Garden Activities for June

~ What to do in the Garden in June ~

Planning

•   Construct trellises for tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans, and vining ornamentals.

  This can be as simple as stapling a scrap of welded wire fence to an existing post as in this case.

Maintenance and Clean Up

•   Prune lilacs, forsythia, rhododendrons, and azaleas after blooming.



•   Fertilize vegetable garden 1 month after plants emerge by side dressing alongside rows.



•   Harvest thinnings from new plantings of lettuce, onion, and chard.



•   Pick ripe strawberries regularly to avoid fruit-rotting diseases.



•   Use organic mulches to conserve soil moisture in ornamental beds. An inch or two of sawdust, barkdust, or composted leaves will minimize loss of water through evaporation.


•   After normal fruit drop of apples, pears and peaches in June, consider thinning the remainder to produce a larger crop of fruit.



•   Make sure raised beds receive enough water for plants to avoid drought stress.



•   Mid-June: If green lawns are being maintained through the summer, apply 1 pound nitrogen per 1,000 square feet to lawns.



•   Measure your water use by placing an empty tuna can where your irrigation water lands and prevent wasted water.



Planting/Propagation

•   Plant dahlias and gladioli.

•   Most plants that are put in the ground during summer will need extra water and possibly shade.  Potting media dries out faster than soil and necessitates more frequent watering until roots have time to spread into native soil.



Pest Monitoring and Management

•   First week: Spray cherry trees for cherry fruit fly, as necessary, if fruit is ripening.



•   First week: Spray for codling moth in apple and pear trees, as necessary. Continue use of pheromone traps for insect pest detection.



•   Learn to identify beneficial insects and plant some insectary plants (e.g. Alyssum, Phacelia, coriander, candytuft, sunflower, yarrow, dill) to attract them to your garden. Check with local nurseries for best selections. For more information, see Encouraging Beneficial Insects in Your Garden (PNW 550).



•   Blossoms on squash and cucumbers begin to drop; this is nothing to worry about. Cherries may also drop fruit; this is not a major concern.



•   Monitor azaleas, primroses and other broadleaf ornamentals for adult root weevils. Look for fresh evidence of feeding (notching at leaf edges). Try sticky trap products on plant trunks to trap adult weevils. Protect against damaging the bark by applying the sticky material on a 4-inch wide band of poly sheeting or burlap wrapped around the trunk. Mark plants now and manage root weevils with beneficial nematodes when soil temperatures are above 55 degrees Farenheit. If root weevils are a consistent problem, consider removing plants and choosing resistant varieties.



•   Control garden weeds by pulling, hoeing, or mulching.  Laying down cardboard first and then a more attractive mulch can eliminate most established weeds.  Always plan to do some follow up weeding though.



•   Control aphids on vegetables as needed by hosing off with water or by using insecticidal soap.



•   Watch for 12-spotted beetles on beans and lettuce and cabbage worms or flea beetles in cole crops (cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts). Remove the pests by hand or treat with registered pesticides.



•   Spray peas as first pods form, if necessary, to control weevils.



•   Birch trees dripping a sticky fluid from their leaves means that aphids are present.

•   Use yellow sticky traps to monitor for cherry fruit fly. About 1 week after the first fly is caught, spray cherries at appropriate intervals.



•   Last week: Second spray for codling moth in apple and pear trees, as necessary.



Continue monitoring blueberry, strawberry, cherry and other plants that produce soft fruits and berries for Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD). If SWD are present, use an integrated and least toxic approach to manage the pests. To learn how to monitor and manage SWD.