Gardening: Jobs for the official start of summer | Brian Kidd

• Take aubrietia cuttings three inches long and remove the bottom two inches of leaves. Insert in a 50/50 sharp sand and seed compost mix. Keep shaded and protect the box from cats. They should root in four weeks.

• Place greenhouse ferns in a shady part of the greenhouse. Many end up with scorched leaves if left in direct hot sunshine.

• Feed greenhouse cucumbers by top dressing the compost’s surface with a little Vitax Q4 fertiliser. Water afterwards with a rose on the watering can. In a few days, new white roots will appear on the surface of the compost. When they appear top dress the surface of the compost with John Innes No3 compost, this will increase the number of fruits. Repeat the action several times at weekly intervals.

• Summer-prune apple trees by cutting side shoots to half their length. The prunings will be soft and should be composted. This will induce buds for next year’s apples.

• Use fingers and thumbs to see if early potatoes are ready, don’t dig the whole plant. Give it a liquid feed to encourage more tubers.

• Thin grapes again and blow sulphur dust into the centre of the bunches to prevent powdery mildew.

• Check tall flowers in borders. They may need support if you didn’t use hazel sprays in March.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​