Early summer can be one of the most attractive times of the year in the garden. Plant growth is at its lushest and freshest, leaves and flowers are clean, bright and not yet battered by summer thunderstorms and many of the herbaceous perennials are in full flower. They will provide the main display of colour but the hardy annuals will be coming along fast and will begin to make themselves obvious by the end of early summer.

Most of the initial work of sowing, planting, pricking out and thinning will have been done, but if you were rushed in spring, the remnants of these jobs will need to be cleared up. A final potting can be given to many greenhouse residents and thereafter this will only need to be done occasionally, unless you are into taking cuttings of everything in sight.

With a chance of really hot weather any time from now through the rest of the summer, watering will become one of the more important jobs, particularly in the greenhouse. A few days without rain on sandy soils and plants will become distressed, particularly the small ones and those just planted out. The temperature in the greenhouse will probably need lowering, rather than the reverse, and cuttings in frames should be allowed some ventilation, too.

There will be quite a lot of tidying-up jobs, such as deadheading, training, stopping and tying but some of these could be called hard work, though they are essential for good displays of flowers, whether first or second flushes. One heavy job which will need doing if you want to sow a lawn in autumn is cultivating the site, as a preliminary to fallowing it for the summer. You could leave it till autumn, but the weed crop is likely to be fairly heavy if you do and will appear at the same time as the new grass seedlings.