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Listen out… A few months ago, as we all
for our podcast, with chef Marcus Wareing emerged blinking into spring,
speaking about growing veg and more, at wondering where to find the
GardenersWorld.com/podcast magic in our gardens after
winter’s worst, Monty reminded
Join us… us: “get the sitting part of your
garden right… the rest tends
in the gardens of to fall into place”.
Somerset and Dorset,
plus meet Alan at He showed us the way, with
Highclere Castle. a duo of Lutyens benches at
Spaces are limited: Longmeadow that create
turn to page 82 a convivial space near his back
door. While admitting he rarely
Help sits down in the garden,
wildlife… he encouraged us in his column last month that the best thing
about a garden is “not necessarily doing much but just being”.
with our dedicated Well, if you’ve not yet followed his advice to just sit and be,
132-page guide to even for just a while, now is your moment! Our gardens in June
wildlife gardening. are a place of reward – as spring projects and plantings bear
fruit, wildlife buzzes around us, and (with luck) the first real heat
In shops, or online of summer warms our skin. So we’ve dedicated this issue to the
for just £7.99 + P&P joys of summer living – outdoors – and by slowing down, you’ll
at magsdirect. get closer to nature, watching life on the wing around us.
June is also the month to start projects that’ll yield rewards this
co.uk/GWGWildlife summer – whether food or flowers, you’ll find all you need here.
Why not begin by sowing foxgloves and cosmos, from your free
Learn new seed packs with this issue? See page 22 for info, and share your
skills… progress on social media with the #GWsuccesswithseeds hashtag.
Enjoy the month – and with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee break
Turn up the heat in upon us, it’s the perfect time to share gardening with friends, from
our Exotic Gardening planting a tree to swapping seedlings... or simply sitting, enjoying
Masterclass at 12pm, the moment! The rest, as Monty says, will fall into place.
Thursday 9 June.
PHOTOS: BBC/PLIMSOLL PRODUCTIONS; JASON INGRAM Tickets are £20. Lucy Hall, Editor
GardenersWorld.
com/grow-how @lucyhall_GW
Keep up to date with us at PS Come and join us at this month’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live, 16-19 3
FACEBOOK @GWmagazine June. Get 20% off tickets – see page 76 for details. And I’ll see you there!
INSTAGRAM @gardenersworldmag
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PINTEREST @GWmag
Looking to get in touch? Turn to page 168
June 2022
We June On the cover…
Contents 22
68
We love... Offers for you 44
6 We love June offers 16 60
14 Expert’s choice: scented pelargoniums 84 120
19 Full Monty: looking on the bright side FREE buddleia 110 38
20 Have your say: readers’ letters when you buy 52 32
22 How to sow your free seeds pollinator-friendly
24 2 for 1 Gardens: the highlights of Kent Relaxing summer garden scene by Marianne
26 Clippings: news for gardeners perennials Majerus. Garden design: Emma Griffin
Be inspired FREE 116
44 Carol’s superstar pond plants 16 Get a stunning dwarf buddleia Try Rekha’s
52 There’s a rose for everyone, says Adam worth £12 with every order of our strawberry
60 Unlock nature’s larder with Frances pollinator-friendly perennials ginger bites
84 Step into summer living
102 GOTY: welcoming city mini-retreat Subscribe today!
108 Enter our GOTY 2022 competition
110 Growing Greener: let’s get water-wise 30 Get your first 6 issues for £9.99
+ a gardening guide worth £7.99
Do it now 184 Treat a friend to a subscription
and get 2 years for the price of 1
32 Monty’s summer veg patch
38 A pot for pollinators with Arit
68 Alan’s essential pruning guide
79 A-Z house plants: ZZ plant
154 Pruning: spring-flowering shrubs
Grow & Eat 82 60
116 Rekha: savouring strawberries Meet Alan at Natural balms
120 How to keep crops coming all season Highclere – the real and cordials
129 Your growing guide for the month ‘Downton Abbey’ with Frances
Wildlife Travel 84
158 Celebrate June’s festival of new life 82 JoinAlan at ‘Downton’, and take a All you need
gardeners’ tour of Somerset and Dorset for a glorious
Q&A summer in
Plants the garden
161 Stop sooty moulds in their tracks
163 Gardeners’ Question Time 119 Save up to £10 on potted fruit trees
127 15% off beautiful spring bulbs
Last words 129 Save £6 on strawberry collection
143 Penstemons: triple up for £1 extra
168 Crossword
185 Next month For more great offers visit:
186 Tales from Titchmarsh GardenersWorld.com/offers
110
How to cut back
on water for a more
resilient garden
4 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
68 Your 12-page
June planner
Grab your shears
and secateurs for 52
Alan’s pruning Adam’s guide
masterclass to choosing and
38 growing roses
Plant up gorgeous 50 things to do
summer container this month
combos with Arit Monty’s month 133
Flowers 137
32
Greenhouse 141
Discover Fruit & veg 145
Monty’s June Back to basics 149
veg garden Around the garden 151
favourites
GardenersWorld.com 5
PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE: PAUL DEBOIS; NEIL HEPWORTH; JASON INGRAM. ILLUSTRATION: ELIN BROKENSHAW
“Green was the silence, wet
was the light, the month of June
trembled like a butterfly”
Pablo Neruda
6 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
We June PHOTO: JASON INGRAM
June 2022 We love
June
There is so much to say about June:
í° « â ̳̫ Ą â ³æ ų ĕ æ° ËÓ Ϛ
starting with the lonely snowdrop in
January then building up layer upon
layer every week, with more things
appearing until we get to June when
everybody joins in – shrubs, trees,
roses, vegetables, annuals and more.
I leave it to Rodgers and Hammerstein
(often the best option) with this ditty
from Carousel: “June is bustin’ out all
over! The feelin’ is gettin’ so intense,
That the young Virginia creepers, Have
been huggin’ the bejeepers, Outa all
the mornin’-glories on the fence.
Because it’s June!”
WORDS James Alexander-Sinclair
STAR OF THE MONTH
Astrantia ‘Shaggy’ (the white one)
One of the best things about this month is that there
is just so much to choose from! I’ve not got the space
to write about all of the plants in this picture, so I have
to pick something... but how does one pick a favourite
when there are so many? Here, there are three sorts
of astrantia, two salvias and a grass all in one picture.
I feel like a child being given free rein in the Pick ‘n’ Mix
department of Woolworths (apologies to our younger
readers who will have no recollection of this experience).
So much sugar, so little time.
One of the very best of a really useful genus. Good in light
shade with lots of compost.
Height x Spread 80cm x 35cm
GardenersWorld.com 7
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We June
GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT
This grass is one of those plants that will
grow pretty much anywhere – which is a bit
Óª ˳ă Å ææ³Ì« æí ÓÌĔÌ íÓ þ³Å â
bit of garden or grown in a pot in the midst
of the herbaceous border. The salvia is easy
and no trouble to anybody.
Phalaris arundinacea picta
Divide clumps in spring or summer. Cut back
in late autumn. Copes with a boggy soil.
H x S 100cm x 1.5m
Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’
Take semi-ripe cuttings in summer. Excellent for
bees and gravel gardens. Cut back after flowering
and it will come again. H x S 50cm x 30cm
MADE FOR SHADE
Now this is a bit special – related to all
the other various anenomes that bring
love into our gardens, this one is a little
more sophisticated and elegant. It comes
from the edge of the Himalayas, so it’s well
used to a bit of shade and a nippy winter.
Colourful and a little bit shady – probably
not ideal in a life partner, but what more
could you possibly want from a plant?
Anemone obtusiloba
Flowers sporadically all through the summer,
so there is much more to come. Best in a
bit of shade under trees or shrubs.
H x S 15cm x 25cm
PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; JASON INGRAM
June 2022 GardenersWorld.com 9
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We June
PHOTO: TORIE CHUGG FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Everybody loves a lupin and if they don’t GardenersWorld.com 11
then there must be a little ice in their hearts.
So many joyful colours and an easy way to
ųííÅ Ĕ æí ³ÌíÓ ÌĄ æòÌÌĄ Óâ â z æϚ
I cannot deny that they are quite messy after
ĕÓþ â³Ì« Ì í° Ą â ųííÅ íÓÓ í Ëßí³Ì«
ªÓâ ß°³ æ òíϚ ÅÅ ³Ì ÅÅϚ ÌĄ ųª ³æ íí â
with than without a few lupins.
Lupinus ‘Towering Inferno’
Best in sun but will tolerate some shade.
Deadhead after flowering and you should
get a second flush. H x S 90cm x 60cm
June 2022
We June
SHORT, SHARP SHOCK
Sometimes people have to make hard
choices. Do you like your pleasures spread
out or everything all at once? Do you eat
all the chocolate in one go or a little bit at
a time? If you are one of the former, then this
is the shrub for you, giving a glorious
þ°ÓÓËß° Óª ĕÓþ â ªÓâ æ°Óâí æß Óª
time rather than spreading the love in
careful doses over months.
Weigela ‘Bristol Ruby’
Cuttings can be taken in spring, summer or
autumn. Prune after flowering if necessary.
H x S 2m x 2m
AND ALL THAT SASS PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; PAUL DEBOIS
12 GardenersWorld.com Everybody likes Princess Anne – no nonsense,
straightforward, interesting and with a comfortingly
predictable hairstyle. However, if I was to think of a
ĕÓþ â í° í æòËË òß ÅÅ í°Óæ ă ÅÅ Ìí ííâ³ òí æ
í°³æ âÓæ ˳«°í ÌÓí ° ý Ì ËĄ Ĕâæí °Ó³ t°³Å
³í ³æ òÌ Óò í ÅĄ ų«°íªòÅ Ì ăò â ÌíÅĄ
petalled, it is perhaps a little too pink for Her Royal
Highness? I would have chosen something simpler
but with similar attitude and sass.
Rosa ‘Princess Anne’
A really good disease-resistant shrub rose.
Has a strong colour and makes a good hedge.
H x S 1.25m x 1.25m
June 2022
woodlandtrust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust, Kempton Way, Grantham NG31 6LL. 0330 333 3300.
The Woodland Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 294344) and in Scotland (No. SC038885).
A non-profit making company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No.1982873.
The Woodland Trust logo is a registered trademark. Image: Jane Corey/WTML CP00409 03/22
‘Attar of Roses’ ‘Prince of Orange’
Pale green foliage with a rosy aroma and Powerfully orange-scented foliage, and
pink flowers. Height x Spread 30cm blushed white flowers daintily feathered
x 50cm Flowers Jan-Dec if protected in purple. H x S 60cm x 40cm F Apr-Sep
PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; CLARE GAINEY/ALAMY STOCK; JASON INGRAM; SARAH CUTTLE ‘Copthorne’ ‘Deerwood Lavender Lass’
Dark leaves with the scent of cedar, Semi-trailing, with olive-green foliage
plus months of purple-streaked flowers. that sets off open clusters of rosy-mauve
H x S 100cm x 80cm F Apr-Oct flowers. H x S 60cm x 25cm F Apr-Sep
Scented-leaved pelargoniums
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Foliage, aroma and flowers
Take cuttings
14 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
‘Lara Starshine’ We June
Pink flowers with a scarlet haze are Expe ’s
set against lacy, lemon/rose-scented choice
leaves. H x S 50cm x 50cm F Apr-Sep
Scented-leaved
June 2022 pelargoniums
These tender treasures are a treat
for the senses, says Graham Rice
OK, let’s not get into the whole geranium/
pelargonium thing. Sometimes called scented-
leaved geraniums, botanically speaking they’re
pelargonium. But we all know what we mean.
Let’s not get worked up about it.
In this case, I’m focusing on one particular
subgroup: scented-leaved pelargoniums that also
have colourful flowers. So many have attractive
leaves, with delightful aromas, but their flowers
are tiny or they hardly flower at all.
But don’t we want the best of everything?
Foliage, fragrance and flowers? Of course. So we
need to be aware that, in the quest for better
flowers, the aroma from the leaves may be
diminished. Variety choice is crucial.
The range of fragrances is astonishing: there’s
apple, citrus, a general fruity fragrance, pine and
cedar, peppermint, rose, fresh cut grass, cinnamon,
lavender – not to mention rich pungencies that
cannot accurately be described.
In a hot conservatory or greenhouse, those
aromatic oils will vaporise naturally and sometimes
fill the air. In cooler locations, a little rub of a leaf is
all that’s needed. Although if your garden is open
for charity, you may find your pelargoniums need
a few weeks’ rest and recuperation to grow new
leaves and recover from the aromatic sampling.
˾ Position Best in a terracotta or glazed pot on
a sunny patio in summer and in the protection of
a frost-free greenhouse or conservatory in winter.
˾ Planting If space is limited, take cuttings in late
summer and overwinter young plants.
˾ Care Will often withstand chills outside,
especially if grown next to the house wall, but not
frost. Thoughtful pinching can improve the shape
of many varieties, while deadheading ensures that
the plants look smart.
˾ Where to buy fibrex.co.uk, 01789 720788;
woottensplants.com, 01502 478258
VISIT GardenersWorld.com/geraniums
for more tips and advice on how to have
success with scented-leaved pelargoniums
GardenersWorld.com 15
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16 GardenersWorld.com
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June 2022 GardenersWorld.com 17
We June
The Full Monty
War, financial recession and increasing energy prices are never
welcome but perhaps there is a bright side for gardeners, says Monty
PHOTO: JASON INGRAM This world is changing so fast that for germination and heating to protect young
magazine lead times make fools of us all. Last seedlings. We had temperatures down to -5°
week’s events are history and this morning’s this April and climate change or not, -10° is
news is old hat. Yet for all that fluster there are very possible, if increasingly rare in winter.
slow trends that will not easily shift or alter.
Some, like the rhythm and roll of the seasons, Sixty years ago most perennial plants were
are increasingly essential to our wellbeing and raised outside and sold bare root, ordered and
even sanity, but others are less profound and delivered by post. It would use a lot less energy
less good for us. I fear that the slow pulse of but I wonder if we could happily go back to that.
financial recession and hardship is one of these. Perhaps we have to regard most bananas,
tender salvias, cannas, citrus, olives and other
Energy costs have doubled and will not come tender plants as a luxury that we literally cannot
down in a hurry. This affects every corner of our afford, not because we cannot buy them but
lives and spills outside into the garden. I heat two because for half the year it will cost an increasing
greenhouses with electricity, along with two fortune just to keep them alive. I suspect that
heated propagating benches, light two with cheaper annuals that cheer us up will still sell but
electricity and heat the big greenhouse with gas. more expensive plants that take more time and
Other sheds where I overwinter bigger plants protection with corresponding use of energy will
such as bananas are heated and lit too. price themselves out of gardeners’ pockets.
Deliveries bring goods all the time and although
we propagate as much as possible, nevertheless But no clouds are without silver linings. All
we still buy lots of plants every year. In short, change, good and bad, leads to adaption and
Longmeadow is run on oil in some form or other. perhaps the increase in oil prices will hasten the
development of sustainability and to changes
Every aspect of commercial plant production, such as the demise of plastic in our gardens, and
from plastic pots, the costs of nurserymen and speed up the development of viable alternatives.
Climate change has been the cloud building on
Perhaps the increase the horizon for decades now and the more local
in oil prices will hasten the horrors such as Ukraine merely add to the
development of sustainability urgency of doing something about it.
women going to work, and the delivery of plants I have often paid lip service to the virtues of
now costs more. Inevitably this has to be passed outdoor seedbeds but, other than occasional
onto customers if people are not to go out of half-hearted forays, have not really raised much
business – and some, probably old, longstanding, this way for decades. Perhaps it is time to do
wonderfully idiosyncratic and knowledgeable what was completely normal in my parents’
family firms, are bound to do just that. The long garden and raise all hardy annuals, all brassicas,
and short of it to you and me is that plants in alliums and most biennials outside in a seedbed.
every form, from a packet of seeds to a large It would save on much pricking out and potting
architectural plant and all points between, are on, potting compost, plastic seed trays,
becoming significantly more expensive. greenhouse and cold-frame space and energy,
and have the underestimated virtue of the plants
How will that change our gardens? At this time establishing a strong symbiotic connection with
of year, as we approach midsummer, not a huge the ecosystem of the soil from the outset.
amount. Many of us will have done most of our
plant shopping for the season and those of us Life is going to get tougher. Forced change
with greenhouses have either raised most of our can feel like loss, but the garden might just hold
own plants or do not need extra heat to do so. a model for how we can use that to adapt and
But these extra costs are not going to go away change the way we do things rather than what
in a hurry and I, for one, would struggle to keep we do, to make ourselves more resilient.
many key garden plants alive without heating
over winter. I would also have to radically change
the way that I raise plants in spring without heat
June 2022 MONTY ON TV Catch Monty and the rest of the Gardeners’ World team on Friday evenings at 8pm throughout June.
And hear him discuss growing your own food and other topics at GardenersWorld.com/podcast
GardenersWorld.com 19
Have your say
The view from your side of the fence
HOT TOPIC Hoorah for the loofah!
Potty about recycling I was really pleased to hear that Monty is
having a go at growing loofah plants. I’ll be
I’m writing from the sunny isle of Jersey following his progress with interest, though
to share with you an initiative to recycle I don’t have the space to grow them myself.
plant pots called Potty Eco Pots. At our
local recycling refuse site, everyone is I use loofahs every day... not as back-
encouraged to leave their unwanted garden scratchers, but cut into sections as sponges
pots in allocated storage areas. Every for washing the dishes. They’re eco-friendly,
week, a growing team of volunteers dry between uses so don’t get smelly and,
collect them and redistribute them to when they are worn out, they can be
various points around the island. So far, composted. We need a lot more people
120,000 pots have been saved from growing them, so good luck Monty!
incineration and landfill. All sizes, from
the very miniature pots to compost bins, Karen Carter, by email
have found new homes.
Look for a recycling
The word is now spreading to the scheme near you that will
mainland. Is this something that you could save pots going to landfill
organise in your area? You will never have
to buy a pot again! runners from my strawberry plants.
The following year, when the plants are
Susan Rossell, Jersey established, I put the trays out for sale
in aid of charity.
Following the letter headed Sow satisfying
(Have Your Say, May issue) I thought I would In doing this, I not only recycle plastic
share my own recycling efforts. For many trays and plant pots, but also provide new
years, having bought new plants at the plants for those who want them, reduce the
garden centre, I have used the plant cell amount of discarded plants and plastic
trays to provide rooting trays for the plant pots that would normally go to landfill
and, at the same time, raise funds for a
charity. Each year I raise around £500.
John Lacey, Nottinghamshire
A nose for nostalgia Gran’s tulips happily defy the odds – most will
not flower next year if left in the ground
Tales from Titchmarsh always conjures up
memories of gardening with my grandfather at The beauty and Lasting legacy
a very young age. Like Alan says (April issue), fragrance of an
it’s the scents that bring back those memories. auricula can stir I have read that tulip bulbs decline in vigour
For me, it’s the smell of tomato plants and the the memory over the years, so I thought you may like to see
earthiness of the good old red geraniums. But my grandmother’s tulips. She planted these
now, as I enjoy the stunning wallflowers and bulbs in the 1970s and died in 1988. The tulips
their individual perfume, I remember my have flowered every year and are as full of
grandad just as Alan does his. Hopefully, when vigour as they were when she first planted
our time comes, we will be remembered for our them. My mother and I look out for Gran’s tulips
favourite flowers (in my case it will be auriculas, every spring, a lovely memorial to her!
not only for their beauty but their special scent).
Wendy Newton, by email
Sylvia Monk, by email
Wr e to us at
Have your say, Gardeners’ World Magazine, Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT or email [email protected]
and you could win a prize. Letters or emails submitted may be edited for publication. Prizes sent to UK addresses only.
ACROSS 1 Hydrangea 7 Peas 8 Roses 9 Ash 10 Iris 11 Syringa 12 Aspen 14 Seedhead 18 Early 20 Silver 21 Organic 22 Gall 23 Scald 24 Pea June 2022
DOWN 1 Herbs 2 Desiree 3 Absinth 4 Guava 5 Aphids 6 Malice 12 Adelgid 13 Parsnip 15 Ericas 16 Devils 17 Europa 19 Yucca
20 GardenersWorld.com
We June
Stay safe this 1
spring with a
Henchman
Tripod Ladder
A hut from a GW Live show garden finds a new home “Sturdy, lightweight 2
and, most importantly,
safe.” G Jones
Raising the bar 34 5 YEAR
We all appreciate that a huge amount of effort, time and GUARANTEE
money goes into the creation of show gardens, but do we
know what happens to all the items created for the displays 5
when they are finished with?
My wife and I visited BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC
in Birmingham in 2021 on the last day. While looking at The
Sea Garden, we saw the fisherman’s hut and commented
how great it would look in our garden as a bar. Little did we
know our conversation was overheard by Jonathan Mitchell
from Teasels Landscapes, who helped build the garden. He
told us it was for sale, and, on a whim, we bought it!
The fisherman’s hut has now been officially opened as
The Old Skool Bar (named by our nine-year-old daughter).
David Sillitto, by email
Nature and nurture If you’re planning to do anything at height, a Henchman Tripod
Ladder will ensure you stay safe and secure this spring. With it’s
Over the past two years as an NHS nurse, I had to give up no wobble stability and lightweight design, a Henchman is the
most of my days off due to the pandemic and my garden FRPSOHWH KRPH ODGGHU DQG RQH \RX FDQ XVH ZLWK FRQ GHQFH
was neglected. Now that I’ve finally been able to take some
well-earned annual leave, I’ve been out in my garden from A Henchman Tripod ladder is designed for uneven terrain, with
dawn to dusk. I have enjoyed it so much I feel I have had fully adjustable legs, claw feet, a wide platform rung for extra
a real holiday. So not only has my garden had some true stability, a high rail guard so you can work hands free, and rubber
healing, I feel I’ve been blessed with healing as well. overshoes for hard surfaces; the Henchman Tripod Ladder will
keep you safe at height whatever the task.
Gardening is surely the best, healthiest hobby.
Jenny, by email 1 High rail guard enables you to work hands free
2 Three independently adjustable legs for soft, uneven ground
This month’s prizes TOTAL 3 Platform rung for extra stability
VALUE £16.98 4 Wide clawed feet for grip on soft ground
Each winner will receive two 5 Rubber overshoes for security on hard surfaces
Gardeners’ World Guide + 5 SEED
132-page special editions PACKS
worth £16.98, delivered
to their home. FREE SET OF RUBBER FEET AND GARDENING GLOVES (WORTH £50)
Our Grow Your Own Guide • Improves grip on Durable.
also includes 5 packets of veg Comfortable.
seeds worth £11.65. For more hard surfaces The perfect
details about the Guide Series gardening glove.
go to bit.ly/GWGBUN21 • Protects delicate
flooring from
scratching
Apply discount code GW422 in basket
TO ORDER OR FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT VISIT US
AT THE
Henchman.co.uk/world
RHS
OR CALL US ON 03333 444 229 MALVERN
SPRING
June 2022 FESTIVAL
OR
RHS CHELSEA
FLOWER
SHOW
Subscriber CLUB
Grow your FREE* seeds
It’s the perfect month to
sow biennials such as
foxgloves and there’s
just time to start a
batch of cosmos, too
This month our Subscriber Club members 3 REASONS TO GROW
received two packets of seeds, delivered í Majestic spires
through their letterboxes with their June copy of flowers in early
of BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine. It’s all summer in a range
part of our 14-packet, five-month giveaway, of pastel shades
worth more than £31, which started with our í Flowers tolerate a
February issue. Both types of flowers can be partially shaded spot
sown indoors or outdoors this month, now that í Popular with wildlife,
frosts have passed. Why not try both methods? watch your bees climb
Check your seed packets to find out how. inside the flowers
The foxgloves are hardy and prefer lower
temperatures than cosmos, so avoid strong
heat while germinating and growing on. Plant
the seedlings outside this autumn in pots or
beds, to grow on over winter and flower next
April, May or June. The cosmos need a warm
spot to germinate and suit full sunshine.
Growing your foxgloves indoors
Sowing seeds and pricking out
1 Fill a pot with peat-free compost, level the 2 Place the pot in a tray of water – this avoids 3 Prick out the seedlings into pots or trays PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; JASON INGRAM
surface and scatter the fine seeds evenly displacing the seeds. When the water has to grow on, ready for planting outside this
over the surface. Lightly cover with compost. moistened the compost, remove the tray. autumn and flowering around this time next year.
Subscribe now Treat your friend to a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine subscription and
22 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
Find out more Subscriber CLUB FREE SEEDS
Use your phone to The team’s seedlings
scan the QR code on
the back of each seed Share your seed-sowing triumphs
packet for easy access We hope you’ve enjoyed your free seeds.
to our gardening Share your photos using the hashtag
advice and offers. #GWsuccesswithseeds and we’ll publish
some of our favourites later in the year.
3 REASONS TO GROW rudbeckia, sunflowers and coriander.
í Cosmos ‘Seashells
Mixed’ produces WATCH video guides and get more
pretty and intriguing
flute-shaped petals. seed-sowing and trouble-shooting advice
í Pollinating insects at GardenersWorld.com/free-seeds
love to take nectar
from the open centres In partnership with
í Perfect for cutting Mr Fothergill’s
and lasts well in a vase mr-fothergills.co.uk
Growing your cosmos Pricking out *DUE TO MOVING PLANTS AND SEEDS OVERSEAS, WE REGRET THAT WE ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO PROVIDE FREE SEEDS ON SUBSCRIPTIONS OUTSIDE THE UK. VARIETIES ARE
Sowing seeds indoors SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY AND MAY BE SUBSTITUTED FOR SEEDS OF A SIMILAR VALUE.
1 Fill small pots with multi-purpose 2 Water using a watering can with 1 Fill larger pots with potting 2 Use a dibber to make holes.
compost. Sow the seeds and a rose and place in a warm spot, compost to give each healthy Gently lever out the seedlings
cover with a 0.5cm layer of compost. then watch for germination. seedling more growing space. and replant in the new compost.
get two years for the price of one. Pay just £73.39 for 24 issues – see page 184 for more details
June 2022 GardenersWorld.com 23
Step into the
Garden of
England
This month we’re in Kent, showing you some of the great
gardens to enjoy with your 2 for 1 Entry Card and Guide
Seasonal PHOTOS: NICK DAWE/HISTORIC ENGLAND/ENGLISH HERITAGE TRUST; Family friendly
spectacle ALAN GRAHAM; HEVER CASTLE & GARDENS; THOMAS ALEXANDER PHOTOGRAPHY
For one of our more unconventional
June is the time when most gardens, visit Riverhill Himalayan
gardens are at their peak, so Gardens, best known for its azaleas
it seems unfair to single out and rhododendrons. By June though,
just one. Still, for decadent alliums, roses and peonies take
June blooms, be sure to visit centre stage. Beyond the walled
Penshurst Place Gardens. garden and sculpted terracing is a
Remaining true to the original rose walk and rock garden. Climb
1560s design, it’s elegantly ‘Little Everest’ for the perfect picnic
laid out as a series of secluded spot and views across the Weald of
gardens. Each showcases Kent. For the kids, there’s a maze,
a different style and colour and at weekends and in school
scheme. Reflective pools holidays, you may even spot a yeti!
mirror the colourful displays Open: 10 Mar-30 Oct, Wed-Sun
of early summer. If you’re & bank hols. Online booking
quick, you may just catch the essential using code GW22. Card
100m-long peony display. not valid on 15 June. Full details
Open: 2 Apr-30 Oct, daily. Card at riverhillgardens.co.uk
not valid for special events
– check before visiting. Full June 2022
details at penshurstplace.com
24
2 for 1 garden entry
Visit while you can!
When we think of Charles Darwin,
we often picture him on board the
HMS Beagle or on some far-flung
tropical island. But much of his
inspiration came from closer to
home. At Down House, you can
see the greenhouse where Darwin
studied plant growth and take a
stroll along his ‘thinking path’. Visit
soon though, as the 2 for 1 card is
not valid during school holidays.
Open: All year, days vary. Full
details at english-heritage.org.uk/
downhouse
Make a monumental saving
The Leeds Castle website backdrop, and the Culpeper
describes it as ‘the loveliest garden, with a fragrant cottage-
castle in the world’. We’ll leave garden feel. There’s also a yew
that for you to decide! What we maze, knights’ stronghold
can say though is that, at £32 per adventure playground and
adult, it represents one of the kids’ obstacle course.
biggest savings in our guide. Open: All year, daily. Card not
valid for special events: 9 July,
Highlights include the Princess 5 & 6 Nov, 25 Dec. Full details
Alexandra gardens, beautifully at leeds-castle.com
framed by the romantic castle
Stay all day
The birthplace of Anne Boleyn,
Hever Castle now offers a fun
family day out, with both a yew
maze and water maze. You can
also explore the ornamental lake
by rowing boat. There’s colour and
beauty in these well maintained
grounds, with an elegant Italian
garden, fragrant rose garden and
a colour-themed ‘blue corner’,
plus also, fittingly, a Tudor garden.
Open: 9 Feb-1 Jan, days vary –
see website. Card not valid on
event days – check before visiting.
Full details at hevercastle.co.uk
Horticultural haven Visiting tips World.com/
gardens for
The World Garden at Lullingstone The garden is laid out as a world a Use your 2 for 1 Entry Card updates.
Castle has an extraordinary story map, filled with a vast array of from the May issue to visit a Share your
of creation. On a visit to Colombia plants set in their regions of origin. gardens listed in the guide best garden visits using
in 2000, horticulturist Tom Hart You will also find a woodland walk and on our directory at the hashtag #GW2for1
Dyke was taken hostage by a and a hothouse full of cacti. GardenersWorld.com/
guerrilla group and held for nine Open: 1 Apr-30 Oct, Thu-Sun & bank gardens Before you set off
months. Tom spent his terrifying hol Mon. Card not valid on event a Missed the May issue
captivity planning a ‘world garden’, days – check before visiting. Full or need additional 2 for 1 cards? Always check the garden’s
which he created on his return. details at lullingstonecastle.co.uk You can buy copies of the May website and the 2 for 1 Guide
issue at GardenersWorld. before visiting, as the card may
com/gardens not be valid on specific days and
a Register for our 2 for 1 booking may be required.
newsletter at Gardeners
June 2022 NEXT MONTH Discover incredible gardens in the sublime landscape of Cumbria and the Lake District
GardenersWorld.com 25
Our roundup of the
month’s latest gardening
news and views
Rain gardens in front The scent of
line against flooding exam success
The rain garden at Shalbourne Primary School in Wiltshire also acts as a natural play area for kids Forget crib sheets: students
sitting exams this month need
Gardeners across the country are being across the nation in private gardens, businesses only sniff a little rosemary to
help memory and concentration.
enlisted to help stop summer downpours turning and schools. In Cardiff, Wales, more than The International Fragrance
Association UK is sending rosemary-
into dangerous flash floods. 100 rain gardens, built by local and national infused bookmarks to schools after
experiments showed the herb
The government says it fully supports natural government organisations under the Greener improves performance by up to seven
per cent. Herb queen Jekka McVicar
flood management systems like rain gardens and Grangetown project, divert more than 40 million says she drinks rosemary tea before
big events: “It’s amazing – it really does
is doubling the number of projects it’s funding. litres of rainwater from sewers each year. fire up that front-end memory,” she
says. “It gives you confidence as well.”
The Environment Agency is among those behind Rain gardens usually take the form of shallow
Stores rush away
The Aquifer Partnership (TAP), a three-year depressions in free-draining soil, designed to fill from peat compost
project recruiting local residents, schools and with water and then let it soak gradually into Supermarkets and garden centres
are ditching peat-based compost
businesses to create a green chain of thousands the ground. Garden designer and rain garden two years ahead of government
plans to ban retail sales.
of rain gardens around Brighton, East Sussex. specialist, Wendy Allen, says despite the name,
Morrisons has pledged to sell only
They’re already creating rain gardens in local rain gardens are dry for much of the year, filling peat-free from 2023, while Co-op and
Waitrose have already switched.
primary schools and building swales – shallow, with water only after heavy rainfall – so the Tesco says all its UK-raised bedding
will be peat-free from next year.
richly planted hollows – to slow and absorb range of plants is wider than you might think.
Two of the top garden centre
water running down a hillside to the north of She advises damp-lovers like sedges or flag iris chains – Dobbies and Notcutts – are
also evicting peat-based composts
the city. Now they’re also training local people for the bottom – otherwise, she says, anything from their shelves early.
to build rain gardens goes. “Most plants Sally Morgan, of campaign group
Peat-Free April, says she’s worried
in their own back yards. The more people tolerate temporary supplies and quality of peat-free
“It’s not a solution on who do it, the greater waterlogging so you compost will suffer if things move
its own, but it does help can style it to suit your too fast. But she welcomes the early
switch. “It’s a great move, and one
take the pressure off,” impact it will have own taste,” she says. that will put pressure on the others
says Partnership “It’s a way homeowners to follow suit,” she said.
WORDS: SALLY NEX Development Manager, can make a small Co-op was the first UK supermarket
to ditch peat-based bagged compost
Susie Howells. “And the more people who change that adds up to a big difference.”
June 2022
do it, the greater impact it will have.” í Sign up for training at raingarden.uk and
A similar project, 10,000 Raingardens for download a free guide to creating your own
Scotland, now lists hundreds of rain gardens rain garden at raingardens.info
26 GardenersWorld.com
We June
New community gardens ‘driven by people’
A former railway viaduct in Randalstown, Northern Ireland is GW’s Arit Anderson is among top In Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Arit has
being made into a thriving community garden for everyone designers joining forces with local been working closely with volunteers to
gardeners across the country to create make a fruit and veg garden in Coneygear
four brand new community gardens. Park. Community groups, from primary
schools and a girl’s football club to the
Community groups in England, Wales, local mosque will use and care for the
Scotland and Northern Ireland won space. “It’s so much more than a garden,”
awards of up to £50,000 from the Royal says local co-ordinator Natasha Pierson.
Horticultural Society to create their
own gardens. Arit took inspiration for the garden’s
hexagonal design from beehives – the
The winning garden in Paisley, Scotland, perfect metaphor for the busy, supportive
includes wheelchair-accessible raised local community.
beds; volunteers at Forgeside Rugby Club
in Blaenavon, South Wales, are growing “Community gardens help you see
produce for the local food bank; while in the importance of a garden beyond the
Randalstown, Northern Ireland, a disused design,” she says. “It’s driven by people.”
railway viaduct is becoming a haven for í All four gardens are open to the
wildlife, while also celebrating the site’s public: for details visit rhs.org.uk/
historic heritage. get-involved/garden-day
Go wild this June
Carry out a random act of wildness every day this month for the 30 Days Wild
challenge, run by the Wildlife Trusts. Take the kids (and kids-at-heart) puddle-
jumping, watch a sunset, build a bug hotel or climb a tree, then share videos
and photos under the #30dayswild hashtag. wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild
My gardening world Dr Amir Khan
PHOTOS: EVIE + TOM PHOTOGRAPHY; RICHARD GRANGE/UNP; TV’s Dr Amir Khan shot to fame after year. I built this big wooden stand where Dr Amir Khan’s garden is both a relaxing
ART LEWRY/CULTURE COMMUNICATIONS COLLECTIVE appearing as one of Channel 5’s GPs we hang about 12 bird feeders, and we have space for wellbeing and a wildlife haven
Behind Closed Doors. He’s now a a hedgehog family – we feed them kitten
regular on BBC Breakfast and ITV’s biscuits. Hedgehogs crunching biscuits – nature can help boost your wellbeing
Lorraine, between seeing patients as that’s a gorgeous sound. alongside the medication you’re taking.
an NHS GP in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Going outside in nature is only going to
He’s been supporting charity Why are we so drawn to our gardens? do you good – you mustn’t stop your
Samaritans for this year’s Mental When we’re in our gardens, all sorts of medication, though.
Health Awareness Week. physiological changes are going on inside í Listen to our podcast with Dr Amir Khan
of us. The immediate thing that happens is speaking to GW Wildlife Editor Kate Bradbury
You’re a busy man: how does your the stress hormone cortisol starts to drop, about gardening to boost your wellbeing,
garden help you unwind? so that lowers your blood pressure. That now at GardenersWorld.com/podcast
The NHS is busier than ever before, for in turn lowers your heart rate, so already
obvious reasons. So when I get back from you start to feel relaxed. You also start
the surgery I don’t go into the house – I go producing happy, relaxing brain chemicals
into the garden. The first thing I do is check like serotonin and dopamine. So all that
the feeders, because the birds are ravenous stress just floats away.
right now. And the hedgehogs are out of
hibernation so they need feeding. This time How does prescribing time spent
of year is great because things change every in green spaces work alongside
single day. So it does provide me with that conventional medicine?
release and relief I need after the surgery. The wellbeing side of being in nature can
be used alone, but it’s not an either/or: time
Tell us about your garden spent in green spaces and conventional
I stumbled into gardening, really. I grew medicine go hand in hand. If you’re not on
up in inner city Bradford – we didn’t have medication you can go outside and get
a garden, we had a back yard. So I learned the health benefits, because we all have
on the job. We dug out a pond, which was stresses and anxiety to a certain degree.
incredible because frogs arrived the same But if you’re already on medication, time in
June 2022 GardenersWorld.com 27
We June
Clippings go live Join us 16-19 June at the NEC
The summer starts here as we return to Birmingham for BBC
Gardeners’ World Live 2022. Book now to secure your tickets!
Don’t miss out!
1234
MONTY ON STAGE SWAP YOUR POTS WHEELBARROW GARDENS BBC GW STAGE
Hear Monty talk about Bring your plant purchases See up to 50 barrows turned GW’s Lucy and Kevin discuss
new developments at and swap the pots with into gardens for Birmingham’s wildlife gardening and
Longmeadow this year. plastic-free alternatives. 2022 Commonwealth Games. growing your own food.
Happy birthday BBC! Magazine Stage highlights
Join the BBC’s 100th birthday party Meet your favourite experts on the Gardeners’
in the Floral Marquee, with features World Magazine Stage*. Find full listings at
inspired by popular BBC programmes, bbcgardenersworldlive.com. To book tickets
from Peaky Blinders and The Archers to to the show, turn to page 76.
Only Fools and Horses. Plus, the tearoom
gets a makeover as the ‘Pasa Doble Café’, Thursday 16 June
inspired by Strictly Come Dancing. Also, 10.30am, 1.30pm, 4.30pm GW editors
enjoy some nostalgia with a Pebble Mill 12.30pm Frances Tophill on sustainable gardening
display inspired by ex-presenter, the 2.30pm Alan Titchmarsh takes the stage
late Peter Seabrook. 3.30pm Monty Don on growing your own food
All the advice you need Grub’s up Friday 17 June PHOTOS: GETTY/VALENTINRUSSANOV; JASON INGRAM
for bountiful veg crops 10:30am, 12.30pm GW editors *TIMETABLE AND TOPICS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. DETAILS CORRECT AT TIME OF PRINT.
There’s a feast for veg growers 11.30am, 4.30pm Joe Swift on small-space solutions
at the show: learn how to grow 1.30pm Monty Don on growing your own food
greener with Garden Organic’s ‘Small 2.30pm Frances Tophill on sustainable gardening
Space – Big Ideas’ garden, and steal
some great ideas for boosting your Saturday 18 June
harvest in ‘Marshalls Garden: Food 10.30am, 1.30pm, 4.30pm GW editors
For Thought’. Drop by the Let’s Grow 11.30am Frances Tophill on sustainable gardening
Your Own stage to have your 12.30pm Adam Frost: growing and cooking outdoors
questions answered by expert 2.30pm Monty Don on growing your own food
National Allotment Society growers.
Sunday 19 June
Borders go wild 10:30am, 4.15pm GW editors
11.30am, 2.30pm Arit Anderson on perfect
This year’s Beautiful Borders are buzzing: summer pots
the theme is Wild Life and the mini gardens 12.30pm Frances Tophill on sustainable gardening
include a selection designed by GW 3.30pm Adam Frost: growing and cooking outdoors
readers, all packed with brilliant ideas
for making space for wildlife in Plus, stage sponsor Legal & General hosts daily
your garden. There are wild play sessions with garden designer Prof. David Stevens
areas, ‘dead hedges’ and
rewilded lawns, medicinal Gardeners’ World on TV
herbs and even a border
bursting with botanicals Watch the special episode
for summer cocktails. from BBC Gardeners’
World Live on Friday
17 June at 8pm.
28 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
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June 2022 GardenersWorld.com 31
After the ‘hungry
gap’, when most
plants are still too
young to eat and
winter’s bounty is
used up, summer’s
first pickings
are a cause for
celebration
32 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
monty’s garden
Monty’s summer
veg patch
PART 1 BEATING THE HUNGRY GAP
Discover how to make the best of early crops
as Monty reveals his star plants for June and
the best veg to sow now to keep your harvests
coming right through the summer
June 2022 Salads and radishes are
among the best harvests
in Monty’s garden
this month, before
midsummer veg crops
take the stage in July
GardenersWorld.com 33
S tep out of May into June and Three star veg to harvest
summer has arrived. The days
have become carelessly long, filled If you’ve sown early and the weather
with a profligacy of light – if not always with has been kind, you could be harvesting
warmth! It’s easy to eagerly expect a harvest
as the days reach their longest and the a good selection of crops in June
nights start to acquire that balmy warmth
we expect from summer. But the period Peas
from May to mid-June is not called the
‘hungry gap’ for nothing. All the winter Everyone desires the
crops – purple sprouting broccoli, kale or incredible green freshness
leeks – are done and cleared to the compost that home-grown peas
heap, and other than plenty of salad leaves have, in the same way
that do well in the cooler weather of late we all want new potatoes
spring, there is little else to provide variety. or asparagus as early in
the season as possible.
However, June can be a busy month in I like ‘Alderman’ for its
the veg garden and there are some harvests extravagance of height
to be had. After the ‘hungry gap’, when – over 6ft in my rich soil –
most plants are still too young to eat and and unsurpassable flavour.
winter’s bounty is used up, summer’s I also grow ‘Hurst Green
first pickings are a cause for celebration. Shaft’ and ‘Carouby
If you’ve sown early and the weather de Maussane’.
has been kind, you could be harvesting
a good selection of crops in June. June 2022
Early harvests
Some veg, such as turnips, cabbages and
kale, can be left in the ground to mature a
little longer, but if you have French beans,
broad beans or peas it’s best to pick them
as soon as they’re ready.
It’s also the start of the season for
allotment staples such as beetroot and
carrots. Globe artichokes and Florence
fennel may be ready by the end of the
month. You need to keep an eye on
artichoke flowers to catch them when the
flesh is succulent, before the chokes have
developed too far.
As a rule, it’s best to pick veg just before
you need to prepare it, to prevent your
harvest drying out and the nutritional
content reducing. However, some of the
vegetables available in June can be stored
for longer. If you’re digging potatoes, let
them dry out on the soil surface before
bringing them in to keep in the dark, but
keep onions and garlic in a light place.
The first broad beans can be picked by
the middle of the month – they’re often no
bigger than a pea, but are deliciously sweet
and without the bitter flouriness that later
and much bigger beans can acquire. Broad
beans don’t like very hot weather, but a
sowing at the beginning of the month is
always worth doing if you have the space.
A gorgeous midsummer recipe I enjoy is
pasta primavera, which contains fresh
peas, broad beans, baby carrots, perhaps
asparagus and green garlic. But it’s all
weather-dependent here and there have
been years when I am not eating it for
another month.
It is all jam and no bread in June, and
no crop is more redolent of epicurean
luxury than asparagus. I have made new
34 GardenersWorld.com
monty’s garden
Artichokes Rising temperatures and moist soil are good for weeds, too, so regular hoeing is vital
Is any vegetable more asparagus beds this year, planting ‘Guelph August for the next sowing to provide PHOTOS: MARSHA ARNOLD; JASON INGRAM
handsome than a mature Millennium’ and ‘Stewart’s Purple’, which winter salads. Constant but not
artichoke? Its foliage alone are new varieties to me but come highly overwhelming succession is the secret and
merits a place in any border recommended as being very productive I’ve learned to be ruthless with salad crops
and the fat petal-lapped and sweet. These will not give harvests in – once they go over, it is the compost heap
buds are as glorious to June for another couple of years but, once for them and on with the next.
look at as they are to eat. established, they will provide asparagus
We always pick them almost daily throughout the month and Organisation also means that by early
when they are small – then, satiated, we will leave them to grow June it is a good idea to have sown and
about the size of a golf and develop their ferny foliage to put power grown on most of the tender crops, such
ball – when they have no back into the roots for next year’s crop. as cucumbers, sweetcorn, fennel, French
discernible choke and can
be eaten a dozen ways, Elephant garlic can be harvested from Quick jobs for a
but always entire. the longest day, and if it has been a hot better harvest
spring and early summer, the giant bulbs
Spring greens can be lifted and dried right at the end of í Feed tomatoes once they flower
June, a few weeks before the regular garlic í Mulch strawberries with barley straw
Spring greens are very crops. Eaten fresh, they are deliciously
hardy and yet their taste sweet and delicate. and protect from birds
is tender and subtle. By
harvesting every other Salad days í Thin carrot seedlings, pulling them out
plant in a row or block
while they are still loose- Salads are the mainstay of the early quickly to reduce the scent released
leafed, the remainder have summer veg plot, and although they grow
the chance to form small fast and easily with the increasing warmth í Water onions well during dry weather
hearts of exceptional and light, the key is good organisation as í Remove flowering stems from parsley
flavour. I have found much as growing skills. I sow the first
‘Greyhound’ and ‘Durham batches of endive, mizuna, rocket and to keep it producing good foliage to pick
Early’ to be good, and am hardier lettuces such as ‘Brune D’Hiver’
told that cabbage ‘Hispi’ and ‘Merveille de Quatre Saisons’ in í Earth up around potato plants to
can be eaten while loose. January to grow in the greenhouse and
under cloches. Another batch is sown in maximise your crop
June 2022 March with ‘Little Gem’, ‘Valdor’ and
cut-and-come-again oak-leaf varieties, and A mix of compost and topsoil is perfect
these are planted straight out as the soil for earthing up container potatoes
warms up, for harvesting in May and early
June. I sow more throughout May – some
under cover and some direct – including
the slightly more fussy cos lettuces, such
as ‘Parris Island’ and ‘Lobjoit’s Green Cos’.
But I don’t sow rocket, mizuna, mibuna,
landcress and lamb’s lettuce, because
these all bolt almost overnight when the
weather warms up. Instead, I wait until
GardenersWorld.com 35
monty’s garden
Six veg to sow this month beans, runner beans, squashes, tomatoes
and whatever takes your culinary fancy.
Warming temperatures and moist soil, hopefully topped up with regular rainfall, make The key to their success is warm nights
June a perfect sowing month. Get these seeds going now, either direct or in modules, rather than hot days.
and many will be producing crops for you in a matter of weeks – or bulking themselves
up now to cruise through the winter and fill next year’s ‘hungry gap’. It’s not too late
í BEETROOT í KALE But what if you haven’t prepared months
ago? What if you have just taken on a
Sow March-July Harvest June-October Sow March-August Harvest February-May new home or plot and it’s June already?
Varieties ‘Chioggia’, ‘Kestrel’, ‘Red Ace’ Varieties ‘Dwarf Green Curled’, ‘Redbor’ Is the boat completely missed? Not at all.
After the cold, dark days of winter most
í COURGETTES í FRENCH BEANS gardeners are itching to get going as soon
as possible in spring, but less haste often
Sow April-June Harvest July-October Sow April-July Harvest July-October means more speed and the ‘back end’ –
Varieties ‘Defender’, ‘Venus’, ‘Zucchini’ Varieties ‘Blauhilde’, ‘Cobra’, ‘Purple Teepee’ autumn – is often longer and warmer than
we give it credit for. While it’s best to wait
for cooler weather before starting salad
crops, onions and parsnips, and peas are
probably past a reasonable sowing date
by mid-June, that still leaves lots of scope
for a very productive vegetable patch for
the rest of the summer, through winter
and into next year.
The greatest advantage of starting late is
that almost everything can be sown direct
into the warm soil. One of the best Florence
fennel crops I’ve ever grown was directly
sown in late July and was ready for harvest
in October. Courgettes and squashes can
be sown direct, and carrots that are sown
in June will often avoid carrot fly. Beetroot,
French beans, kohlrabi, runner beans,
swede, sweetcorn and turnips will grow
quickly. I’ve even planted potatoes in the
first week of June and had an excellent crop
in late October. It’s a good idea to establish
a small seed bed and sow winter brassicas,
such as cabbages, sprouts, calabrese,
sprouting broccoli and kale, as well as leeks
and chicory for transplanting when the
seedlings are large enough to handle.
Catch up with Monty
Catch Monty and the rest
of the team on Gardeners’
World from 8pm every
Friday this June.
See Monty on Thurs, Fri and Sat at
BBC Gardeners’ World
Live, 16-19 June. Book
tickets at bbcgardeners
worldlive.com
í CARROTS í FLORENCE FENNEL HEAR Monty PHOTOS: MARSHA ARNOLD; JASON INGRAM
Sow January-July Harvest May-December Sow March-July Harvest May-September discuss how to start a
Varieties ‘Nantes’, ‘Parmex’, ‘Resistafly’ Varieties ‘Amigo’, ‘Dragon’, ‘Di Firenze’ beautiful, successful
vegetable garden that
produces crops all
year long at GardenersWorld.com/podcast
NEXT MONTH Join Monty as his July harvests kick in, with the late-summer performers all raring to go
36 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
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summer impact
PART 1 BEST FOR POLLINATORS
In the first of a new series, Arit Anderson inspires
us to be creative with simple containers oozing
summer flair. This month, a combination
of plants perfect for pollinators and wildlife
38 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
summer pots
“I love displaying
containers on my patio
to celebrate seasonal
planting and experiment
with new ideas”
For a show-stopping summer PHOTO: NEIL HEPWORTH
display, plant up a large pot
June 2022 with purple Verbena rigida,
white-flowered Vitex agnus-
castus and bronze-purple grass
Pennisetum advena ‘Rubrum’,
then water regularly
GardenersWorld.com 39
summer pots
I have a small town garden and from the outset I have loved 5 best plants for pollinators
displaying containers on my patio to celebrate seasonal planting and
experiment with new ideas. These ‘mini borders’ can be tailored to When choosing plants to attract pollinators, look for colourful flowers
suit any position or soil type… you get to make the rules! that have simple structures, so the nectar can be accessed easily.
Include a mix of plants that flower at different times to prolonging
Choosing the right container for your garden style is important. the nectar, and add some that are night scented to attract moths.
Terracotta pots like this one sit well in cottage gardens and those with a
Mediterranean feel. Look out for old gems at reclamation yards or car boot Salvias
fairs. With your container chosen, it’s time to get creative with planting.
A summer staple, salvias come
Both Vitex agnus-castus and Verbena rigida are bee and butterfly in a vast array of colours and
magnets, and are long flowering, from summer into autumn. From a forms. Bees, butterflies and
design perspective, I’ve added a red fountain grass (Pennisetum advena other insects forage on the
‘Rubrum’), whose delicate dark leaves contrast perfectly with the purple small, tubular, lipped flowers.
and white flowers. All these plants are perennial, so at the end of the Height x Spread
season I simply pop them in the border and start again. 30-120cm x 30-50cm
Flowers Jun-Nov
How to plant up your pot
Echinacea
YOU WILL NEED:
Large bright coneflowers, the
í Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) í Verbena rigida í Red fountain button centres are a magnet
grass (Pennisetum advena ‘Rubrum’) í Peat-free multi-purpose for pollinators. Birds also feed
compost í Terracotta pot, approx 45cm diameter on the seedheads once the
blooms are spent.
H x S 50-100cm x 40-60cm
F Jun-Oct
1 Check there are drainage holes 2 Experiment with positioning Lavender
in your container – if not, drill your plants while they’re still
several. Place it in the position in their pots. It’s generally best The fragrant flowers are rich
where you want to display it. to put taller ones at the back or in nectar. Grow in full sun and
Then half-fill it with peat-free centre to provide focal interest, free-draining soil. These small
compost. Prepare your plants then arrange smaller plants around shrubs are drought tolerant.
by watering really well. them to create a good balance. Deadhead and trim the tips off
green growth to keep compact.
H x S 40-75cm x 40-60cm
F Jun-Aug
Selinum wallichianum
Pollinators flock to the clouds of
giant lacy umbels, standing tall
above ferny foliage. This hardy
perennial comes from the
Himalayas. Grow it in a sunny
or partially shaded spot.
H x S 1.2m x 60cm
F Jul-Sep
Buddleia
Easy and fast growing, the
butterfly bush lives up to its
name, with long flowerheads
filled with pollen and nectar.
Butterflies love them. Deadhead
to encourage further flowers.
H x S 1.5-3m x 1-1.5m
F Jul-Sep
3 Once you’re happy with your 4 Backfill with compost, ensuring Arit on TV PHOTOS: TORIE CHUGG; SARAH CUTTLE;
arrangement, remove each there are no gaps around the PAUL DEBOIS; NEIL HEPWORTH; JASON INGRAM
plant from its pot and lightly roots, as you gently firm the plants Catch Arit and the rest of the team for summer
loosen its roots if possible. in. Water thoroughly after planting, planting inspiration and practical tips on
Then put them back in their final then keep the compost just moist. Gardeners’ World at 8pm on Fridays throughout June.
positions, turning each plant so After six weeks start adding a liquid
its best side faces outward. feed to your watering regime.
NEXT MONTH Arit creates a statement pot that will add interest to a shady spot
40 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
BEFORE 4 X MORE
Westland Boost Plant Feed.
New Westland Boost plant feed, with PlantSense™ technology, gives you four times
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Embrace Pick a wildlife-friendly
your space shrub such as hydrangea
from B&Q’s range
Make the most of every inch of your garden with B&Q’s
impressive range of more than 2,000 plants across the year*
D o you have a big expanse of garden Take your pick that develop a warm pink flush in the winter. Or for
with lots of gaps that need filling? long-lasting colour in containers, a hardy fuchsia
Or perhaps you only have a small Here are just some of the wonderful products is perfect. Once they start flowering in early
patio area or a garden that’s stuck in the shade you should keep your eye out for at your local summer, they’ll keep going until the first frost.
for most of the day? Whatever challenges your B&Q garden centre…
outdoor space presents you with, B&Q has the
perfect selection of high-quality plants to suit Perennials – With B&Q’s large range of Grow your own – Always wanted to grow your
all your needs, from pretty perennials and perennials, your garden will be full of colour own fresh produce? It’s a great way to cut down on
deliciously fragrant herbs to mature bamboo, throughout summer and beyond. The wallflower plastic packaging and save money. From the usuals
striking wildife-friendly shrubs and much more. Erysium ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ flowers in May and in like carrots and coriander, tomatoes and beetroot,
a mild year won’t stop until Christmas, if you keep to elegant cherry trees and exotic chilli, B&Q’s fruit,
Quality comes first snipping off spent flower stalks. For something vegetable and herb range is impressively varied.
with cheerful flowers all the way into autumn, If you have room to spare, why not create a veggie
B&Q works with carefully selected plant geraniums won’t let you down. The variety plot with a mix of crops? If you’re tight on space,
growers around the world to ensure all its ‘Rozanne’ will cover the ground quickly and strawberries are great for hanging baskets, while
plants are first-class and healthy, with sites produces purply-blue blooms. Vibrant ‘West blueberries can be grown in pots. And, of course,
audited and nurseries reviewed regularly Country’ lupins, meanwhile, are great for borders herbs are ideal for growing on windowsills.
by the in-house horticulture team. The plants – just deadhead after flowering and protect from
themselves go through strict vetting, sampling frost by covering the crown of the plant. Large feature plants – B&Q has a huge range of
and rigorous tests at every stage too, to ensure larger plants including a variety of different shaped
they meet the highest standards before they Shrubs – Whether you’re after a hebe or topiary from spirals to pyramids, which will help
even reach the stores. Then, only the very best hydrangea, or a lavatera or fuchsia, B&Q has bring structure and a focal point to your garden.
varieties are chosen, so you can rest assured every wildlife-friendly shrub you could possibly Plus, there are larger established shrubs and
the plants you take home with you will thrive wish for. Shrubs can last for years and are perennials, some of which are up to 10 years old.
in your garden. investments for your garden, so it pays to choose
ones that will flower for a long time. An evergreen So, go on, let B&Q inspire you to bring your
You’ll also be pleased to discover B&Q’s range like Hebe ‘Heartbreaker’ is a showstopper all year. garden to life, and enjoy taking a break from order
changes with the seasons and new varieties are It has bee-friendly mauve flowers in the summer and routine to nurture it. Not only will you enjoy
continually being introduced (more than 180 and attractive green and cream variegated leaves the benefits, but so will nature.
new varieties will be introduced this year alone).
Moving to peat-free Always wanted to grow your
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B&Q is leading the way when it comes to fruit, vegetable and herb
peat. It first introduced peat-free compost
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habitats and tackle climate change. In 2023, lupins, meanwhile, are
its entire bagged range of composts will be
completely peat-free. great for borders
What plants will help
attract pollinators
to my garden?
Visit your local B&Q and bring Bees are especially attracted to purple and
nature home with you this summer blue flowers, so thyme and lavender
(pictured above) will have your garden
buzzing with bees in early summer. Also,
single, open flowers such as foxglove or
honeysuckle are much easier for them to
access – the climbing honeysuckle ‘Graham
Thomas’, which has large white flowers that
turn to yellow, is particularly lovely.
You could try the vibrant Dianthus
‘Electric Dreams’ too. New and exclusive to
B&Q, it will add eye-catching colour to your
garden with its two-tone pink flowers from
March until September, so it won’t only be
the bees who will enjoy this plant year after
year. Ideal for pots, borders and hanging
baskets, it will thrive in a sunny spot when
grown in free-draining soil. For flowers later
in the year, the long flower stems of
butterfly-friendly Verbena bonariensis will
mingle well with other plants and will
self-seed in well-drained soil.
* Range availability varies by store
PLANTS WITH
PURPOSE
Part 4: Pond plants
Bring life and colour
to your pond with
carefully chosen
plants. Carol Klein
explains how to
choose the right ones
PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; GETTY/IMAGEBROKER/LILLYThe quintessential water
plant, waterlilies are available
in various sizes to suit almost June 2022
any pond – there are even
miniature varieties to grow
in a tub or container pond.
Height x Spread 10cm x
30-150cm Flowers May-Sep
44 GardenersWorld.com
plants with purpose
June 2022 GardenersWorld.com 45
plants with purpose
When we bring water into our gardens,
there is a whole new vocabulary of plants
to discover. In common with all our plants,
wild and cultivated, they live by natural laws
but the rules for their cultivation and care
are slightly different. Plants that live under
the water derive nutrients from that water,
some also have wide, thin leaves that can
utilise sunlight easily and air-filled cells in
their leaves and stems.
The waterlily is one of our most beautiful
aquatic plants. Its ancient relatives were
among the earliest flowering plants on
Earth and their evolution and adaptations
were so successful that they still look much
the same to this day. And we are lucky
enough to be in a position to offer
waterlilies, and many other wetland
plants, a home in our garden ponds.
Wetlands support some of our most CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
outstanding wildflowers, from the golden a Yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus)
globes of king cups to the exotic blooms
of waterlilies. Without them our natural Height x Spread 1.5m x 30cm Flowers Jun-Aug
world is a poorer place. In our gardens too,
water is not just an asset, it transforms a King cups or marsh marigold
– its effect is magical. The moment you (Caltha palustris)
add the element of water to your garden,
its reality changes. H x S 40cm x 45cm F Apr
Water is the extra ingredient that brings a Water hawthorn (Aponogeton
enchantment in its wake. It can be tranquil distachyos)
– “as still as a mill pond” – reflecting the
scene around it and creating a double H x S 10cm x 90cm F Mar-Jul & Sep-Dec
reality. It can move gently, almost
imperceptibly, or it can rage and torrent. None of this happened overnight, but Within the bounds of what will flourish PHOTOS: XGEXTXTXYX/JXAXCXKXYXPXAXRXKXEXR PHOTOGRAPHY; JASON INGRAM
Water adds sound, splashes and bubbles, gradually the iris developed adaptations that in these various watery settings, there is WATER HAWTHORN: STOCKTON BURY GARDENS, HEREFORDSHIRE
swishes and gurgles, a new dimension, allowed it to survive. It still has rhizomes but a wealth of plants from which to choose.
it brings a garden to life. now it is waxy and resilient, its roots are wiry Some are exotics – not native to our shores
and can cope with living in wet conditions or but nonetheless coming from areas, usually
We all acknowledge what an important even totally submerged. Move it into thin, dry in the Northern Hemisphere, with similar
element of our gardens it forms – without soil and it will wilt and be unhappy. Equally, conditions to those that prevail here.
its presence our soil would bake and our transfer its relatives that thrive in these arid Others are, literally, perfectly at home here,
plants shrivel. But to glorify it for its own climes to the water’s edge and they will sulk dwelling in and around ponds and wetlands
sake in the form of a pond, stream, sink, and eventually rot and die. Early ancestors of in the UK, so they can seamlessly make the
trough or even a bowl, to separate it so waterlilies probably evolved 150 to 200 million transition to a garden setting. Unless you’ve
we can appreciate it fully, is a hugely years ago. There was a lot more water on the got a huge pond, the most difficult question,
rewarding exercise. Earth then and they adapted so well that rather than what to include is, sadly, what
they’ve changed little since. to leave out.
The plants that grow in, on and alongside
water are special. They have evolved
together with their damp environment,
perfectly adapted to the specific challenges
such locations present. Most plants forced
by flood to face serious inundation for any
length of time would simply rot, they would
drown, but our bog dwellers and paddlers
are perfectly at home. It’s believed that
before the last Ice Age, the yellow flag iris
(Iris pseudacorus) was a landlubber, but as
the glaciers retreated and melted, the water
table rose, ground became wetter and the
iris was faced with the option to sink or swim.
“Water is not just an asset, it transforms – its effect is magical. The moment
”you add the element of water to your garden, its reality changes
46 GardenersWorld.com June 2022
plants with purpose
Dragonfly nymphs live Surefire success PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; JASON INGRAM
underwater then emerge, with pond plants
climbing up plant stems,
to complete their What to plant Both for us and for the creatures
amazing metamorphosis
into flying adults that will make it and its environs their home,
a successful pond needs plants at every level:
48 GardenersWorld.com under the water, on the water’s surface, in the
water around its edges and in the damp and
boggy areas that hopefully will surround it. Each
of these groups of plants has its own function –
its idiosyncratic life and its own beauty – although
pondweed doesn’t turn everyone on aesthetically!
Through photosynthesis, oxygenators keep the
water healthy and clear by releasing oxygen through
the day – they keep the water alive, vital for those
creatures that live in the pond. Floating plants create
shelter and shade, and provide a different habitat
between the water and its edges. Waterlilies are the
go-to example, but other plants such as water
hawthorn and water crowfoot are options too.
Marginals – plants that live close to the water’s
edge – are essential. Dragonflies emerge from
their underwater nymph stage by climbing up the
stems of reeds and irises, to assume their adult
magnificence, while other pollinating insects will
visit the flowering plants in search of nectar and
pollen. Around the edge, on terra firma or terra
semi-firma, there are opportunities to grow
glorious bog plants that offer shelter to other
aquatic or semi-aquatic creatures.
How to care for pond plants The presence
of water introduces a whole new cast to join in the
garden drama. It is important to establish a balance
between the various elements in and around the
pond. Just beware of planting anything too invasive
– we’ve had to deal with over-energetic water mint,
which was swamping other plants. Providing for
wildlife isn’t a one-way process – not only will you
have the thrill of watching tadpoles emerge from
frogspawn, but the frogs that will be the final stage
of the process will then spend most of their lives
in the garden. As well as having fascinating lives,
dragonflies and damselflies are a delight to watch
as they make aeronautical circuits of the garden.
June 2022
Nature’s way
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ERWWOHJUHHQ LQVSLUH \RX WR PDNH \RXU JDUGHQ VLQJ WKLV VXPPHU
The best drinks start with the finest raspberry canes, place them about 45cm apart, Iced elderflower and
ingredients, and nobody knows that and leave around 1.8m between rows. They chamomile tea
better than bottlegreen. Take the like free-draining, fertile soil and will grow
Hand-Picked Elderflower Cordial, for instance. best in an open, sunny site. In need of a little pick-me-up? This iced tea was
It was created when husband and wife, Kit made for idle afternoons in the garden
and Shireen, began experimenting with the Once harvested, why not use them to mix
elderflowers they found growing on the up some extraordinary drinks with bottlegreen? Serves 2 Prep 5 mins, plus chilling
doorstep of their Cotswolds home. For a fruity twist on your gin and tonic, add
your home-grown berries and dash of the Ingredients
Now enjoyed across the world, much of Luscious Summer Raspberry Cordial. If it’s a 2 chamomile teabags
bottlegreen’s heritage and provenance remains refreshing soft drink you’re after, try adding 1 blood orange
the same. The mill is still based in the heart your berries to bottlegreen’s Elderflower 1 pink grapefruit
of the Cotswolds, where spring water is Sparkling Pressé and serve over ice. 80ml bottlegreen Hand-Picked Elderflower
drawn from its very own spring and carefully Cordial
blended with blossoms of the highest quality The bottle that
for a beautifully crafted taste. If you’re keeps on giving Method
passionate about the provenance of your 1 Soak the chamomile teabags in 300ml boiling
ingredients, why not start growing your own? Your leftover bottlegreen bottles can be used water for 3 mins, then remove the bags and chill
Summer fruits are simple to grow, and here to create all kinds of wonderful things in your the chamomile tea in the fridge for 10 mins.
are two great varieties to get started with… garden. To create a quirky and sustainable
border for your flower beds, dig your bottles 2 Cut the orange and grapefruit in half. Juice
The berry best into the soil around the edges. Or use them one half of each and cut the other halves into
to give your plants a steady stream of water. slices. Fill two highball glasses or tall tumblers
Strawberries are one of the simplest fruits To do this, simply fill a bottle with water and with ice and add the sliced fruit. Top with
to grow at home. You can plant them in a poke a hole in the lid. Screw it back on, then the cooled chamomile tea and Hand-Picked
strawberry bed or a plant pot (ideal for gardens bury the neck of the bottle a few inches Elderflower Cordial. Stir before serving.
where space is tight), but just make sure you below the ground near your plants.
mulch with plenty of well-rotted organic matter
and take care to position them in a sunny spot.
Raspberries are another affordable and
easy variety to grow. When positioning your
For more recipe inspiration, or to discover the full
bottlegreen range, visit bottlegreendrinks.com
plants with purpose
5 pond plant must-haves 3
Trollius
1 of clear yellow are perfectly europaeus
Iris ensata ‘Rose Queen’ complemented by its tussocks
of glossy ‘buttercup’ leaves. 2
Often known as butterfly irises H x S 70cm x 40cm F May-Jun Primula
for their very decorative flowers, bulleyana
many of the modern hybrids are 4
flouncy and overbred, but this Rodgersia aesculifolia 5
one retains the elegance and Butomus
simplicity for which the species For big, bold foliage, nothing umbellatus
is so valued in Japan. Marginal. surpasses this handsome plant.
Height x Spread 75cm x 75cm Its tough, palmate leaves are
Flowers May-Jul bronzy-red in spring, almost
polished, becoming green in
2 summer, then colouring up again
Primula bulleyana in autumn. It enjoys damp soil.
H x S 2m x 1m F Jul
One of a multitude of candelabra
primulas, so-called for the whorls 5
of flowers – sometimes eight or Butomus umbellatus
nine per stem – that open in
succession from the base up. The flowering rush
All love boggy conditions and flourishes at the water’s
will seed around when happy. edge with its roots
H x S 60cm x 20cm submerged. Here, it lifts
F Apr-Jun its upright grassy leaves,
piercing the pond’s
3 surface, and opens its
Trollius europaeus delightful pale-pink
flowers in late summer.
A British native, the globe flower It may self-seed if you
thrives in damp, heavy soil in don’t deadhead it.
the wild and in our gardens too. H x S 1.2m x 50cm F Jul-Aug
Its simple, spherical flowers
Plant with: pond plants Carol on TV PHOTOS: TORIE CHUGG; GETTY/JOHNATAPW, ORIETTA GASPARI; JASON INGRAM
To keep a pond healthy, you need a good Catch Carol and the rest
balance of oxygenators and clear water. As in of the team on Gardeners’
herbaceous borders, many pond plants can be World at 8pm on Fridays
propagated by division. We have just split a throughout June.
huge clump of Iris pseudacorus ‘Variegata’ into
about 10 pieces. Some have gone into a bed in WATCH our guide to removing
the main garden and the rest around the pond.
pondweed and keeping the water
Be mindful of autumn leaves – if you let old clear at GardenersWorld.com/
leaves accumulate at the bottom of the pond, improve-your-pond
they will soon render the water stagnant.
It may be worthwhile covering the pond
with netting during leaf-fall.
Use native purple loosestrife and flowering offer SAVE 20% ON A RANGE OF POND PLANTS
rush to create a natural-looking pond edge
Fill your pond with colourful plants creating your very own haven for wildlife and
save 20% across the You Garden Pond Plant range.
yougarden.com/RGW213 or call 0844 502 0050* and quote RGW213
Please add £6.99 postage
T&Cs: P&P £6.99 per order. Offer closes 30 July 2022. Offer subject to availability or while stocks
last. Delivery to UK only and surcharges may apply to outlying areas. Full T&Cs at yougarden.com.
*Calls cost 5p per minute plus your network provider’s access charge.
NEXT MONTH Discover how Carol likes to use perennials and follow her advice on choosing and growing them June 2022
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2022-06-01 BBC Gardeners' World
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