Garden jobs month by month
Garden jobs in June
In June you trim the hedge for the first time once the first flush of growth is over and no birds are nesting in it any more, prune cherries and plums after picking, and thin out apples and pears. Put out a shallow water dish for birds and hedgehogs, and don’t spray aphids: ladybirds and hoverflies will deal with them.
Updated for 2027
What to do in the garden in June
By late June the first flush of growth is over: time for the first hedge trim, once no birds are nesting any more. Cherries and plums are pruned in summer.
- Trim the hedge for the first time, after the first flush of growth (late June).
- Prune cherries and plums after harvest, in dry weather.
- Prune mock orange and weigela after flowering.
- Thin out apples and pears if there are lots of fruitlets.
- Summer pruning of espaliers: shorten the new shoots.
What to prune in June?
73 trees and hedges from the guide. When and how for each plant in its pruning guide:
- Beech
- Hornbeam
- Privet
- Yew
- Hawthorn
- Field maple
- Plum tree
- Cherry tree
- Box (buxus)
- Cherry laurel
- Thuja
- Leyland cypress
Nesting season (mid-March to mid-August): don’t prune hedges and shrubs hard, and check for nests first.
Pruning calendar for JuneWhat to sow and plant
- Sow indoors
- Chinese cabbage and florence fennel
- Sow outdoors
- beetroot, carrot, chicory (witloof), Chinese cabbage, Climbing French bean, coriander, courgette, cucumber and 23 more
- Planting out and planting
- basil, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, cosmos, courgette and 16 more
- Harvest from the vegetable garden
- asparagus, basil, broad bean, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, chervil, chives and 28 more
What to harvest
From trees, shrubs and garden plants:
- Wild cherry fruit
- Raspberry leaves, fruit
- Bramble leaves
- Redcurrant berries
- Gooseberry berries
- Blackcurrant leaves
- Grapevine leaves
- Walnut fruit, leaves
- Elder blossom
- Large-leaved lime blossom
- Small-leaved lime blossom
- Dog rose flowers
and 111 more
Recipes
- Cherry jam Wild cherry
- Raspberry jam Raspberry
- Fermented blackberry leaf tea Bramble
- Redcurrant jelly Redcurrant
- Gooseberry and elderflower jam Gooseberry
- Blackcurrant leaf tea with mint Blackcurrant
What’s flowering for bees?
Trees and shrubs with nectar or pollen for bees and bumblebees:
- Honey locust
- False acacia
- Tulip tree
- Large-leaved lime
- Sweet chestnut
- Black cherry
- Medlar
- Firethorn
- Rhododendron
- Cotoneaster
- Garden privet
- Guelder rose
and 17 more
All speciesNature in June
- Hedgehogs are having their young: a shallow dish of water and a quiet corner with leaves and branches help them.
- Bats hunt midges and moths at dusk: switch off the garden lights.
- Peacock, red admiral and small tortoiseshell butterflies lay their eggs on nettles: keep a patch of nettles.
What you can see now
- The lime tree flowers and smells sweet; bees hum in the crown.
- Mock orange, elder and dog rose are in flower.
- The first cherries are ripe.
Challenges of the season
All challenges- Discover 10 speciesSave 10 different trees or plants in your guide.
- Put out a water dishPut out a shallow dish of water with a stone in it, for birds, hedgehogs and insects. Refresh it every few days.
Wildlife garden in June
All wildlife garden guidesRead more
All articles- Invasive non-native plants in your garden: how to recognise and replace themSome popular garden plants spread into the wild and crowd out the native plants there. How to recognise them, and some good alternatives.
- Pruning fruit trees: apple, pear, cherry and plumPrune apples and pears in winter, cherries and plums in summer. How to prune a young fruit tree and an old one, and how to avoid silver leaf and gummosis.
- When should you cut your hedge? The nesting season and the best timesMost hedges are trimmed twice a year, at the end of June and the end of August. How to take nesting birds into account, and when to trim each type of hedge.
Coming up
Garden jobs in August
Each monthly page is online six to eight weeks ahead, so you can plan in time.