Beech trees seen from the forest floor. This image was taken in a forest named Bøkeskogen in Larvik city, Norway
Both the slowing pace and changing manner of growth in our gardens and allotments that follows the summer solstice is already evident by July when the freshness, youth and lusty vitality of early summer is replaced by something altogether more mellow. One, published earlier this year in Nature Plants which examined the remarkably co-ordinated responses of beech tree populations right across Europe to the occurrence of the northern hemisphere’s summer solstice, vividly describes the latter as the “starting gun” or “celestial cue” to which beech trees are jaw-droppingly sensitive no matter which part of the continent they grow in.
The same goes for taking softwood cuttings whose quick readiness to root at this time of year is because they are filled to bursting point with plant hormones, something less true of semi-hardwood cuttings taken later in the season, and less true again of hardwood cuttings taken in autumn.
Freed from the fiercely urgent demands of the spring and early summer garden, we can also, both literally and figuratively, allow ourselves time to smell the roses. Or if we don’t have roses but dearly wish we did then to instead make careful note of what we’d like to have growing in our gardens this time next year.
Aphids often appear on the tips of soft green plant shoots at this time of year, which can be alarming for some gardeners, but if you wait it out then they’ll usually be eaten by their natural predators which include ladybirds, ground beetles, earwigs, hoverflies and parasitic wasps. Alternatively try squashing them between your finger and thumb or washing them off with a fine jet of water.
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