The garden is a riot of colour and scent this month. I think that an English country garden is such a magical place in June, when the growth is still lush and green and the scent of roses and Philadelphus fills the air. All of our herbaceous borders will be full of colour and interest from day lilies, Astrantia, Geraniums, Salvias and many more.

Jo and our volunteers have been very busy planting up the Community Garden, and the flowers and vegetables planted out here last month are literally growing before our eyes. Despite a record-breaking dry spring, the gardens are still looking very full and healthy as I write this in late May. Many years of applying compost have certainly helped!

We have not sprayed the roses for many years, and removing fallen leaves, regular hoeing, and feeding has been enough. The aphids have had an early start, and it often takes predators a while to catch up in warm, dry years, but they will during June. I can tolerate a few curled leaves; the flowers do not appear to be affected very much.

We do use organic slug pellets in places, and these are very effective. However, they need to be used alongside sensible maintenance like regular hoeing and removal of dead leaves. If you do use them, it’s best to scatter them sparingly over a larger area rather than applying a large handful around a plant. The majority of our gardens do not require slug pellets, and most of the plants I choose are tolerant of them.

The large areas that we now leave unmown until autumn contain, after 20 years, many wildflowers and orchids, especially the arboretum, which has many pyramid and bee orchids. The rampart bank also now contains some pyramid orchids.

This month, we will be weeding and mowing and quite literally working rounds of the gardens. You can cut the Euonymus hedges now, but I prefer to do that in September, when it will stay looking crisp and sharp throughout winter and into spring.

The garden team is James, Jo, Tracey, Jess, Rob and Colin. Some of us are part-time, but you will usually find one of us available to answer any queries. We also have lots of fantastic garden volunteers who make a huge difference to what we can achieve.