Thin this
Some gardening jobs are counter-intuitive, and thinning fruit trees is one: why reduce your harvest? Plums, apples and pears can all overcrop, leading to smaller fruits, broken branches and the spread of pests and diseases. Use your thumb and finger to remove the weakest-looking fruits from each cluster (check the RHS website advice page for what proportion of fruits to remove).
Count this
If your children are fascinated by dinosaurs, they’ll find stag beetles, with their antler-like mandibles and conker-brown wing casings, equally enthralling. The People’s Trust for Endangered Species is carrying out its annual survey of the UK’s waning population, and wants to hear from anyone who’s spotted one in their garden. Submit your sightings, and learn how to create a beetle-friendly garden, at ptes.org/stagbeetles.
Plant this
If you’ve avoided clematis because you fear your soil isn’t fertile or moist enough, Clematis ‘Harry Smith’ may change your mind. In its native China, it grows in rocky places, so it’ll happily scramble through a trellis or up a fence in a sunny or partially shady spot (try twining it through a climbing rose). Height and spread: 2.5m x 90cm. Buy one plant in a 7cm pot for £9.99 or two for £14.98 (including p&p). To order, call 0330 333 6856, quoting ref GU354, or go to our Readers’ Offers page. Dispatched in July.
