June: To Do

If you print out this page, you should get little boxes where the bullets are, making this a check list.

Oh, and if you really think that I actually do all of these things, you are terribly confused. Sometimes I even (gasp) do things that aren't on this list.

June in beautiful in northern Californian coastal/inland valleys. The central valley is getting really warm, but the coast is still cool. That weather pattern causes the coastal fog to come inland to the valleys. Fog is wonderful stuff. It cleans out the air and keeps the temperatures moderate.

It has stopped raining (other than the fog), so it is time to make sure your garden is getting enough water.

What's in bloom?

Annuals: ageratum, lobelia, nasturtiums, petunia, sweet alyssum, and sweet William.
Perennials: daylily, carnation, felicia, geranium, and marguerite.
Bulb(like): gladiolus, Japanese iris, and lily.
Shrubs: fuchsia, hibiscus, and rose.
Vines: bougainvillea, clematis, and star jasmine.
Natives: clarkia, columbine, mariposa lily, Matilija poppy, and Western azalea.

What should you buy? ;-)

Annuals: impatiens, marigold, and petunia.
Perennials: agapanthus, daylily, geranium, and marguerite.
Shrubs: fuchsia, hibiscus, and hydrangea.
Summer veggies.

General

Water new plants regularly, and be sure to water deeply during dry weather.
Weed and water established plants as needed. Don't allow weeds to form seedheads, and knock down or mow tall dry grasses to prevent a serious fire hazard.
Watch for pests and signs of disease. Snails and earwigs are devouring seeds.
Mulch. A good layer is about 2 inches (4 cm) thick.

Trees, Shrubs, and Vines

Plant container-grown subtropicals
Fertilize tropicals and subtropicals, and broad-leaved evergreens when they finish blooming. Yellow leaves with green veins and lackluster growth indicate an iron deficiency; feed with iron chelate.
Fuchsias are at their blooming peak; don't forget to give them plenty of water and to feed them with an acid fertilizer. Pinch off entire flower head, including ovaries to encourage new flowers.
Feed camellias with an acid-type fertilizer after they are done blooming.
You can prune camellias now. Find the bump on eash branch where the new growth grew out of the old and cut back to this point; it may encourage more flowers. If you cut back further, you may delay blooming for a year, but it will bloom again.
Pinch or prune shrubs and vines when they finish flowering, removing poorly placed growth and stems growing at awkward angles.
If you haven't already, prune lilac, philadelphus, spiraea, and broom. The lilac, at least, is well past blooming. (I don't grow the others.)
Lightly prune spring-blooming shrubs like azaleas and forsythias.
Prune suckers and weak or damaged wood from trees and shrubs to prevent wind damage.
Keep trees mulched to about 1 foot from trunk.
Mulch to hold moisture around shrubs' roots during the stressful hot weather to come, especially broad- leaved evergreens like azaleas, rhododendrons, and camellias.

Roses

Deadhead faded flowers from repeat bloomers.
Prune climbers and ramblers when finished blooming unless you want hips. It must be a rose that produces fruit, and not all roses do.
Fertilize roses with a complete fertilizer and with iron chelate if necessary.
Mulch to hold moisture around plants' roots during the stressful hot weather to come.
Hose waterers: build a basin around roses to hold water for deep watering.
RUST I had the stuff all over my roses in 1996. Remove affected leaves and spray with a sulpher based fungicide.
Watch for signs of mildew and aphids on roses and spray promptly if they are found. (I don't reach for the chemicals first thing. With mildew, I cut off the affected area. If that doesn't do the trick, I will spray with an antifungal specially for mildew on roses. As for the aphids, I try the hose first, insecticidal soap second, and then something stronger if the first two don't work.) My mother told me about a journal article that looked at increasing the water on a mildew infected area. That the study indicated that increased water reduced mildew. So if you spray with a hose for aphids, you may not have to worry about mildew as long as you do it often.

Lawns and Ground Covers

Lightly fertilize warm-season lawn grasses.
Mow lawn as needed, but mow it higher. This will conserve water.
Water weekly if weather is dry (that's what the book says. I don't have lawn, but that doesn't seem often enough to me.)
If lawn looks sparse, thin overhead tree branches, reseed with shade-tolerant grasses or replace with shade-tolerant groundcover.

Perennials

Mulch to hold moisture around plants' roots during the stressful hot weather to come.
Deadhead faded flowers unless you want plants to self-sow.
Pinch back mums to make them bushy and encourage more blooms.
Sow biennials like wall flowers and forget-me-nots (these perform like perennials not biennials in Sunset Zone 14).
Plant: coreopsis, gaillardia, penstemon, "Homestead Purple" verbena, rudbekia, Russian sage, salvia, statice, and summer phlox.
Note which plants need division in fall.
Check stakes on tall plants
Make notes for plants to order for fall planting to fill gaps in blooming seaons.

Bulbs

Plant summer bulbs
Fertilize as plants begin to grow.
Plant tropical waterlilies in ponds or tubs. As a matter of fact, I have not ever grown tropical water lilies, but it seems a bit late. I think you could have planted them last month.
Once glads start to bloom, you can cut them for indoor arrangements. When cutting remove the least amount of foliage with each flower spike.
Tuberous begoinias are coming into their best season. They need plenty of water to bloom. Don't forget to feed with an acid fertilizer.
Put stakes in place for tall dahlias, lilies, and gladiolas
Remove foliage of spring bulbs when it yellows and dries.
Dig, divide, and replant crowded spring bulbs.
When irises are finished blooming, they can be dug, divided, and transplanted.

Annuals

Continue planting tender annuals in bare spots and to replace fatigued plants.
Heat tolerant sun plants are: cosmos, marigolds, gaillardia, portulaca, tithonia, and zinnias.
Bedding plants for the shade are: caladiums, coleus, and impatiens.
Plant: verbena, gentian sage, globe amaranth, Madagascar periwinkle (vinca rosa), scarlet sage, 'Victoria' mealy-cup sage.
Remove spent plants from garden
Feed new seedlings with liquid fertilizer, older plants regularly.
Thin seedlings planted earlier.
Direct seed ageratum, celosias, marigolds, nasturtiums, globe amaranth, sunflowers, and zinnias for late summer and autumn bloom.
Mulch to hold moisture around plants' roots during the stressful hot weather to come.
Be sure tall plants, such as delphiniums and delphiniums, have stakes and annual vines are attached to supports.
Deadhead faded flowers promptly.
Cut delphiniums back halfway when they finish blooming to encourage a second flush.

Container Gardens

Fertilize container plants regularly.
Water as needed. It might be necessary to water 2x/day during HOT weather. The soil in a pot should feel slightly damp to your finger. If you wait until the plants start to wilt, it is too late.
There are some exceptions to the watering rule. Geraniums, for example, bloom better if slightly dry.
Provide supports for climbing plants.
Deadhead faded flowers.
If you mulch your pots, they will dry out slower.
Cosmos, fuchsias, geraniums, gerberas, impatiens, marguerites, petunias, tuberous begonias, and zinnias are excellent container plants. If you have the room, hydrangea or a small rose also make good container plants.

Kitchen Garden: Vegetables and Herbs

Harvest early crops.
Sow warm-season crops indoors for fall harvest.
Sow corn outdoors.
Make successional sowings of crops like beets, carrots, lettuces, and turnips. (I don't grow these.)
Plant potatoes. (I don't grow these.)
Plant out seedlings such as cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, corn, cucumber, eggplant, melons, okra, outdoor tomatoes, peppers, pumpkin, and squash. (I don't grow these.)
Sow or plant runner and pole beans outdoors. (I don't grow these.)
Sow string beans. (I don't grow these.)
Thin seedling sown earlier.
Start to feed tomatoes when the first truss of fruit has set.
Still have time to sow basil and cilantro seeds.
Remove developing flower heads from plants like basil, chervil, costmary, lemon balm, lemon verbena, oregano, rosemary, and tarragon. The leaves are more flaverful if the flowers aren't allowed to develop.
Caraway will live an extra season if its flowers are removed.
Mulch when plants are several inches high.
Check stakes and supports on tall plants and climbing plants.
Fertilize as needed. Fertilized herbs grow luch and full at the expense of flavor. Is it better to have an ugly scrawn herb that is intensely flavorful or a big beautiful herb? It's up to you.
A slow, deep watering is more effective than frequent sprinkles. Slow irrigation allows water to get down to the roots, encouraging them to grow deeper, making the plants more drought tolerant.
Pull spent crops
Start drying herbs for cooking, indoor arrangements, or potpourris.
Turn compost pile.
Add young, seedhead-free weeds to the compost pile.
Keep compost pile damp to encourage faster composting.
Watch out for aphids on fava beans and root flies on cabbages, carrots and onions. Prevention is better than cure. Try planting alliums, like onions, chives, garlic and flowering alliums near your susceptible plants.

Fruit

Harvest ripe fruit.
Cover ripening berries with netting to protect from birds.
Cut brambles back to ground after harvest. Information about raspberries.
Fertilize citrus and tropical fruit.
Check citrus (particularly lemons) for overburdened or broken branches. Cut back an overburdened to about 1/2 and continue to pinch it back during the summer growing season.
Thin tree fruits to about 4 inches (8 cm) between remaining fruit.
Trap larvae on tree trunks.
Prune wood damged by fire blight and suckers.
Prune back kiwi vines to four or five buds. Bee sure to water the vine; they need water to produce fruit.
Wrap fruit tree trunks with a sticky tape to control ants. Make sure the tape is very low so it doesn't attract humming birds.
Pick up dropped fruit and leaves.

House, greenhouse, or conservatory plants

Feed pots regularly
Take leaf cutting of saintpaulias and streptocarpus.
Move tender and tropical houseplants outdoors for the season in the SHADE.
Prune back any plants that need it when you take them outdoors.
An old nylon stocking will keep slugs and snails from crawling up thru pot drainholes.
If you are growing poinsettas for winter color, keep the plants pinched back to encourage branching and feed them regularly.
Feed cymbidiums every 2 weeks with a high nitrogen liquid fertilizer like one for orchids.

Structural/Other

Check sprinklers or other watering system.
FIRE PREVENTION: Clear all dry brush and volunteer grasses to at least 30 feet from you house. Remove or thin chaparral growth, but leave native trees and large shrubs to hold the hillside. Occassional summer irrigations will help to prevent the leaves from drying out.
Please, please, clear your land, and get your neighbors to clear theirs. While it won't stop a firestorm in its full fury, clearing dry, dead brush and grass goes a long way in preventing fires from starting and spreading.

Jennifer

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This page was last modified Thursday, 25-Sep-2003 16:39:45 PDT