June 30: Remove suckers from roses

Monday, July 9, 2012
10:00 AM

For those that like roses, the traditional species are worth growing for their colour and perfume. Unfortunately they are prone to suckering, this is because most roses are grafted onto a rootstock, usually a very common variety with a strong habit of growth. So if you don’t remove these suckers they will take over. Remove these suckers as soon as they appear in early summer from the base of the plant, use a pair of stout gloves, grabbing the suckers low down on its stem and pull them out. This stops the sucker developing further.

• Plant out bulbs of cannas and lilies potted up earlier in the season.

• Remove the growing points from early peas which have finished flowering to concentrate energies on pod production.

• Boost gladioli with a liquid feed every two weeks from now through to the first appearance of the flower.

• Plant ‘De Caen’ anemone corms under cloches for flowering in the autumn and winter.

• Deadhead border plants that have finished flowering, such as lupins, to prevent them from setting seed and encourage them to produce a second flush of blooms later in the year.

• Pot up rooted basal cuttings of delphiniums taken last month.

• Propagate strawberries from the plantlets that form on the runners. Plunge pots of compost into the ground and peg the plantlets down into the pots with bent wire. You can cut them from the main plant when they have rooted well.

• Continue cutting back rock plants such as alyssum, aubrieta and helianthemum immediately after flowering, before they have had time to set seed.

• Layer low-growing branches of chaenomeles, cotinus and magnolia now for good propagation results.

• Continue to sow quick-growing salad crops such as lettuces, radishes and spring onions.

• During dry weather raise the cutting blades on your lawnmower and mow without using the grass box so that the clippings help retain moisture.

• Thin established seedlings of herbs such as chervil and dill to 15-30cm (6-12in) apart, according to the eventual spread of the plants.