June Gardening Guide

When I read the description for the ‘Regenerative Gardening’ workshop, I knew I needed to attend. It’s not often that you find a workshop or teaching moment that completely aligns with your own ethos and I needed to know more. So off I trotted down to Bath (please picture me trotting out of the Shire, Baggins’ style) to the gardens of Alison Jenkins (@damsonfarm) and Jo McKerr (@jo_pratensisgardens). And what INCREDIBLE gardens they are.

It turns out that ‘regenerative’ isn’t just another wanky buzz word that’s being thrown around, it encapsulates having an open mindset, actively restoring natural processes, being mindful of resources and nurturing the spirit of a place. At one point, Jo described it as a way of gardening that allows everything an opportunity to be it’s best self. That’s a concept that really resonates with me, because what I truly am at heart is a gardener who wants to work with nature to make outdoor spaces better.

Alison Jenkins’ garden (Damson Farm)

 During the day we had a walk through Alison’s kitchen garden and talked through her approach to growing edible plants. It’s honestly the most picturesque vegetable plot I’ve ever seen with Geranium pyrenaicum Bill Wallis flowering in the corner of beds and strawberries growing into the pathways. Having soil cover in beds creates for a much healthier soil so why not let it be beautiful too? Letting go of the thought process of which plants ‘should’ be here and what plants ‘should not’ go there makes for a much more relaxing, aesthetically pleasing way of gardening. Leaving flowering plants where they pop up helps give pollinators an extra source of food in a spot that wouldn’t normally have been occupied which is a complete winner to me (less weeding, more beauty and more beneficial to your local wildlife – fantastic).

Jo has a much different garden, yet follows the same principles as Alison, gardening in a way to enable the space be the best version of itself. With a list of wildlife visitors including 4 types of bats, various deer, badgers, hedgehogs, butterflies, bees and so many more, this is the epitome of a wildlife friendly garden (absolute garden goals). Whilst at Jo’s site, we discussed the importance of saving seed and the resilience that subsequent plant generations gain from being grown in a particular place. The best example of seed saving in Jo’s garden are the yellow Great mullein. Over 7+ years, the seed from the paler yellow plants has been saved and resown so that each year the plants that are growing are the perfect pale yellow for the desired colour palette as well as becoming stronger and stronger.

Jo McKerr’s garden

 This reminded me of one of the moments I had at my seed swap from earlier this year – a lovely lady brought along some runner bean seeds that she’d not only grown year after year herself but her Dad had actually grown for many years, too. These runner bean plants will have adapted to the growing conditions in our village over the generations and in her garden particularly, will likely have created a really great relationship with the organisms in her soil (and yes, I did manage to take a few of these seeds for my own growing efforts this year!).

The workshop really solidified the idea that creating any garden is a process and you can even argue that the process never really ends. Learning to appreciate the specific qualities that your garden has to offer and working with them to create the best space possible for yourself, local wildlife and nature as whole is the true goal in my eyes. Whether you’re doing it alone or having a designer or consultant help you along the way, it takes time to learn about your space and navigate the best action to take (as well as identifying the times when no action at all is best). When you’re invested in your outdoor space, you’ll soon fall in love with the process of creating your garden when you see the first breakthrough you achieve through your actions. Speaking of action, here’s the perfect segue into the jobs for this month! I know, I can hear the appreciative round of applause from here at that one…

Select & sow biennials & herbaceous perennials

If you’ve been living for the foxgloves this year like me, the next couple of months are the perfect time to sow them. Selecting varieties to grow from seed gives you so many more options that you’re unable to buy from garden centres. Getting them going now means they’ll be well developed by the time they’re ready to flower next year.

Look out for Tree Bumblebees

Keep an eye out for Bombus hypnorum, the tree bumblebee, which is active through May and June. They have a lovely gingery brown thorax, black abdomen and white tail and they like to nest in holes in trees and empty bird boxes. They like to feed on cotoneaster, brambles, fuchsia and currants.

Remove tomato plant sideshoots

Removing the sideshoots from your tomato plants will mean that you get the best out of them. Pinch out the small shoot between the main stem and a leaf being mindful not to take out the tip of the main stem.

Feed your pots with nettle tea

If you happen to have a nettle patch in your garden or know somewhere there is (that hasn’t had any chemicals or sprays applied) then you’re onto a winner. Harvest the nettles, pop them in a tub, bash/mash/chop them up, add water to cover the nettles, pop a lid on and leave for 3-4 weeks. FYI it will stink! After those few weeks, you’ll be able to use it to feed your plants. Dilute it 1:10 and use weekly.

Plant out your pumpkins & squashes

Did you get your pumpkin seeds sown last month? If you did, it’s getting to the time you can plant them out. You may need to have security stationed next to them overnight to ensure the slugs don’t get them (they are crazy this year). You may notice that they don’t do much in the first week or two, which will be due to transplant shock but they’ll get over that soon enough and then will steam ahead.  Water and feed your plants regularly and watch the pure magic of the pumpkins grow.

I’ve had the absolute pleasure of Gary Davies in my garden this afternoon to take a few shots of the planters that are looking joyous right now. We were blessed with good weather so I took the opportunity to practice what I preach and had a sit down with a cocktail in hand while he worked his own magic. I can’t wait to see the results! Keep an eye out on my Instagram for sneak peeks when I get them. And, remember, even if you don’t have the genius that is Gary Davies visiting you, make sure you take a moment to sit down and enjoy your garden, the longest day of the year is upon us and it’s set to be a lovely day.