June Garden Calendar
Landscape
- Water in late evening to early morning, between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
- Check and repair sprinkler heads for poor coverage, if you see dry or dead areas in the lawn.
Veggies and Herbs
- Continue transplanting warm-season crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Shorter-season tomatoes need at least 55 to 65 days to grow, flower, and fruit, so get everything planted the first weekend of June.
- Keep lettuce and spinach harvested. Cool-season plants will soon begin to bolt and lose their flavor and texture.
- Plant basil seeds now and keep the bed or container evenly moist during germination. Continue to plant seeds every three weeks during the Summer.
Annuals and Perennials
- Pinch off flowers to maintain the best flavor. Be sure to harvest the leaves all summer, especially younger leaves.
- Keep plants deadheaded unless you’re saving seed heads to feed birds, or allowing rose hips to add color in fall.
- Divide spring-blooming perennials and replant in other parts of the garden. Divide in the cool of the morning or evening and water well after planting.
- Pinch back chrysanthemums weekly until the Fourth of July to keep the plant from blooming too early.
- Fertilize hybrid tea and grandiflora roses every week with a balanced fertilizer or a specially formulated rose food.
- Cut off spent flowers of both annuals and perennials all season for continued bloom. Many perennials have just one blooming period, but the plant will look tidier if deadheaded.
Fruits
- Thin tree fruits for larger and sweeter fruit and to reduce limb damage. Apples: thin to 6-8 inches between fruit; peaches: 6-10 inches; apricots and plums: 2-4 inches. Thin by hand or use a pole.
- Protect ripening, June-bearing strawberries from birds and squirrels with protective 1/4- to-1/2-inch mesh netting. Stake well to prevent birds from getting underneath and injuring themselves.
- Birds will know when your cherries are ripe before you do, so use care if using netting.
Insects
- A sticky substance on leaves, pavement, or ants climbing trees is a sign of aphids.
- Watch for signs of spider mites on ornamental evergreens such as spruce and arborvitae. As with aphids, try neem, pyrethrins or spinosad.
Adapted from: https://extras.denverpost.com/graphicsdept/gardencolorado/calendar/gardencoloradocalendar.html