Right now in the garden

Young strawberries are beginning to ripen on the plants, so net them now to protect them from birds, which like those tasty juicy berries every bit as much as we do.

Florence fennel is one of those delicious bulbous vegetables that cost a small fortune to buy, and yet is not that difficult to grow, while its delicate, feathery plumes of foliage add an ornamental touch to any kitchen garden. Sow seed into modular trays now, and then keep it somewhere warm (20 degrees Celsius), thinning out the seedlings to one per module, to transplant outdoors four to five weeks after sowing, spacing plants 35cm apart. Protect young plants against slugs and snails.

Box blight (

Cylindrocladium buxicola

)) is a damaging fungal disease that affects box hedges and topiary and results in defoliation of the plant. A problem in many Irish gardens, its spread is aggravated by the kind of damp weather we’ve been experiencing recently. But I’ve seen badly-affected plants make a remarkable recovery from this disease when given a regular foliar feed using a seaweed-based spray. Another organically friendly remedy is TopBuxus, available from good garden centres, which also must be used at least three times during the growing season (March-October).

Dahlias can be planted outdoors now. For best results, plant into fertile, weed-free soil in a sunny position, incorporating a handful or two of the organically-approved granular fertiliser OSMO. Pinch out growing tips to encourage a bushy plant, stake plants against wind damage and don’t forget to protect plants against snail and slugs, for which dahlias are like the very best caviar.

If you grow any of the lovely, late-spring/early-summer flowering ceanothus, also known as Californian lilac, then those blue blossoms will have faded by now, signalling the fact that it’s time to give the shrub a gentle prune to keep it in shape. Flowered stems can be cut back by one-third to a half , but avoid cutting into old wood. Mulch with manure after pruning.