As per usual, I’ll start off with a mention about the weather. What a summer we are having! There’s lots of sunshine and warm temperatures, and a real difference compared to last year.

Someone once said to me that life was a balance, and they are not wrong. This is certainly the case within the gardening world. We might be enjoying the glorious weather, but the lack of significant rainfall is beginning to play a big part in how our gardens are reacting.

It is certainly the time of the year when we should all be enjoying our gardens, relaxing in them now that all our hard work has been done. Of course, there are always jobs to be done, to help maintain all that hard work, but it’s important to take some time out and just chill for a while.

As some of the early summer flowers start to fade, it’s a good idea to cut some of them back to encourage a second flush of blooms later in the year, such as geranium and penstemon. Others are better to be left to go to seed, such as sweet peas, while others require dead heading to promote new flower growth, such as roses.

It is very important to keep up with watering and feeding, especially in this period of dry weather. This is best done in the early morning or late in the evening, as this will give time to get down to the roots before the warm sunshine evaporates any surface water.

In the vegetable garden, many are already being harvested and it’s important to keep picking to encourage more such as cucumbers, courgettes, beans and tomatoes.

The Island’s village flower shows are upon us, so please help support them by entering into their events. Tomorrow (Saturday), Brighstone Horticultural Society have their Summer Show, followed by Chillerton, Chale, Freshwater, and Niton and Whitwell.

How about visiting some of the Island’s amazing gardens such as Mottistone, Farringford, Ventnor and Osbourne House; you never know, you might see something that inspires you to get creative in your own garden!