Monthly Gardening Advice - June

• Roses are now getting fully into their summer blooming. But be sure to dead head them regularly in order to obtain more flowers later. Cut back each dead head to just above the first leaf with five, not three, leaflets.
• Slugs and snails are real problems this year, following the recent rain. Either put down slug pellets, slug traps or, if you prefer, go out in the late evening with a torch and collect snails by hand - you'll be astonished at how many you find.
• As runner beans begin to climb their supports, tie them in with soft string until they are really well established or the wind will tear them down.
• Continue planting out half hardy plants and plant up tubs and containers with bedding plants. Remember to give container plants a weekly
  feed with a soluble fertiliser such as Miracle-Gro, Chempak or Phostrogen.
• If you are thinning carrots, always water the plants afterwards to deaden any aroma that will otherwise attract the damaging carrot flies.
• Pinch out the tops of spring-sown broad beans as the first pods begin to set. This will discourage black fly and stimulate more pod production - and don't forget that the tops can be cooked as a green vegetable.
• Check that fruit cages are secure and that any holes in the netting are repaired. Birds are pretty adept at spotting ripening fruit and will harvest them first if you don't take precautions.