June Gardening Tips

WEEK ONE:

          1. Remove fading blooms of annual plants to prevent developing seeds and to stimulate flower production.  Deadheading also keeps your garden producing flowers all summer not to mention it helps keep your garden nice and neat.

          2. Avoid over-watering in hot muggy weather, because it causes mildew.  Powdery mildew often appears on zinnias, phlox, and roses.  We recommend using Bonide’s Infuse, Liquid Copper, or Fung-onil.  If plants are severely infected, thin plants to allow better air flow.  Be sure to clean up all pruned foliage, fallen petals, and leaves and place in trash, do not compost.  Messenger is a new product introduced to stimulate the plant’s own defenses to fend off diseases like mildews.

          3. Check the moisture in plant containers, hanging baskets, and window boxes daily as the temperature continue to rise.  Remember terra cotta containers dry out especially fast.  Maintain moisture in new plantings of seeds and seedlings.  Since annuals have shallow roots, in order for them to grow properly they need sustained moisture.  Be sure to water wilting plants a second time to re-hydrate.

          4. With higher temperatures arriving, to help keep roots cool, keep weeds down and to conserve water, be sure to mulch flower beds at least 2" deep.  Wood or Bark mulches are best.  Cocoa mulch is pretty but promotes mold in our zone.  Leaf gro is a beneficial mulch, but decomposes quickly in the heat. 

          5. Cut the yellowed foliage of spring blooming bulbs off at the base.  If you are thinking of moving or dividing, mark the location of the bulbs, for moving at a later time.

          6. To have bigger and more blooms next year, fertilize all spring and summer blooming bulbs as soon as they are finished blooming with Espoma’s Bulbtone at the rate of 4 to 6 lbs for each 100 square feet.  Repeat the process again in September. 

          7. To help deter deer use a new and different deterrent every month, because they become used to what’s been around for a while, or put up a barrier to keep them out.

          8. Weeding is essential in your vegetable and herb gardens.  If they are allowed to mature and develop roots, they will take water and nutrients from the plants they are invading.

          9. As the weather begins to heat-up, the cool season vegetables are beginning to come to the end of their cycle.  Turnips and peas are over; lettuces, spinach, and kale are beginning to bolt and produce seedheads and taste bitter.  Pull them all up and compost them. 

          10. Check asparagus plants for asparagus beetles which will strip the foliage from the stems.  This prevents the plants from storing food for next season’s production.  Spray with Bonide’s Rotenone, Neem Oil, or Yard and Garden Eight.

WEEK TWO:

          1. Protect tomatoes from tomato hornworm with liquid Sevin or Bonide’s Yard and Garden Eight when the fruit reaches a ½” in diameter.

2. To help keep roses blooming, make sure you have at least 2"-3" of mulch around them to help keep the roots cool. 

          3. Deadhead hybrid tea and grandiflora roses to encourage reblooming.

Check the plant for canes coming from the rootstock and below the bud union and prune them away.

          4. Every two weeks, add a dose of water soluable fertilizer when watering roses, annuals, perennials, and especially container plants.

          5. Check azaleas, rhododendron, and vining plants for lacebug damage.  The leaves of the infected plants will become yellow and the undersides with have a dot the size of a pencil point.  We recommend two applications of Bonide’s Systemic Insectide every ten to fourteen days to take care of this problem.

          6. Now is the time to plant new canna bulbs.  Remember to plant them 2" deep and 18"-20" inches apart.  We suggest a tablespoon of Espoma’s Bulbtone when planting and then once every two weeks during the growing season to help get them established.

          7. Apply Espoma’s Garden Iron around azaleas, hollies, laurels, junipers, pines, and spruce to help provide for better chlorophyll production by the foliage and to keep the plants healthy during the stressful summer months.

          8. Spray Dahlias now to guard against thrips, we suggest using Bonide’s Yard and Garden Eight or Systemic Insecticide.

          9. Spray hollyhock foliage now with Bonide’s Infuse to prevent rust from overtaking the foliage.

          10. Pinch back peony stalks below the withered flowers.  Add a light application of compost and check the pH being sure it is in the 6.8 to 7.0 range.

WEEK THREE:

          1. Remember that roses and other blooming ornamentals need about 1"-1½” of rain a week to keep them healthy and blooming.  Be sure to feed them with liquid fertilizer every two weeks.

          2. When watering container planters, check the soil and refill with compost or more potting soil.

          3. Algae can turn your pond water murky green or even add a layer of green matting material.  We suggest using algae fix regularly.  You can also try barley pillows which float in the pond and release a natural toxin that is unhealthy for the algae.

          4. Apply Milorganite to the lawn now to produce a lush green lawn for July and August.  If you are on a 4-step lawn program apply step three with insect control now.

5. With the arrival of tropical weather the spider mite population can explode.  Check for spider mites on arborvitae, hemlock, junipers, pines, and spruce.  Use Bonide’s Systemic insecticide spray.

          6. Set up Japanese Beetle traps at the corners of your property now.  You can also apply Neem Oil to desirable plants and trees to help prevent beetle infestation.

          7. Dead tulip and daffodil foliage can be cut back to the ground now without any injury to the bulb.

          8. Iris tubers can be divided now and returned to the garden.  New growth below the ground will begin again in mid-July.

          9. Do not be alarmed if the flowers are dropping off your cucumbers, cantaloupe, or squash plants.  These are the male flowers and do not produce fruit anyway.  The female flowers will be developing shortly.

          10. Remember to set mower height to the summer setting of 3½”-4" for all tall type fescues.  If you have no weeds, there is no need to bag the clippings, but if weeds are present be sure to bag or rake up.

WEEK FOUR:

          1. Japanese Beetles are now emerging.  You can hand pick and place in a jar of soapy water, or you can use a spray to kill and deter.  Bonide has Japanese Beetle killer, Yard and Garden Eight, or use Liquid Sevin.  These products will protect for five to seven days.

          2. Attach the new growth of all vining plants and climbing roses to their supports to encourage them to grow in the direction you want them to grow.

          3. If container flowers or annuals planted in the garden are not performing well and appear to be un-healthy, this could be a sign of lack of nutrients.  Most summer blooming flowers are heavy feeders and should be fed every other time.

          4. If water lilies are not performing well, check their location as they need to be in the sun to bloom their best.

          5, If thunderstorms threaten, turn off your pond pump and UV filters, to avoid attracting lightning.

          6. With the higher summer temperatures here, remember to check the water level in your pond, fountain and even birdbath, and add water if necessary.  Remember if you are adding as much as 10% more water you need to check for

chlorine, especially if you live in town.  Use a de-chlorinator when you are adding that much water.

          7. Remember that the roots of a clematis likes to be kept cool, so be sure you

use mulch, rocks, or a low-growing plant in front of the root zone to help shade it.  Yes clematis like the sun, but it is the roots you are trying to protect.

          8. Prune withered blossoms and existing flowers before leaving on vacation to prevent the garden from going dormant.  If all goes well your garden will be producing flowers again when you return.

9. White deposits on shredded mulch are a fungal growth not harmful to the plant.  Turnover the mulch and this situation will end.

          10. Bent over leader on the top of pine and spruce mean tip borer.  Use Bonide’s Borer Spray, or cut out branch before this speads.

          11. Prune astilbe plants back to half to insure better spring flowers for next year.

LAWN CARE

1. Setting mowers to a summer cutting height of 3"-4" will help prevent stress to the grass.  It also helps with weed control, for example:

Lawns mowed at 2" or less always attract annual bluegrass, chickweed, moss, pearlwort, and speedwell.  Lawns cut a 4" or higher attract bull thistle, burdock, chicory, clover, teasel, and wild carrot. 

2. Insect, disease, and weed problems will begin to surface in June.  Remember to water only between the hours of 6a.m. and 10a.m., so the grass blades will be dry when nighttime comes.  Also morning irrigation washes away any dew, which can cause certain diseases, and it also conserves water since not as much will be evaporated by the sun.  Diseases such as grease spot, cottony blight, and dollar patch are caused by over watering.   

3. Irrigate the grass only when you walk on the lawn and it doesn’t spring back.  A simple rule of thumb is that lawns need about an 1" of water a week to remain healthy and growing.  When you irrigate place a tuna or cat food can about half way in the middle of the irrigation coverage area. When the can is full, you have given your lawn an inch of water.  Remember clay soils need less water since the clay will retain moisture.  Sandy soils, such as those in Caroline and northern Dorchester County need more water more frequently since the lighter soils cannot retain as much moisture. 

4. Apply Milorganite with a rotary spreader to provide slow-release organic nitrogen to produce a superior lawn for July and August.  If you are using a 4-step program for your lawn, remember to use Jonathon Green Fertilizer with insect control now.  This product also has a slow-release fertilizer and provides all summer long control of certain insects that are damaging to the lawn as well as deer ticks, chiggers, and other biting insects.