Things to do in June

Design-

                Consider adding a container to your deck or garden landscape.  An old wooden whiskey barrel makes a nice planter for the rustic setting, and pots and planters are available to fit almost any garden or deck theme.     

Chores-

Watch for dry spots in lawns and planting beds. A dry spot in the lawn will be the first place chinch bugs attack. Act fast, because the chinch bugs will take over the lawn seemingly overnight.

Clean spent flowers and withered leaves off perennials and annuals, as well as the surrounding ground. Snails, pill bugs and diseases love the cover of plant debris.  Cleaning up the plants is not only a defensive maneuver; it also encourages them to re-bloom and to keep healthy-looking foliage.

Keep seed heads picked off of most herbs. Harvest either early in the morning or early in the evening for best flavor. June is a good month for planting basil, corn, chives, okra (second half of the month), and peas (black-eye, purple-hull, or crowder) from seed. Tomatoes desired for fall harvest should be planted late this month as starter plants.

This is your chance to prune your azaleas and still have an outstanding crop of flowers next spring.  If you wait any longer you will be removing next spring’s incipient flower buds.

Don't forget to water newly planted trees, shrubs, or perennials regularly unless there is a substantial rainfall.  It takes a lot of rain to reach down to a plant's roots, so don't assume a passing shower has thoroughly watered your plants.  Before watering, simply scratch away 6-12" of soil (being careful not to damage any plant roots) to see how far down the moisture reaches.  If it does not reach 8"+ in the immediate area of the plant, water is required. 

The best way to water a tree or a shrub is to soak the root ball and surrounding area.  Just turn a hose on to a very slow release, and let the water trickle into the soil for thirty minutes to an hour.  This should be done approximately once a week.

                Any trees or shrubs that are finished blooming can be pruned, but be careful not to prune summer and fall-blooming plants. 

                Spending a few minutes pulling weeds now will save you time later in the season.  Removing weeds while they are still small keeps them from stealing moisture from your gardens, prevents them from getting large, and stops them before they can spread.

                Consider fertilizing your annuals and rose bushes.