collecting and sowing seed
Wall plants
Continue training
Prune Clematis montana if not already completed
Propagate suitable subjects by layering
Bulbs
Cut foliage of bulbs that have flowered in grass areas
Lift and divide bulbs as they finish flowering
Plant cannas and lilies
Containers
Plant up with half-hardy annuals
Display hanging baskets
Water regularly
Greenhouses and conservatories
Shade, damp down and water regularly
Pot on cuttings, young plants and seedlings as required
Water features
Inspect regularly for algae bloom and treat accordingly
Top up as necessary
*Jobs should only be undertaken when ground and weather conditions are suitable and will vary according to location and may vary significantly from year to year. And remember that while the year nicely divides into 12 months, activities often overlap.
