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Our Scottish Garden in June
June is the month where the garden rewards us for all the work we’ve put in since Winter. The long days of the Scottish Summer seem to accelerate everything, with fresh growth appearing almost overnight. The food forest is filling out beautifully, the raised beds are becoming increasingly productive and the kitchen courtyard is overflowing with herbs and seedlings. Every walk around the garden reveals something new to harvest, another flower opening, or another pollinator hard at work. It’s a busy month, but one filled with excitement, abundance, and the satisfaction of seeing our permaculture systems beginning to flourish.
We have 2 weeks of lovely warm sunshine and then rain for weeks following. The grass has got overgrown in the walking areas of the garden.
The Food Forest
June is a magical month in the food forest. The Spring blossom has given way to tiny developing fruits, and the trees are dressed in lush green foliage that provides shelter for birds, insects, and countless other forms of wildlife. Apples and cherries are all steadily developing, each warm day bringing them one step closer to harvest, honey berries are coming to an end and the raspberries and black and red currants taking their place in the area.
The forest floor is thriving too. Wild garlic has now finished for another season, allowing other ground covers to take centre stage, like the wild strawberries that spread between the trees, beginning to produce their first sweet fruits, while the yarrow, nigella and white and blue borage planted around the fruit trees continues to establish itself, attracting hoverflies, bees, and other beneficial insects.
The new planting around the fence line is settling in well. Hollyhocks are growing taller every week, adding vertical interest, while flowering shrubs are creating another valuable layer within the system. Every season the food forest feels more interconnected, with each plant serving several purposes feeding wildlife, improving the soil, attracting pollinators, producing food, or creating shelter.
It’s becoming increasingly rewarding to simply stop and observe. Rather than individual plants, we’re beginning to see a functioning ecosystem taking shape, we even found a new pink comfrey growing, up until now they have always been purple.
This dock has grown over 6ft tall in the hot sun then constant rain!!
Raspberries what started spreading onto the path!! These will be lifted and moved back into the food forest areas
The Raised Bed Garden
June is when the raised beds begin producing almost daily harvests. Salad leaves are picked regularly, herbs are flourishing, peas are climbing vigorously and potatoes continue putting on strong leafy growth. The soft fruit, raspberries, blueberries, red, white, pink and black currants starting to be picked daily. The red and green gooseberries new to us this growing season are getting plump.
Succession sowing becomes one of the month’s most important jobs. As one crop is harvested, another is sown in its place, ensuring the beds remain productive throughout the growing season. Rather than seeing empty spaces, we view every gap as another opportunity to grow something useful.
The reclaimed brick edging continues proving its worth. Not only has it made mowing around the beds significantly easier, but the chives planted along the borders are now in starting to come up. It’s a wonderful example of stacking functions where one simple design choice delivers multiple benefits.
Regular watering, mulching, tying in climbing crops, and checking for pests all become part of the daily rhythm. June is less about major jobs and more about consistently supporting the incredible pace of growth. Jerusalem artichoke took on a huge growth and our outdoor tomatoes have flowers on them.
Jerusalem Artichokes in this front bed, middle bed ready for pepper & tomatoes and back bed with mesh cover has purple sprouting broccoli, Brussel sprouts and chard.
The Kitchen Courtyard & Indoors
The kitchen courtyard has become our everyday pantry. Fresh herbs are never more than a few steps from the kitchen door, making it easy to snip rosemary, thyme, parsley, coriander, mint, chives, and basil whenever we’re cooking.
Containers are thriving in the warmer weather, although they demand more regular watering now. Hanging baskets, pots, and raised containers soften the courtyard, creating a productive space that is also welcoming to pollinators.
Inside, the windowsills have finally begun to empty as most seedlings have found their permanent homes outdoors. Only a few trays of microgreens remain, continuing to provide fresh harvests every week. It’s satisfying to look around the house and see how much space has been reclaimed, knowing those young plants are now thriving throughout the garden.
We’re also continuing to plan improvements to this area, with the long-term aim of creating a more sheltered, greenhouse-style growing space that better manages the challenging wind patterns around the house. Every season brings us one step closer to that vision.
Our water feature at the front of the house beautiful in bloom
The Season’s Mood
June feels generous.
The frantic pace of Spring sowing has eased, replaced by the pleasure of nurturing, harvesting, and simply spending time outdoors. The garden asks for regular attention, but it gives so much back in return fresh food, birdsong, buzzing bees, colourful flowers, and peaceful evenings surrounded by growing life.
There are still challenges. Scottish weather keeps us guessing, weeds seem to grow as quickly as the vegetables, and every dry spell is followed by another watering can. But these are the happy problems of summer gardening.
June reminds us why we garden in the first place. Not simply to grow food, but to create a space that supports nature, feeds our family, and brings us closer to the changing seasons. Every harvest, every flower, and every quiet moment in the garden is another reminder that good things take time and that the work of previous months is now becoming something truly beautiful.
2024 MARCH TOUR: Mini Food Forest In A Raised Bed Path You Tube Video
Happy Gardening!
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Katrina & Clayton and family live in East Ayrshire and share their daily life in the garden on instagram. They practice permaculture principles in the garden, reducing & repurposing waste whenever they can. Katrina shows how home educating in nature has helped Clayton thrive.
Clayton Completed The 2 Grow and Learn Courses with the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society. He is Autistic, Non Verbal & has been Home Educated since 2018. Katrina & Peter hold their PDC & PDC PRO Permaculture Design Course from Oregon State University.
They featured on BBC Beechgrove Gardens Ep23 2022 and returned in 2023 for an update, Katrina & Clayton are also columnists for ScotlandGrows Magazine, Guest Blog for Caledonian Horticulture as well as working with Gardeners’ World Magazine and many other brands.
They are also Author of the new Children’s Book Series: Clayton’s Garden Journey: Stories of Autism and Gardening. Topics on Growing, Harvesting, Sowing & Composting and 108 Page Weather and Seasons Weekly Gardening Record Book available on Amazon and Kindle.
Listen in on their Guest Podcasts to learn more about them.
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Author of the new children’s book series: Clayton’s Garden Journey: Stories of Autism and Gardening and Sowing, Growing, Weather and Seasons Weekly Gardening Record Book available on Amazon and Kindle. Our latest book in the series OUT NOW Vol 5 : Clayton’s Garden Visitors: A Story of Autism and Feeding The Birds
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