Find out what to do in your garden in early summer, and see what’s worked and what hasn’t in the middle-sized garden.
00:00 Welcome
01:03 The climbers on the back door: Chinese Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus henryana) and Ornamental kiwi vine (Actinidia kolomikta)
02:30 Keep up weeding in early summer
03:00 The No Nonsense Guide to Weeding Your Garden: https://youtu.be/SvHFHym6cjM
03:56 How to prune English lavender successfully: https://youtu.be/E5MtEnplUUo
04:11 Giant fennel (Ferula communis)
04:37 Tips for the herbaceous border
05:03 Plant out dahlias, chrysanthemums and cannas and fill gaps in the border
05:14 Rose ‘Guajard’ – shall I keep it or dig it up?
06:03 Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
06:08 Rose ‘Souvenir du Docteur Jamain’
06:18 Place stakes, hoops and other supports in your garden in early summer
06:42 How to make plant supports from clippings: https://youtu.be/8-QrucJZcIE
06:56 Use soft ties not wire to tie plants to supports. I use
Nutscene https://amzn.to/3a4zxyY (UK) and https://amzn.to/3LGBEWJ (US)
and Bio-stretch https://amzn.to/3a3xrPR (UK) and https://amzn.to/3LztaRl (US)
Both have been sent free for review in the past, but I’ve also bought them.
07:09 Whether and when to mow the lawn? We’re doing No Mow May but this is very much a personal choice, not a recommendation.
08:12 The north-facing shady border – we’ve taken out the hedge. What do you think? Better? Or not?
09:16 Easy wildlife garden tips from Joel Ashton: https://youtu.be/hvnmRx_DVoA
09:34 Buy bird boxes, bug hotels etc from wildlife organisations and make sure that they are made so that wildlife will use them. Gifty stuff may be useless!
09:53 Water newly planted shrubs and trees in their first summer. And weed around their roots to reduce competition for nutrients
10:24 Are raised beds always good in gardens?
11:26 Smynium perfoliatum (Perfoliate Alexanders)
11:50 A border that doesn’t work….
12:25 If you’re having plumbing or landscaping work done, include the garden. It makes a big difference to have easily accessible taps!
13:32 Trim hedges in early summer – but not if there are birds nesting in it!
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20 Comments
You need to get an extra hose to add to your existing! It’s a game changer!!
It’s not even summer yet and your garden is already bursting into life with all those flowers!!!! So jealous here in Melbourne — it’s becoming the dormant season and nothing is growing aside from the native varieties (which I don’t have the money to buy 😐).
Oh well — will have to see what winter and spring flowering varieties I can buy so give me some joy in the garden.
👌💕
Thank you as always Alexandra. 👌💕
I vote to take the rose out – there is someone who would find it the very thing they adore most. My personal policy on anything I have in my home – from the lowliest tea towel to the major purchases, is that if something doesn't make me smile every time I see it I won't buy it and if it is already here I'll let it go to someone who smiles every time THEY see it.
I do understand the feeling for the plant though! Earlier in the year, I bought some Brugmansia to train as standards and paid quite a pretty penny for the named variety. They were supposed to be double-flowered and vivid gold to go with my gold and purple theme. Instead, the first one that flowered is a single-flowered white. I dithered about keeping it and appreciating it as 'one of life's little surprises' but no… it's going. What I really want is the vivid gold and I will always want the vivid gold there. Someone else will enjoy white and it can be a blessing to them instead!
Virginia creeper …( the type we have in USA) can allergic reactions in some people…even a rash.
Loved seeing more areas of your gardens! Initially I was very intimidated by drip systems but I have conquered it and every plant & tree is on drip now.
Virtually no American garden birds will nest as close to each other as you have those boxes. Perhaps there are birds in England that do.
Margie from usa. I really enjoy your videos ALexandra and love the brick wall you have. Thank you for providing helpful ideas.
I love the rose in the midst of the other plants!! It adds color and texture. I say keep it and reframe how you think about it😊🌹💓
The lawn looks terrible and when you come to mow it you will end up stressing the lawn as you will be removing too much at once. No mow may should apply to public areas, parks, roadsides, fields etc…
Do you have a problem with snakes?
🌼🐝🌻I’m Back for another update of your beautiful garden. It’s amazing to see the changes in your plants over time. I love watching my garden grow a little each day, that is my favorite part of gardening. I am making garden videos too on my own channel. It’s so fun to have the growth documented over the season. I still have so much to learn in this area. I hope we can learn more from each other! 🌻🌸👨🌾🐝🌼
Great video Alexandra! Really enjoyed this one … 🌺 Thank you! 🌺
Hello from Virginia USA. I dug waterlines by hand for my gardens and yes it is a terrible thing haha. I have also found that I can run a hose from a tap over the lawn to wherever I need it, and keep it that way! The lawn grows to cover it (I mow on a tall setting) and you would never know it was there. That might be a solution for you. You could link hoses across your lawn to that back corner and run it up a post to a tap in a discreet but much more useful spot. Just an idea 🙂 Love the videos thank you.
Your summers are downright cold. I am surprised at how warm the winters are in the U.K. as I imagined them to be really, really cold. I live in the southern end of the central valley of California (U.S. planting zone 9) and summers get to 100-108 Fahrenheit. We are happy when it is only 95 degrees. Plants that in other places can take "full sun", require a bit of shade. One advantage is that by the time you hang out the 3rd washing machine wash, the 1st washing machine wash is dry and ready to be collected.
Why don't you buy a 25 foot length of hose and leave it extended along the flower bed. When you need to water the plants that the first hose does not reach, attach the short length of hose to the first hose and water without having to use a watering can. We have a water faucet on one side of our house that we don't dare turn on because it needs repair. We use the hose from the back faucet and attach it to a 75 foot hose that we leave extended and water part of the front lawn and the flower beds on the side of the house. (We are getting all our plumbing work done, inside and outside, little by little.)
I don't know how much rain you get, I'm in the US, but why not add a water butt to that corner that the hose wont reach to?
I so appreciate your realistic tours of your garden and your suggestions for avoiding problems and inconveniences. It is impossible to keep a very large garden looking perfect continuously without some help and professional help is just about impossible to find in the US. Thank you for your videos. I like to watch them when I’ve come inside on a break.
What do you do about black spot fungus currently? Does it harm plants in future seasons if you leave it?