June is a busy month in the veg patch.

Well to be honest every month is busy, but with some sun and rain, things have really put on some growth, so some tying in and staking is needed to try keep on top of things.

Little and often is the answer:

For tomatoes, single stemmed and cordon need to have the side shoots pinched out as they appear.

In case you are not sure, these are the shoots that grow where the leaf stems join the main stem, if left they will develop into another whole tomato plant.

You may think another tomato plant would be great but it will just sap the energy needed to produce fruits.

As plants grow, tie the stem at regular intervals to a support such as a cane.

Once they have reached the top of the support pinch out the top two leaves above the top flower truss.

Bush and dwarf do not require any pruning and will happily sprawl along the pot they are growing in.

If we have a spell of wet weather your plants may fall victim to the dreaded blight. Brown patches cover the plant, it spreads quickly and causes the plant to die and the fruits to decay.

To prevent blight, spray your plants now and always look for blight resistant varieties.

If you are growing your tomatoes in grow bags, water regularly as they can dry out quickly. I like to cut mine in half and stand them on their ends to make two plant pots, as I find the compost doesn’t dry out as quickly and gives the roots more depth.

Feed them with a general liquid feed until the first trusses of fruit have formed, then alternate with a high potash feed to encourage more flowers and fruit.

Make a second sowing of courgettes now if you would like your supply for a few months longer.

Plant two seeds per pot, removing the weakest one.

Successional sowing, at regular intervals, will keep you in a constant supply of veg, salad and herbs.

Sow some more carrots, french beans and super snaps for veg. Get going with coriander, parsley, chives, dill to keep you in

herbs and radishes.

Lettuce and cut and come again leaves will give continuous supplies of salad whenever you want it.

It’s not great to think about winter just yet, but you will need to sow your leeks and cabbages now, if you want leeks from your patch on Christmas Day.

Gooseberries will benefit from thinning, remove every other fruit to allow the remaining fruit room to swell and sweeten.

If you haven’t made your elderflower cordial yet you could add the gooseberries to make a mixed cordial.

Box reminder

The reason June is the month of choice to trim box hedging and topiary is a simple one.

If trimmed too early the new shoots that develop after pruning may be hit by frost, die back and will make the plant vulnerable to disease.

Box (buxus sempervirens) can be trimmed two or three times during the growing season.

To get straight, crisp edges to a hedge, use a taut horizontal string tied between two canes to act as a guide to cutting the top of the hedge level.

Specialised topiary shears are a deft tool, easy to use for shaped bushes.