Things to do in your garden in June.
Taken from the Ontario Master Gardener Calendar
by John Hethrington, Master Gardener Emeritus
Past President, Master Gardeners of Ontario
Please contact John for more information!
June Garden Tips—It's Summer!
There’s lots to do in your garden In May, now that Spring is finally here!
- Summer is really here! Lots of sun and much needed rain. Get your annuals & veggies planted now. Add a little general-purpose fertilizer and water in well.
- Fertilize perennials, roses, shrubs and vegetables using a balanced fertilizer —not the one for your lawn, it has too much nitrogen. Pull back the mulch (that should already be there) from the perennials. Dig the fertilizer in lightly around each plant (or, if you have it, well-rotted manure) and replace the mulch.
- Start cutting your lawn higher/longer and leave cuttings on the lawn as fertilizer.
- Prune spring blooming shrubs and trees (forsythia, lilac) after they have flowered.
- Prune evergreens and hedges now, not later in the summer.
- Finish removing all daffodil and tulip flower stems. Leave the leaves to mature and feed the bulb for next year’s bloom. Only remove them when brown. Add a little bone meal around bulb clumps to promote bulb growth for next year.
- Stake or cage tomato plants, dahlias, gladiolas, peonies & delphinium plants.
- Thin vegetable seedlings and plant successive crops. (Plant a second crop as the first is maturing e.g., lettuce, spinach, radishes.)
- Seed flowering cabbage/kale into garden rows for later transplanting.
- Plant seeds of fast-growing flowers such as cosmos, marigold, calendula, etc.
- If desired, move houseplants outside to a protected area.
- Deadhead (cut off) faded blooms on plants such as petunia, rose, verbena, etc. This will promote continuous blooms & bushy plants for later in the summer/fall.
- Weed and water garden beds as needed.
- Add mulch to suppress weed growth and hold in moisture. At least 2”.
- Cut back by a third, late bloomers such as mums and asters. This will make the plants bushier and give them a mounded shape and more blooms in the fall.
- Turn compost regularly and check moisture level, not too wet, not too dry, just right, like Goldilocks.
- Take cuttings of perennials, shrubs, roses, etc. for rooting, for next year.
- Watch for local plant sales like the Giant Plant Sale at St. George’s Anglican Church in Clarksburg, Saturday June 1 2023. It starts at 8 am. Choose from over 1,500 choice perennials, a wide variety for sun or shade, Daylilies, ornamental grasses, unique Hostas and some shrubs at really reasonable prices. 599 Garden Club experts will provide advice. Meet your resident Master Gardener Emeritus at the sale to answer your horticultural questions.
John Hethrington,
Master Gardener Emeritus,
Past President, Master Gardeners of Ontario
Beaver Valley Probus Club