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©2002 Gay Gardener
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Your tall growing perennials or plants like: Delphiniums, Dahlias, Foxgloves and tomatoes usually need the support of a stake or cage, if you want them to stand erect all summer long.
To keep your tie in place and to prevent it from rubbing the plants stem, try wrapping the cord, plastic tie, or string around the stake first. Then loop a piece of the tie around the plant stem and secure it with a good knot.
Make sure that the plant has some freedom of movement, but that the tie will not slip up and down the plant's stem and rub it.
FRUIT TREESLook over your fruit trees and begin thinning out surplus fruit. Heavy fruit set is not necessarily a good thing, especially on young trees. Normally, fruit trees will set more fruit than they can ripen.
Some of the excess fruit will drop off this month along with any excess foliage. For the small home orchard however, simple hand thinning is practical to spur a good harvest in the fall.
Apples --thin so that there is 6-8 inches between the fruits.
Peaches --thin so that there is 6-8 inches between fruits.
Plums --thin so that there is 3-4 inches between fruits.
Did you know that it takes approx. seventy leaves of a peach tree to bring one peach to maturity.
PRUNINGNow is the time to prune: Lilacs, Viburnums, Deutzia, Mockorange, Spireas, Dogwoods and other spring blooming shrubs. It is also a great time to shear or trim your deciduous hedges, and cut back any unwieldy growth on Wistaria vines
JUNE WILDFLOWERSAnemone (wood)..... Baneberry...... Bindweed (wild morning glory)..... Black-eyed Susan..... Butterfly-weed..... Champion, Starry..... Clovers..... Common Daisy..... Dogbane..... Indian Pipes..... Jimson Weed..... Mountain Laurel..... Loosestrife..... Milkweed..... Mullein..... Evening Primrose..... Queen Anne's Lace..... Solomon's Seal..... Wild Geraniums..... Wild Roses.....and Wintergreen .
BLOOMIN ROUND YOUR HOMEAstilbes..... Brodiaea..... Butterfly Bush..... Centaurea..... Clematis..... Coral Bells..... Daylilies..... Foxtail Lilies..... Fruit Trees..... Hosta..... Iris..... Kousa Dogwood..... Lilacs..... Lilies...... Peonies..... Purple Cone Flowers (Echinacea)..... Red Hot Pokers..... Rhododendron..... Roses..... Sage (meadow)..... and Yarrow.
BIRDS OF A FEATHERBy June all of the birds that migrated southward for the winter months have returned to their summer ranges, farther north. Most of them are busily engaged in the domestic adventure of building nests and raising families.
If you enjoy seeing the birds around your feeders you can keep on feeding them all summer long. It is not nearly as critical keeping your feeders filled now as it is in the Winter months. At this time of the year there is plenty of bugs and insects for them to eat.
To Do List
- June -
- Spring is a very busy time of the year for gardeners....don't work so hard that you neglect the beauty of your garden
- Pinch back your coleus, petunias and other bedding plants to encourage bushier growth
- Make sure to give Fuchsias plenty of water
- When your bulbs are done blooming it is a good practice to remove the dead flower stalk and seedhead
- Keep an eye on your roses for suckers, beetles and bugs...also remove spent flowers
- As soon as your early crops are harvested in your vegetable garden, plant succession crops
- From June until August is the best time to take soft wood cuttings for propagation
- If you haven't done so already, begin a weekly spray program for your roses and continue it throughout the summer
- Mulch your beds, trees and evergreens now to help conserve moisture during the hot dry summer
- All Dahlia tubers should be in the ground by now
- Remove spent flower heads from your Lilacs and Rhododendrons
- It is now safe to set Water-Lilies in your garden pools or ponds
- Now is a good time to start perennial and biennial seeds
- See that all your tall growing perennials are well staked
- Apply fertilizer regularly to plants growing in tubs, window boxes, and containers
- Pinch out the top leaf buds on your Chrysanthemums to encourage bushy growth