Fast-growing crops and flowers for end of summer bounty

In the turning of a gardening year, the significance of the summer solstice is hard to overstate. Seasoned gardeners will tell you that it is the hinge in the horticultural calendar, the (dare I say it) beginning of the end, that bittersweet moment in the season when nature takes its foot off the accelerator and growth starts to slow.

But don’t despair, there is still time to squeeze in plenty of productive gardening. With that in mind, here are some clever ways to fill your garden or allotment with a variety of fast-growing crops and flowers that will perform wonderfully over the coming months if sowed/planted soon.

For a super-quick fix, fill a window-box with a good quality multipurpose compost and work in a little fine-grade vermiculite to help keep it moist but aerated (this will boost germination rates). Then, direct-sow some seed of a cut-and-come again mix of salad leaves or rocket to give you lots of delicious, nutritious pickings for plenty of summer salads (see brownenvelopeseeds.com and greenvegetableseeds.com for stockists).

Alternatively, for an edible floral option, direct-sow seed of nasturtium (2cm deep, 10cm apart) using a compact or semi-trailing variety such as the apricot-and-gold Tropaeolum ‘Peach Melba’ or the gorgeous deep-red Tropaeolum ‘Black Velvet’. Pot marigold (Calendula) would also work really well for this (see mrmiddleton.com, seedaholic.com).

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Or, for some unforgettable garden perfume, sow what is known as night-scented stock or Matthiola longipetala ‘Night Scented Stock’. This very fast-growing, dainty half-hardy annual does not have the showiest of flowers, but more than makes up for that with what must be one of the most seductive aromas of the summer night garden. Whatever you sow, water very gently but thoroughly, immediately after sowing, and from then on always enough that the compost never dries out completely.

If you never got around to sowing the seed of any vegetables this year, then there is still a pretty good selection of baby transplants available in most good garden centres. Alternatively, specialist Irish suppliers such as Quickcrop (quickcrop.ie), offer a wide selection that can be ordered online and delivered to your door as young four- or six-week-old sturdy seedlings/baby plants ready to go out into the garden or allotment. Vegetables suitable for planting out into the garden in this way include leeks, kale, lettuce, chard, beetroot, courgettes, runner beans, French beans, and pumpkins.

There is also time (but hurry) to sow seed of Florence fennel, purple sprouting broccoli, beetroot, kohl rabi, oriental salad leaves and. as mentioned above, lettuce and rocket. For best results, sow into modular trays for transplanting out into the garden in several weeks.

When buying young vegetable transplants from garden centres, just make sure to avoid any that look stressed (poor growth, yellowing and/or discoloured leaves) or badly rootbound (they have been in their pots for so long that their hungry root systems have completely run out of space). Once you get them home, pick off any dead or damaged leaves and if they look close to being rootbound then tip them out of their pots and very gently loosen up the bottom “skin” of pale fibrous roots. Soak the root-balls in a shallow tray or container filled with a diluted solution of liquid seaweed to pep them up and then plant out in the garden or allotment into well-prepared, weed-free soil, taking suitable precautions against slugs and snails. Keep well-watered. Within a week you should start to see plenty of new healthy growth.

With the first killing frosts of autumn often not arriving until late October or November, it is also worth while planting a few containers this month to provide some joyful displays of late-season colour. Use well-established, container-grown plants and concentrate on very long-flowering, sun-loving, floriferous species such as dahlia, penstemon, annual cosmos, Gaura lindheimeri and Erigeron karvinskianus. Planting decorative grasses is also an option, such as Stipa ‘Pony Tails’ or the fast-growing Pennisetum ‘Cream Falls’ plus a few showy foliage plants like heuchera, canna, Senecio ‘Angel Wings’ and varieties of fatsia and Aeonium arboreum. For maximum impact, use just one variety per pot, and use the largest, nicest-looking pot you can afford filled with a really good quality multipurpose compost, planting much more densely then you would in a flower bed. Again, soak all of the root-balls in diluted liquid seaweed feed and gently loosen out any root-balls showing signs of being root-bound before planting.

As long as you choose one of the faster-growing cherry or grape-type varieties and can give the plants a warm, sheltered position – ideally under the cover of a conservatory, glasshouse or polytunnel – then it is also still well worth popping some young tomato plants into large pots, grow-bags or a well-prepped bed for a late crop. Suitable varieties for a large container include the ultra-productive and resilient ‘Sungold’, while very compact varieties are also suitable for growing in a hanging basket or window box include ‘Tumbling Tom’. Again, follow all the tips above as regards selecting healthy, young transplants from your local garden centre.

Last, but not least, there is still time to make an almost instant herb patch using the No-Dig method popularised by British kitchen gardener and author Charles Dowding. Just make sure to choose a spot well away from the competing root systems of established trees, shrubs or hedging, and start by cutting back any weedy herbaceous growth to ground level. If the ground contains any woody weeds, dig out their root systems with a garden fork. Then, layer some sheets of flattened cardboard boxes over the soil, wet them well, and cover them with a 15cm-deep layer of good-quality, multipurpose garden compost or topsoil. For large beds, consider sourcing your growing medium in bulk from any of the following suppliers: mulch.ie and envirogardenandhome.com, as well as landscapedepot.ie.

Herbs suitable for a sunny bed include rosemary, thyme, fennel and sage, while those that will flourish in a cooler, slightly shadier area, include coriander, chervil, parsley, dill and chives (mint and lemon balm can be invasive so give these their own pots). Again, follow the tips above as regards selecting and prepping container-grown herbs for planting and make sure to keep them well watered in any sustained dry periods over the coming months.

This week in the garden

• Sow seed of hard biennials such as foxgloves (Digitalis), honesty (lunaria), wallflowers (Erysimum), Canterbury bells (Campanula medium), sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis) and Icelandic poppy before midsummer to have lots of strong, healthy plants that will flower next year in late-spring/early-summer.
• June is a brilliant time of the year to increase your garden’s stock of plants for free by taking softwood cuttings of many kinds of trees, shrubs and perennials. Rich in natural plant growth hormones, softwood cuttings typically root very quickly and easily. Just make sure to choose non-flowering shoots (8cm-10cm long), and keep them well-hydrated until you can prepare them by placing them in a plastic bag along with a teaspoon or so of clean water. To prepare them, strip away their lower leaves and sink the prepared cuttings up to their waists around the rim of a two-litre pot filled with damp, free-draining seed and cutting compost. Water well, cover with a plastic bag and then place somewhere warm but out of direct sunlight.

Dates for your diary

• On Sunday, June 18th (from 11am) at Milk Market, Co Limerick, the Limerick Garden Festival will take place with plant sales, practical demonstrations and talks by gardening experts including Kitty Scully, Jim McNamara, Tom Giltenane. See limerickgardenfestival.com
• On Saturday, June 24th (11am-5pm, free admission), at Tullynally Castle, Pakenham Hall Road, Co Westmeath, Tullynally Plant Fair will take place with plant stalls by many of the country’s leading specialist nurseries and the opportunity to visit the 12-acre gardens of Tullynally Castle. See tullynallycastle.ie
• Also Saturday, June, 24th, at Old Schoolhouse, Delgany, Co Wicklow, the Delgany & District Horticultural Society Rose Show will take place with all visitors welcome. Potential exhibitors interested in taking part should contact the show secretary by email at ddhs.showentries@gmail.com on or before Thursday, June 22nd.