Aroundtown Magazine July/August 2022

GARDENING
High summer
in the garden
With Sally Cunis, Garden Designer
Rudbeckia (Black eyed Susan)
The roses have been
simply spectacular so
far this year, pouring
in waves up and over
walls, scrambling over
arches and obelisks
and filling the borders
with a riot of colour.
Their exquisite perfume mingles
with that of honeysuckle, mock
orange blossom, lavender and sweet
peas made all the more intense
by the long dry period we have
experienced and the hot nights.
As our daughter is getting
married in the garden in August,
I am more determined than ever
to extend the flowering period of
my many roses. I dead-head them
regularly (I’m drying the rose petals
for confetti!) and give them, as well
as my pelargoniums, a weekly feed
and water. The pelargoniums are in
clay pots marching up the steps at
the side of our old barn and remind
Rosa “Happy Memories”
Michaelmas daisies
72 aroundtownmagazine.co.uk
me of summer holidays abroad.
The water butts installed in the
vegetable garden have proved
invaluable during this long period of
drought we have been experiencing;
harvesting and storing rainwater
when it falls for later use has to be a
sensible solution if summers are to
get hotter, as seems to be the trend.
With the wedding fast
approaching, gaps in borders have
been filled with flowers I have raised
from seed such as Hollyhocks,
Nigella and Verbena bonariensis.
My mother has given me some tall
perennials to add to the mix. I have
sown wildflower seeds into gaps,
moved plants from elsewhere in the
garden and made hazel obelisks to
support sweet peas. If you haven’t
had time to sow flower seed this
year, visit your local nursery for Phlox,
Monarda, Verbascum, Rudbeckia
and Michaelmas daisies which
will provide nectar-rich flowers for
butterflies and bees, prolong the
season and add a splash of colour
to the garden.
If space is limited, plant up a
hanging basket using petunia,
lobelia, alyssum and marigolds
to attract butterflies. In our field,
a bare area of clay around my
husband’s pottery kiln and our
newly constructed pond has now
been covered with a thin layer of
topsoil and sown with a meadow
mix, wonderful for butterflies and
beneficial insects. In memory of a
dear gardening friend, I am also
growing some pots of colourful
Dahlias for the first time.
Our vegetable garden is a little
neglected this summer but the soft
fruit, red currants, black currants
and raspberries are thriving and
should all be tightly netted against
birds. Potatoes will need earthing up
and courgettes and runner beans
regularly watering. Continue tying in
tomatoes, nipping out side shoots,
feeding and watering regularly.
Hollyhock
With the summer
holidays soon upon us,
get outside with your
young gardeners. There
is always plenty to do:
• Have some books to hand
on birds, butterflies, insects,
amphibians and wildflowers.
• Go on a bug hunt
• Buy or build a simple bug hotel
with old bricks, pots and canes
• Identify butterflies and insects
• Put out water for the birds
• Put out a saucer filled with
smooth stones topped up with
sugar water to give butterflies a
welcome drink
• Plant a pot and paint it in
colourful patterns
• Decorate some large round
stones with paint and seal with
exterior varnish
• Build a den with canes and old
Nigella and swollen thighed beetle
Small tortoiseshell on Valerian
cloths, add a rug, cushions and
hang up a “no entry sign”
• Ask your neighbour if you
can cut a hole at the bottom of
the fence, adding a sign saying
“Hedgehog Highway”
• Put up a bat box
• Make a simple pond; sink an
old container into the ground with
some stones and a couple of
water-loving plants. Add a brick
so a hedgehog can climb out if it
tumbles in
• In the evening, wrap up, sit
outside and see if you can spot
any bats swooping overhead and
listen to the nighttime sounds of
blackbirds and maybe a tawny owl
• If space is limited, visit some of
the wonderful parks and gardens
that are available in our area. There
will be nature trails and activities to
keep young people engaged and
involved
Den making
Whatever you do, have a
wonderful summer in your garden