Seeds to Sow in June
June brings with it the longest days of the year, meaning the most sunlight available for your growing plants, as well as helping newly sown seeds germinate and grow into healthy seedlings!
With warmer soil and arid conditions, June is a great month to sow seeds. It is worth keeping in mind that seedlings and young plants may not get as much rain water as in previous months, so keep an eye
on how dry your soil feels and you may need to get the watering can out this month!
There are plenty of seeds to be sown in this month. For vegetables, there are many that you can sow and will crop within a few weeks. Flower seeds sown this month can either provide some much needed late summer
colour or in the case of biennials, provide beautiful blooms for next summer.
To see all seeds that can be sown in June, take a look here.
Top Seeds to Sow in June
Kale
Easy to grow, kale is a fantastic vegetable for providing nutritious leaves well into the winter months. You can use kale as a cut-and-come-again crop, harvesting the baby leaves whilst the plant is still young, or let the plant grow to full size and harvest much larger leaves for cooking. By regularly picking the leaves, you will encourage your plant to continue producing more leaves throughout the season.
Kale likes to grow in sunlight and also will benefit from an addition of well-rotted manure or garden compost in the soil before planting.
Unwins Kale Midnight Sun Seeds deliver textured leaves with vivid pink veins. It has exceptional flavour, crisp, crunchy and tasty leaves can also be used as baby leaf. It's delicious in stir fries, roasted or in smoothies.
Beetroot
Beetroot is a very resilient crop, very rarely being affected by pests or disease, so is a reliable crop to add to your veg patch!
There are many different varieties of beetroot, from traditional deep purple round roots, to striped varieties, or sweeter light yellow and orange types. Generally, the darker the root, the more rich and earthy the flavour, with lighter varieties being sweeter and more mild.
Beetroot seeds are sown directly into the ground, making growing these from seed really easy!
Try Beetroot Bolder F1 for a delicious and sweet choice. A great choice for gardeners looking for something a bit different. The copper-coloured skins and orange flesh of this vigorous, uniform variety retain their colour when cooked.
Delphinium
Delphiniums put on an incredible show! A dazzling tall spire of beautiful flowers, these are perfect plants for the backs of borders, providing valuable height, and are often suited to cottage style gardens.
Sown early in early spring, delphiniums will provide you with colour the very same year, however, you can use this month to start preparing for next year. Sow your seeds and keep them somewhere protected until next spring, when you'll have plants ready to be planted out and will give a fantastic show throughout the summer.
For truly imposing flower spikes in an array of beautiful pastel shades, try Unwins Delphinium Pacific Giants! Growing up to 1.5m tall, these impressive flowers will return year after year.
Lettuce
Lettuce is a fantastic crop to sow throughout the summer! By sowing little and often, you will be rewarded with a regular supply of fresh and delicious lettuce.
Lettuces can be grown in even the smallest of spaces. A balcony or patio container can be plenty. You can either grow hearting lettuce, such as cos or butterhead, and harvest the whole head once fully grown. Loose leaf lettuces produce less dense leaves and can be harvested as individual leaves on a cut-and-come-again basis.
For a great selection of lettuces, try Unwins Lettuce Allsorts. Allsorts gives you a variety of leaf types and colours. The pack includes Little Gem (Cos), Webbs Wonderful (Iceberg), All Year Round (Butterhead) and Lollo Rossa (Red looseleaf).
Other seeds to sow now
Caring for Plants
There are many vegetables that can now be planted out. Brussels sprouts, cauliflowers, leeks and tomatoes can be planted out with plenty of space to allow them to continue to grow. If the weather is particularly warm this month, ensure you keep an eye on the water level of your soil and water by hand when needed.
You can also start feeding plants with a vegetable or all-purpose plant food. This will give your flowers and vegetables much needed nutrients to help them grow bigger, stronger and more productive!
Continue preparing young plants for life outdoors by ‘hardening off’ this month. With warmer weather, it is time for them to head outside! Stand plants outside in a sheltered, part-shaded, not too hot place during the day, or open the cold frame lid, closing or bringing in again at night. Do this for a couple of weeks before planting out.
Harvesting
Many salads that were planted earlier in the year will be ready to harvest, especially if you are planning on harvesting as baby leaves or have grown a cut-and-come-again variety. Peas and broad beans may also start being ready for harvest this month, Eat them quickly after harvesting as this is when their flavour will be at its best! Spring onions should also be ready this month.
Thinking About Next Month
As we move into July, there will be an abundance of crops to harvest as well as many flower bursting into colour! We will need to continue to water our plants as July is often hot with little rainfall and continuing to feed your plants will reward you with bumper harvests and many beautiful blooms!