A word about powdery mildew.

This shows itself as a white powder covering the upper surfaces of leaves and, if really bad, on the undersides. In the end, the plant suffers severely and leaves become distorted or drop off, fruits crack and split as they are not developing as normal.

It is a fungal disease and a common one too. Reasons for its appearance are soil being too dry and/or humid and damp conditions around the top growth of the plant.

Sometimes it appears when the weather is humid and, in the case of shrubs, if the plant has not been thinned out and there is a mass of central growth, which is stopping air flow.

Remove the affected leaves completely and spray with a fungicide. Water adequately at the root, not on the leaves, and mulch to conserve the water. Courgettes are particularly prone to it if not watered regularly.

If you are growing raspberries, tayberries, blackberries or loganberries, the early-fruiting ones will be putting on new growth in the form of canes. You need to tie these in as they grow as they are the ones that will produce next year’s crop. Train them horizontally to maximize yields.

Tree fruits will also be swelling and if the blossom was anything to go by, it’ll be a bumper crop. There is normally a shedding of excessive fruits known as the ‘June drop’, but it may still be necessary to thin out the fruit yourself so no two will be touching when fully ripe. If you don’t do this, the weight of the fruit can break branches and it will lead to an underdeveloped crop.

In the greenhouse, ventilation and shading will be most important. When the sun is up and temperatures soar, many plants will be stressed. Watering the floor of the greenhouse helps to increase humidity and decrease evaporation from leaves.

It’s also coming up to dahlia time. We have been growing them and have a really good selection of shapes, sizes and colours, many with dark foliage. If you lifted your dahlias and did all the right things when you stored them but they still rotted or got fungus on them, do not despair – you are not alone. The fact we had such a mild and wet winter made it difficult to store anything in sheds.

I have lifted all my tulips and intend to store them over the summer to replant in the autumn. I am not sure how I’ll manage if the summer is wet – I’ll just have to keep opening the shed door to get some air going through.

Deadheading is the order of the day – keep at it and you will prolong your displays.

Things like digitalis (foxglove) have a main apical spire which, when removed after it has finished flowering, will allow all the laterals that could not develop fully before to continue the show. But with these, I always leave some deadheads on so as to get more seeds around for the following year.