Gardening Tips for June 2024

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• Annuals - Petunia, Marigold, Coleus, Impatiens, Cleome (may need staking), Zinnia, Celosia, Lobelia, Nasturtium (leaves and flowers are edible).
• Perennials and Bulbs - Fuchsia, Begonias, Dahlias, Brunnera 'Jack Frost'.
• Shrubs - Coleonema 'Golden Sunset', Brunfelsia, Abelia, Hibiscus.
• Veggie Seeds - Lettuce, Radish, Carrot, Beans (bush and pole).
• Veggie Plants - Lemon Cucumber (save space by growing up a trellis), Eggplant, Squash, Basil.

• Keeping Plants Alive Until you Have Time To Plant Them.
• Sweet Peas - To keep Sweet Peas blooming as long as possible, keep well watered and most importantly deadheaded (remove spent flowers before they go to seed). When blooming naturally slows down allow to go to seed if desired. 
• Begonias - Thrive in damp but not soggy planting medium. They appreciate drying out a little in between watering and can rot if kept too wet. Fertilize with all purpose fertilize twice a month during the growing season to keep plants happy. Or use half strength fertilizer once a week (Mary uses Maxsea). Watch The Gardening Tutor video Fertilizing: Two Quick Methods for Applying Liquid Fertilizer. 
• Dahlias - Do you have Dahlias growing in your garden? If you have tall growing or Dahlias with the dinner plate sized blooms they may need staking so they do not fall over. Stake early before they grow too tall and try not to run your stake through the tuber (underground root system). Metal grid system staking works really well for Dahlias but needs to be installed early to allow stems to grow through it. Make sure to tie the grid to the grid legs so the plant does not lift the grid as it grows in. To encourage your large flowering dahlias to be a little shorter and less top heavy, pinch out the tip growth when they have grown about two feet high. 
• Fertilizing – Apply bloom fertilizer to Pomegranates in March and June to encourage more flowers (which means more fruit in fall). Continue to give newly planted annual plants monthly or twice a month all purpose fertilizer for best performance (Mary uses Maxsea). Add a layer of compost around shrubs and water in to give them some nutrients and to keep roots cooler in summer.
• Irrigation - If your system stopped working, check the battery in the irrigation controller. In general, if your controller has an alkaline battery, change it once a year. If the battery is the lithium type, change it every 5 years. The battery keeps the memory of what is programmed into the controller. If your controller is the type that attaches to your hose it also has a battery that needs changing once a year or so. Your hose attached controller will stop working if the battery dies. Flush irrigation lines to clear debris and check for leaks. Check all emitters to make certain they are working. When you are ready to learn everything you need to know about your drip irrigation system Contact Mary for an appointment!
• Pruning - Most important for fruit trees is to wait until after June Drop to thin the fruit (nature thins some fruit from trees in June). Basil, keep pinching out tip leaves while growing up to encourage more branching and more leaves. Do not let Basil flower (the leaves can turn bitter once the plant flowers). Rhododendrons will put their energy into the blooms for next year instead of creating seeds when the spent flowers are removed. Carefully snap the old blooms off the plant while avoiding breaking the buds just below the old flower. Erigeron-shear the entire plant to 3 inches once the plant has bloomed about sixty percent of the flowers. By doing this 4 or 5 times a year, your Erigeron will continue to look full and flowering well. Watch The Gardening Tutor Video: Shearing Plants to Encourage Flowers and Foliage 
• Pest Management - Spider mites can be a real problem this time of year. Start by using water spray or a shrub rake to remove the webbing. If the spider mites still keep coming back try spraying with insecticidal soap. If soap is unsuccessful, use need oil spray. In some cases a stronger insecticide may be needed. Fungal infestations, such as powdery mildew, may be spread by watering foliage at night, best to water in the morning allowing time for foliage to dry off before evening. If your plants get fungal disease, Neem oil spray is a fungicide and an insecticide. Neem oil seems to be used best as a protector from fungal diseases instead of trying to get rid of fungal disease once it appears. If you have plants that get powdery mildew every year, try Neem Oil as a preventative measure.
• When you're ready to learn how to care for your plants  Contact The Gardening Tutor
   

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ALL CONTENT by Mary Frost (no AI).