

The Garden in June: Things to do this Month
- Keep new plants well watered
- Check your mulch
- Side dress with compost or manure or feed with fish emulsion, for mid-season pick-up
- Deadhead and begin replacing pansies and primroses as the blossoms fade
- Check foliage for signs of nutrient deficiency
- Give the compost a turn
- Give your houseplants a summer vacation outdoors
- Make sure the birds have fresh water
- Keep up on deadheading, for long season bloom
- Pinch back tall growing fall bloomers like asters, monarda and helianthus
- Stop harvesting asparagus and rhubarb
- Replace crops that have bolted with the heat and cool season flowers, like pansies
- Get any remaining warm season vegetables in the ground
- Keep up blanching of celery, cauliflower and tender greens
- Plant a new batch of bush beans every couple of weeks
- Keep tomato plants staked as they grow. Pinch out suckers.
- Put a couple of drops of mineral oil on corn silks within a week after they appear, to prevent corn earworm
- Be prepared for ‘June Drop’ of fruit from fruit trees. They’re just thinning out to a manageable crop size. Clean up any fallen fruit.
- Protect ripening berries with nets or row covers
- If you want to prune or shear your evergreens, do so as soon as the new growth starts to turn a darker green. Once the wisteria finishes blooming, you can do a maintenance pruning to keep it in check
- Summer is for insects. Be vigilant!
- Keep watch for 4-lined plant bug damage, especially on the mint family