What to plant in June
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
June is the month for growing, it's a month of warmer, calmer days and a time to be spent pottering around the garden... or at least that's what all the gardening books say. In reality, it's a month where gardeners suddenly become wildly optimistic. The sun appears for approximately seventeen minutes, someone nearby starts a BBQ in a light drizzle, and we hesitantly move the big coats behind the others in the wardrobe. I've done a couple of these what to plant posts before, and they've always been received well but this time I thought I'd do a slightly more realistic one, given that last week we were in a heatwave and today my finger's hovering over the central heating button, with the winds battering the beautiful wildflowers that braved sticking their heads above ground.
Don't get me wrong, you'll still come away with lots of things to plant in your garden or outside space but you'll also come away with a sense of not being alone in the idea that gardening doesn't always work out how we expect, and that's just part of it! So, here's what you can plant in the UK in June, with varying levels of success, depending on how determined the slugs are this year and how British the weather decides to be!
What to Plant in June - Veg
Carrots - June is perfect for direct sowing carrots. They're quick to grown, cheerful and surprisingly dramatic if they grow wonky, so a top tip is to remember to thin them out carefully once big enough to handle otherwise you'll end up with some sort of mutant octopus looking carrots... They still taste great though!
Beetroot - Another relatively easy vegetable to grow in June. Beetroot is one of those crops that make you feel like you've got your life together when you're harvesting it... even if you are harvesting it at 11pm in your pyjamas.
Lettuce - An easy beginner vegetable to plant, especially if purchased as a plug plant. Plant a few out where they are to grow and they'll happily explode into full existence within a few weeks. The only downside is that you'll go from 'do you fancy a salad?' to 'we must consume twelve lettuces immediately' in a matter of days!
Peas & Beans - There's very little as satisfying as watching your peas and beans climb the supports you've added as they grow. If you go for French Beans they can pod right through till October so you're planting now for autumn. Planning in plants like this is a great way of ensuring a continual harvest.
Cucumber - Every UK gardener should try growing cucumber at least once, if only to experience the confusion of owning thirty cucumber at the same time and trying to figure out exactly what to do with them (the answer? Pickles, multiple salads, salsas... you'll find you can add them to most things with success!). For a small gardener, one plant is enough, two plants in blind optimism, three plants is a cry for help!
Spring Onions - Another great vegetable to plant in June are spring onions. Stagger the planting, sowing a few directly every three weeks or so, this will provide you with a continual harvest. They're fast to germinate so a satisfying one to add to your veg patch.
It's also important to plan ahead in June as it's the perfect and the most critical time to plant out winter veg and brassicas. If you don't plant out now, you're likely not to have much if anything to harvest from November to March. Think about making some space for Kale, Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts.
What to Plant in June - Flowers
Sunflowers - Sow sunflowers now to enjoy cheerful blooms later in summer. Depending on your weather, it might be best to sow in a greenhouse or indoors until they're big enough to transplant outside... the birds and bunnies will be eyeing up the seeds so it's best to give them a chance! They're great to plant if you like happiness, bees and casual neighbourhood competition... there's always someone growing a sunflower taller than a bungalow! Quite impressive really!
Cosmos - These are a favourite of mine, they're great for filling gaps in borders and give the illusion that you planned your garden colour scheme! They're the ideal cottage garden flowers, there's just something so quintessentially English garden about them (we're in Wales but you get the idea).
Nasturtiums - Again, another easy flower to grow, they're bright and edible, great to add onto all the salad you'll be having with the lettuce explosion! They're also loved by pollinators so a winner in our books. They are however also loved by Aphids who treat them like an all inclusive holiday resort (you can deal with this by pouring some soapy water over them, does the trick for us, without any harsh chemicals).
Sweet William - Sow in rows indoors or outdoors, planting them in their final position in autumn, again giving you some lovely colour when the gardens are starting to move towards winter.
It's also a great time to plant herbs like basil, sage, chives and mint, but be careful, mint doesn't grow, it launches a hostile takeover so always plant this in a pot or container unless you want your garden to become 97% mint by September!
Apart from anything, remember that while gardening and growing can be frustrating, it's also incredibly rewarding and a fantastic learning experience (each year and growing season your yield will improve, we promise). A few things no one will tell you as a beginner gardener though, you will buy more plants than you have space for. You will forget to water something important. Slugs and birds can sense financial investment and the success of one tomato will make you unbelievably proud... and that's all part of it.
So grab some seeds, get outdoors whatever the weather (the mental health boost is so worth it, even if that is coupled with shouting why at plants that looked healthy yesterday), embrace the chaos and remember, even seasoned gardener's sometimes have to google 'why are my leaves sad?'.
#whattogrowinjune #growyourown #selfsufficient #realgardening #downtoearthgardening #farm #cottagegarden #rasiedbeds
Comments