Top tips for the months ahead

June

Keep on top of weeding!
If there is a dry spell water your plants
Pinch out side shoots on tomatoes
Pick lettuce and other salads, harvest your early potatoes and eat them straight away!
Plant up your hanging baskets and summer containers
Cut your lawn once a week
Tidy and cut back spring flowering perennials
Plant out your summer bedding
Stake or support any tall or floppy plants - Millbrook have a wide range of stakes and supports in store
Watch out for pests and diseases and cut back suckers on roses

July

As it warms up - be water-wise where possible watering in the evenings and at the base of your plants where possible
Dead head bedding plants and repeat flowering perennials to ensure continuous flowering
Pick courgettes before they become marrows!
Clear algae and blanket weed from ponds and keep the water levels topped up
Give your lawn a treat with a quick-acting summer feed such as Westland After cut £6.99 for 3.5kg (enough to cover 100 sq m)
If the weather is dry give any garden woodwork a lick of paint or preserver - see in store for our great range of treatments and paints from Cuprinol
During hot spells ensure there is clean water in your garden for the birds
Trim conifer hedges

August

Dead head flowering plants regularly
Don’t forget to keep on water-wise watering - particularly containers, hanging baskets and any new plants - see our feature overleaf
Collect seeds from favourite plants
Summer prune wisteria by cutting back the new long shoots to five or six buds from the main stems
Shade greenhouses to keep them cool
Mow the grass less frequently of the weather is hot and dry
Lightly prune rambling roses after flowering

September

Scarify and aerate established lawns - take a look at the WOLF Electric Scarifier in store (price £159)
Plant new trees, shrubs and climbers, move evergreen shrubs
Stop feeding trees and shrubs in containers
Start planting new perennials and divide those that have overgrown
Plant spring flowering bulbs - have a look in store at our fabulous range
Plant out spring cabbages, autumn onion sets and new strawberry plants

October

November

Clear out nesting boxes and make sure there is food for the birds - visit our birdcare areas in store
Plant bare-rooted trees, shrubs, and roses, fruit trees and bushes
Protect tender and newly planted shrubs from frost and wind and insulate pots left out for the winter - we’ve got Fleece Jackets for vulnerable plants at £4.99
Begin winter pruning of deciduous trees and shrubs, fruit trees and bushes
Plant tulip bulbs