June in the Garden 2026
June in the Garden 2026
June is the time to fill your spaces! The soil has warmed up now and the days are longer which makes it an ideal time to get planting. (It is of course also the month of weeding!)
Here at Floors the Garden Team has been busy planting up our Summer bedding plants in pots for display across the Gardens and in the Cafes. This is also the month when we transplant annuals grown from seed to the Cutting Garden and get the final seeds sown directly. We have the best results for direct sowing with cornflower, marigolds, nasturtiums and poppies and have also found that tithonia does well being sown directly.
In the Kitchen Garden we have taken advantage of the good weather to get ready for a bumper season of produce. Following a great asparagus harvest, we are excited for the first broad beans and peas to appear.
We rotate the beds and this year have a great selection of heritage vegetables growing. The sweetcorn, turnips, beans of all kinds, swede and brassicas have all been planted out and now the task is to keep them watered, weed free and healthy. Mark our Kitchen Gardener is a very busy man over the Summer! Look out for our companion planting alongside the vegetables which not only looks pretty but helps to deter certain pests and encourage pollinators.
The tomatoes in the glasshouse are coming along very nicely.
Top tip: Remember to remove the side-shoots, feed regularly and water consistently to help prevent blossom end rot.
The strawberries are ripening well and we were delighted to discover that despite the canes looking a bit ‘tired’ our Summer raspberries look as if they are going to deliver copious amounts of fruit this year (yummy!) In the Vinery the grapes are beginning to swell, and the peaches are also becoming larger each day.
The Ornamental Garden is coming into its peak with the Peony Bed flowering right now. They don’t last for long and the rain recently has damaged some but do try to come and see them, they are just beautiful. Following on from the peonies; the Delphinium Bed takes over and should be in full bloom from mid-June into July. Our dahlias have been planted out, and the next task is to get the final tender plants out into the borders for the Summer. These include Cannas, Coleus and Amaranthus as well as annuals to fill the gaps.
We are working on the Summer Border this year and adding and removing plants to improve these beds which had become a bit overgrown with certain plants dominating too much (step forward again Solidago.)
Hopefully you will notice the difference and see the new plants added into the colour scheme which is a haze of pink/mauves and whites with a touch of lemon now and then.
The work in the background never stops, and soon we will be taking cuttings, pruning the wisteria and sowing biennials into trays for next year.
We also welcomed children from Kelso High School to the Estate for our first “Rural Sills Day” and enjoyed meeting so many potential horticulturists. We love our job here and it was great to see that some of the children might want to be our replacements in the future! We are always happy to welcome visitors and answer any questions you have so please do try to come along in June/July to see the garden at its very best.
