June Blog

Can you feel it?  Flowers are starting to appear in abundance, your vegetables are aplenty, and those warmer evenings are creeping in…  Can you feel it?  Yes, we can feel it; Summer is coming!  

Welcome to Thorngrove Garden Centre’s Blog for the month of June.  

June is a wonderful time to be in your garden; the longest day falls on the 21st which brings in the warmer temperatures and extra sunlight. As flowers bloom and blossom; June is the perfect time to take your summer pictures of your garden. Will you be sending them to your loved ones, updating your summer photo albums or sharing on social media? If sharing on social media make sure you use the hashtag #ThorngroveGardenCentre as we would love to see them too!

It’s not only us and our plants that love the sunshine – weeds do too, you’ll find they will sprout up out of seemingly nowhere so make sure you are keeping on top of hoeing regularly in dry conditions.

TOP THREE PLANTS FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE;

Some of our Summer Favourites…

We put just as much love into growing our plants as we do serving our customers; we pride ourselves on the fact that we are able to grow a vast majority of our plants on site. Our horticultural expert’s plants are grown to their best ability – alongside our Employ My Ability service users. We promise nothing but quality.

PETUNIAS:  A versatile plant that can be striped, veined, trailing or upright and comes in a strong variety of colours including white, red, pink and blue. Petunias like full sun and as long as you keep dead-heading them, they will flower from June until the first frost hits.  

BUSY LIZZIES: One of our favourites for hanging baskets and containers; they are so easy to grow, and you will have no problem with these once they start flowering as they are in bloom continuously. They are a long-lasting plant and don’t mind shade which means they are ideal for adding colour to those places in the garden that the sunshine doesn’t hit.  

ROSES: Patio and bush roses are not for the faint hearted but once you have perfected their spot in the garden along with their watering routine; you will be forever thankful for their lovely scent and their beautiful aesthetics. Ask one of our friendly and knowledgeable staff members in store about our wonderful roses and how to look after them.   

TOP TIPS FROM THORNGROVE: Mowing your lawn!  

The secret to keeping your lawn luscious and weed free year after year, is simply good maintenance and a little bit of tender loving care…

GET YOUR SUMMER PROJECT READY FOR THOSE LITTLE GREEN FINGERS:  

Make a BUG HOTEL 

HOW TO CREATE YOUR HOTEL:  

1. Make your foundation of bricks in a rough square, the same size as one of your pallets, leaving gaps in between. One at each corner will do.

2. Scatter some dead leaves, woodchips and soil in the middle to attract frogs.

3. Lay a pallet or strips of wood across the bricks to make a base for your first layer.

4. Place some logs on top and then a few rolls of hollow stems or bamboo.
   

5. Put some straw and hay or wood chippings or pine cones in between.

6. Keep going like this, adding one layer one top of another until it’s as high as you want.

7. When you’ve reached the very top, make the structure waterproof, by laying some roofing felt or a sheet of polythene over it, as you would a garden shed. 

The main goal is to create a space that insects and small creatures love to live in so make as many nooks and crannies as you can. You can go as big or as little with this as you would like – it’s about finding the right spot in the garden and keeping a log of all the wildlife you have staying at your hotel.  

This is a great project to do whilst the little ones are off in the summer holidays, you can even create some fun homework for them to do and take back to school in September.  

Have fun!