The neat stripes that were once the sign of a well-tended garden have been replaced in recent years by thick swards of where all kinds of wild flowers flourish amongst long grass. Meadows are an important habitat for pollinators, many of which are under threat from climate change, development and intensive agriculture.

Meadows can be tricky to establish as wildflowers will have to compete with high fertility and vigorous grasses, so unless you garden on very poor soil, a perennial meadow may be a better choice than one filled with cornfield annuals. Perennial wildflowers, including scabious, harebell, cow parsley and betony, can be raised from seed or bought as small plug plants and planted out.

Cutting the grass before planting will allow the flowers to become better established.

Remove the clippings to avoid adding to the fertility of the soil and in future avoid using any kind of lawn fertiliser.

TOP TIP
Rhododendrons and azaleas have been flowering for weeks now, but once the blooms start to fade these should be snapped off to allow the plant’s energy to go into producing flowers for next year and not into seed production.

Scottish Gardener:

WHAT TO DO NOW

  • Move tender bedding plants outdoors during the day, bringing them undercover at night before moving them out permanently at the start of June.
  • Take cuttings from new growth on pelargoniums and pot up in gritty compost.
  • Keep sowing salad leaves for a succession of crops.
  • Stake tall perennials before they start to flop.
  • Wait until the foliage has faded before digging up tulips and storing the bulbs for replanting in November.
  • Weed alpine troughs and trim plants that have already flowered.
  • Add well-rotted manure to ground where pumpkins are to grow, raking the soil into a mound ready for planting next month.
  • Sow runner beans 8cm deep in rows 25cm apart, placing canes alongside them and tying these at the top to form a wigwam for support.
  • Plant up hanging baskets, but keep these under cover until all danger of frost has passed.
  • Primroses that flowered in spring can be divided now.
  • Stop growth on chrysanthemums by pinching out the growing tips in order to encourage bushy growth.
  • Remove sideshoots and tendrils from sweet peas to encourage better flowering.
  • Open greenhouse doors and vents on warm days and damp down the floor if temperatures rise.
  • Sow hardy annuals outdoors in soil that’s been raked to a fine tilth. Sow in rows so that weeds are easier to spot and remove.
  • Keep watering trees and shrubs that were planted earlier in the year, mulching around them with compost or leafmould to retain moisture at the roots.