News - Page 85

Shape pyracantha to keep it within bounds and create an elegant, architectural outline against your walls or fences that looks as good in winter as it does in summer.

Plant colchicum bulbs this month for an unusual and spectacular display later in the year.

Midsummer can mean a pause while your garden gets ready for the bright colours of autumn – but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Pinch out climbing beans as soon as they reach the tops of their supports. Runner beans, French beans and shelling beans are super-productive in the veg garden and are cropping heavily right now, but they will insist on carrying on growing upwards once they reach the tops of their canes.

Summer prune wisteria to remove all this year’s long, whippy growths and promote more flowers next year.

Lift and dry onions, shallots and garlic once the foliage starts to die down, so that you can store them for eating through winter.

Most types of maincrop onion keep really well if they’re dried properly, so it’s worth taking your time over the job. Choose a dry spell of weather and gently lift the bulbs with a hand fork, then lay them on the soil to dry. In seasons when it's impossible to find a long enough window of sunshine – so that's alm...