Plan
What to do in the garden, month by month
Prioritised, UK-specific job lists — no guesswork about what matters this month.
What should I do in the garden in June?
Deadhead repeat-flowering roses, cutting back to the first set of five leaves — this triggers strong new blooms rather than weak ones. Stake and support top-heavy perennials like peonies, delphiniums and tall salvias before the first heavy rain flattens them; supports need to go in before they're needed, not after. Keep up successional sowing of salad and veg, and get summer bedding fully planted out.
What should I do in the garden in July?
Watering is the priority this month — pots and hanging baskets need daily attention once the heat sets in. Check that tree ties, stakes and plant covers haven't started biting into bark as trunks thicken, and use any dry spell to catch up on painting or preserving fences and sheds. If a bed has just been cleared, sow cabbage, turnip, chicory, fennel or autumn and winter salads into the space. Keep an eye on tomatoes and potatoes for blight during warm, wet spells.
What should I do in the garden in August?
August is about keeping summer going and getting ahead. In priority order: harvest little and often (the more you pick, the more many crops produce), deadhead roses, dahlias, cosmos and sweet peas to keep flowering into autumn, and keep watering through dry spells. Light-prune wisteria, trim lavender once it's finished flowering, and sow final salads and hardy annuals for next year. Keep an eye out for blight on potatoes and tomatoes.
What should I do in the garden in September?
September is the handover from summer to autumn — and one of the best planting months of the year while the soil is still warm. Priorities: lift and divide overcrowded perennials now flowering's finished, take semi-ripe cuttings of tender shrubs before the first frosts, and plant spring-flowering bulbs (daffodils, crocus, alliums) — but hold tulips until November. Keep deadheading roses, clear spent annuals, and watch for powdery mildew. A few hours now sets up next spring.