June Maintenance

June Maintenance Guide

GARDENING WITH CONFIDENCE™

THIS MONTH IN THE GARDEN

Mid-Atlantic Region

INTRO
June is a good month in the south; the humidity has not likely arrived, the days are long and school is out putting us on summertime. A change in the daily routine is a welcomed change indeed!

BULBS

If your daffodil foliage is lying on the ground, it is now OK to cut back.

How well did your daffodils perform this year? Great? then leave them be; poorly?, then dig up the bulbs and divide once they finish maturing (as indicated by the died back leaves.) They are probably overcrowded. Daffodil bulbs can be planted immediately or stored in a shade, well-ventilated location.

Remove the Amaryllis bloom stalk.

Remove German bearded iris bloom stalk to tidy up the plant. During the 6 weeks or so after bloom time, next years flowers are forming. It’s best to wait until the fall to transplant or otherwise disturb these plants or risk next years show.

The soil has warmed enough to plant caladiums and elephant ears.

Late spring is the time to plant autumn crocuses.

Dahlia tubers can still be planted.

ANNUALS

Tender annuals can still be planted: begonias, basil, coleus, impatiens.

PERENNIALS

Up until about the 4th of July, many plants can be pinched back to maintain shape, delay bloom time, and keep from getting leggy. Give your garden Nip and Tuck; Plants that benefit from a nip include: Asters, Basil, Joe-Pye weed, heliopsis, Mint, Mums, Salvias, Sedums.

Keep flower heads deadheaded.

TREES & SHRUBS

ROSES

Remember to cut your faded rose blooms to encourage more growth. Cut the stem just above the first 5-leaflet leaf below the bloom.

Remember, roses are a thirsty and hungry bunch. The watering rule of thumb is to water each plant 5 gallons per week. Fertilize every six weeks with a complete rose fertilizer.

HERBS

Rosemary can take a hard pruning. Now is a good time to shape, shear it, prune to manage its size.

Its easy to plant more herbs than you can use plan to share with friends and neighbors.

WATERWISE

As summer begins, so do summer vacations. This also arises the need to have your garden looked after while you are gone!. There is no need not to have container gardens just because you are going on vacation and don’t want to be bothered. Why let a week or two away keep you from coming home to some nice plantings? Here are some tips to caring for your container gardens and houseplants while you are on vacation. These tips are for those with and without automatic irrigation systems.

Bring houseplants outside under the cool of the porch or eves of the house.

Get a neighbor kid to come over everyday to check on things and to water. Most pots will need watering everyday.

Pool you pots together near a water source and out of the afternoon sun.

Add extra mulch to the base of the plant.

Add water lines to your containers from your irrigation system.

Don’t have an irrigation system? The big box stores sell automatic systems that hook up to your spigot such as Mister Mister.

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

Often I am asked how to get rid of that yucky yellow blob in the mulch. It may look distasteful, but it’s not harmful. None-the-less, I get it up as soon as I see it. I have tried to ignore it, but can’t. One mulch supplier is no more prone to it than another, as I am often asked. I like using a hoe to get it up. It also works well to scrape up the mold with some attached mulch removing any trailing bits. I first learned the name of this slime mold as dog puke! When you tell people that, they actually think it is dog puke. Then if you tell them it is slime mold, they want a name of a new mulch supplier. There’s just no good name for it.

Hopefully you mulched nicely and do no have a huge problem with weeds, but weeding is a reality of gardening: they know a good thing with the see it. My approach is to use a good hoe and just come along and chop their heads off down to their feet. I don’t even have to bend over. But from time to time, when looking at my garden beds, I’ll see this big green thing. Yep, it’s a large crab grass. I use to wonder how it got there, but now I don’t even wonder, I just reach in and pull it out. My least favorite weed is nutsedge Are-you-ready-to-weed.

GARDEN PESTS

This is also the time for the Japanese Beetles to fest on your Roses. At Helen’s Haven, we practice mechanical pest control of Japanese Beetles we hand pick them when you are out cutting or pruning the Roses. This is my practice. Wearing gloves, I just put the bug between my thumb and forefinger and squeeeeze. Too squeamish for that, prepare a bucket of soap[y water. Tip the flower head with the Beetle over a bucket or soapy water and shake into a bucket.

Another technique is what is referred to as keeping the roses in the green. What this means is to cut your Roses and bring inside. Or at the very least, keep the roses pruned, reducing the amount of color in the rose garden. The Japanese Beetles are attracted to the bright and happy colors. Actually, so am I. While I do occasionally bring in cut flowers, I have a Rose garden to enjoy them in the garden; thus, I had to overcome any questions of how to dispose of these nasty little critters. So I just squeeeeze and voila, they are gone.

WILDLIFE

Cow birds, bunnies, fox, grackles, copperheads, voles, moles, squirrels, deer. They too, are part of our wildlife. Let’s learn to all get along.