Flowers

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• Lift and store tulip bulbs after flowering

• Give wisteria its summer prune, cutting all the long sideshoots back to 20cm, to promote flowering next spring

• Plant up a new tropical display with tender exotics, including bananas, ricinus, coleus, cannas and amaranthus

• Support tall-growing perennials, including hollyhocks and delphiniums, with a sturdy cane

• Continue planting summer bedding in pots and borders, and water regularly to help plants establish quickly

• Cut back spring-flowering perennials, such as pulmonaria, to encourage a fresh flush of foliage

• Tie in new stems of climbing and rambling roses horizontally to supports, to encourage more flowers

• Take cuttings from pinks and carnations, selecting non-flowering shoots, which should root readily

• Pinch out the tips of fuchsias and bedding plants to encourage bushier growth

• Give container displays and hanging baskets a liquid feed every few weeks to encourage flowering

• Fill any gaps in borders with pots of tall bulbs, such as fragrant lilies, to add instant colour

• Prune late-spring or early-summer shrubs after flowering, such as weigela and philadelphus, thinning out the older stems

• Add marginal plants, such as arum lilies and marsh marigolds, around the edges of your pond.

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Fruit and veg

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• Plant out sweetcorn after hardening off, arranging plants in blocks to aid pollination

• Cover developing and ripening fruits with netting or fleece to protect them from birds

• Enjoy the last harvests of asparagus this month, then leave the ferny top-growth to grow up over the summer

• Spread mulch around thirsty crops such as beans and courgettes to hold in moisture around their roots

• Check for woolly aphids on fruit trees, and treat infestations with soap-based spray

• Water vegetables and fruit in containers regularly, especially during dry sunny weather

• Go on regular snail hunts, especially on damp evenings, to reduce populations

• Tie in new shoots of blackberries, raspberries, loganberries and other cane fruits

• Apply tomato feed regularly to fruiting veg crops, including tomatoes, courgettes, pumpkins and chillies

• Plant up an edible hanging basket with trailing tomatoes and herbs, and keep it well watered all summer

• Rejuvenate chives by cutting the clump down to the base, for a fresh crop of new leaves in just a few weeks

• Water beans and peas as they start to flower

• Pull out any raspberry canes sprouting up out of their dedicated area

• Take softwood cuttings of herbs such as marjoram and sage, plant in gritty compost and place on a sunny windowsill

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Greenhouse

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• Sow herbs in pots to grow on your kitchen windowsill, such as coriander, parsley and basil

• Plant out tender vegetables raised indoors, including beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, courgettes and sweetcorn

• Pinch out the side shoots of cordon tomatoes regularly

• Harden off hanging baskets and pots of summer bedding that have been growing in the greenhouse

• Sow biennials, including foxgloves, honesty, wallflowers and sweet rocket, in seed trays

• Water plants daily in warm weather, ideally in the evening or early morning, and avoid splashing the foliage

• Introduce biological controls to the greenhouse if you have pests such as whitefly or red spider mite

• Take softwood cuttings from hydrangeas and pelargoniums and stand the pots on a bright windowsill or in a greenhouse

• Increase greenhouse shading and ventilation to keep temperatures down on hot days

• Feed flowering and fruiting plants weekly with tomato feed

• Water greenhouse tomatoes regularly to prevent split fruits and blossom end rot

• Treat pots with vine weevil control if this pest has been a problem in the past, as larvae become active this month

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​Garden maintenance

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• Empty, mix and refill compost bins to speed up decomposition

• Spray roses showing signs of disease, such as black spot, powdery mildew or rust

• Continue watering any new plantings until they're well established

• Water newly laid turf several times a week, for at least the first month

• Trim fast-growing hedges, such as privet, every six weeks over the summer

• Put stakes in to support tall, large-flowered dahlias and tie in stems as they grow

• Prune spring-flowering shrubs, such as kerria, choisya, chaenomeles and ribes, after flowering

• Check hedges and shrubs for nesting birds before you start any trimming or pruning, so you don't disturb them

• Remove any all-green shoots on variegated shrubs, cutting right back to their base

• Treat patio pots with vine weevil control if this pest has been a problem in the past, as larvae become active this month

• Dig out perennial weeds, such as couch grass and bindweed, as soon as you spot them

• Feed lawns with a liquid or granular lawn fertiliser

• Prune evergreen Clematis armandii if it has grown too large

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