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The Garden in June

Laburnum in Bloom

Following one of the coldest winters on record, we have just had one of the sunniest and driest months of May in a long time. The combined effect has led to wonderful flowering of woody plants such as Lilac, Laburnum, fruit trees, Hawthorn, Sorbus - the list is endless and it has been a real pleasure seeing such luxuriant flowering. This Laburnum in Clontarf is a reminder of what the tree looks like at its best - a truly gorgeous tree in bloom, and also in leaf with its pea-green leaves. Bear in mind that the seeds are highly poisonous if eaten. It's a most adaptable plants which can really be left to look after itself with next-to-no care.

Clip your box!

June is traditionally the month to clip box hedging or topiary. The new leaves are very cheery and a lovely shade of green, but in order to keep the plants neat they will need to be removed. If you prefer the quiet snippety snip of a hand shears, we have two types on our website, both 'a cut above' most garden shears. Made in Germany from hot dropped forged steel, they are both a pleasure to own and use - without the noise, smell, weight or expense of petrol tools. Box should be clipped lightly, and if you want it to get it very precise you can set up a string line. 

 

 

Grass at the base of trees - solutions.

At this time of year, the grass grows faster that at any other time. Grass around the base of young trees causes serious competition for moisture and nutrients, so finding a way around this has long been a concern for gardeners. One of the most common ways of tackling this is to use a weedkiller - this is the approach most often taken by county councils. The drawback is that it looks hideous, poisons the soil and leads to there being a patch of dead, often mossy earth around the base of tree. A second approach is to dig a circle around the tree base and to mulch this with bark or garden compost. This looks much better, improves soil structure and moisture retention and also ensures that a mower will not get near the tree. It is very important that the mulch does not touch the tree / shrub trunk itself, as it is very important that the 'root flare' at the base of all woody plants is at ground level and exposed. When I was a student at the National Botanic Garden in Glasnevin over a decade ago, many of the trees had been destroyed or damaged by injury from mower decks. Now, with better funding, almost all the trees have rings of bark or compost around them. A third option is to place something at the base of the tree such as cardboard, old carpet or a 'tree mat'. These mightn't look as good but they do fulfil a valuable role in keeping down weeds and locking in moisture. This approach is ideal when you are establishing fruit trees or trees in long grass. Mats made for the purpose are obviously the best as they can be pegged down, allow moisture penetration and look respectable. We sell these in handy packs of ten, complete with pegs to keep them firmly in place.

Mulch is good in garden or more formal settings where grass is to be kept short. The tree mat is ideal for orchards or young trees in longer grass.