unite Leisure Gardenwise SUMMER GARDEN JOY
Summer in the garden is always a joy. It’s a time to observe and harvest the results of your labours.
Creating a lawn from seed is ended for now, till the autumn, but turfing is possible if you can water regularly. Raising the height of cut for mowing during drier periods is useful to preserve a green lawn.
Gardening is great exercise for young and old. Summer is a fine time to introduce novices to the joys of gardening. Activities can be as light or intensive as you choose. It can even be just observing.
Garden visiting is a wonderful source of pleasure and inspiration and this summer is the moment to start. I recently explored a garden in France I've long wished to visit. It features giant bamboos. Some of these reach over 20 metres in height and form dense clumps covering thousands of square metres. Many varieties of bamboo are suited to container growing, even the giant species. This is also a good way to accommodate the more rampant growers. I have had to remove established bamboos using a mini digger on several occasions so be careful what and where you plant. Choose a species that suit you and the space available. Bamboos make wonderful privacy screens, windbreaks and space dividers as well as growing them for their own beauty as specimen garden plants.
Sowing of vegetables and flowers during the following months assures continuous produce and colour. Annual flowers sown now can provide colour for the late summer. The list is long for what to sow. Be guided by the seed suppliers but also experiment. Successional sowing is the key to a full vegetable garden.
Recently I tested a rechargeable battery-operated cultivator. I was impressed with its ease of use. A light and powerful machine capable of doing a useful amount of work. It's especially useful in the confined space of a polytunnel or greenhouse as it produces no fumes. I will be lending it to friends and family for their opinions.
To share and exchange plants, produce, tools, machinery, ideas and tips greatly enhances the gardening experience. With social media and the internet it's even easier to do this though nothing beats actually meeting others in person.
Remember to photograph your plants, flowers, work and projects to build up a visual diary and handy reference collection for the short and long term future.
49 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2026
n By Phil Saunders
Clifford Harper
Alamy
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