June in the garden

It would seem that we only recently enjoyed the first signs of nature waking up after a winter sleep. Meanwhile, spring is almost over.June in the gardenit's time to welcome summer. Most plants have had a wonderful flowering period. The period of holidays and holiday madness is getting closer. Nevertheless, we should not forget to look after plants in gardens and allotments. Here are the most importantgardening work for June

June in the garden is the time of strawberry harvesting

June in the orchard

• At the beginning of June you can start harvesting strawberries, wild strawberries, Kamchatka berry and early varieties of cherries. In the second half of the month, we start harvesting early varieties of gooseberries, raspberries and currants.
• June in the garden is a period of strong growth of young fruit trees. In a young orchard, we deal with the formation of crowns. Young twigs are bent to a horizontal position using staples or wooden struts. Stronger, more woody twigs can be loaded with weights. We should also remember about regular watering of young trees in the orchard.
• During this period, not only our fruit plants grow intensively, but also weeds. Therefore, let's not forget about weeding and mulching the soil under the plants.
• At the beginning of June it is good to thin the grape clusters. When the fruit reaches the size of a pea, use special scissors to remove the stunted berries growing inside the cluster, leaving the prettiest ones.
• After the so-called we thin out fruit buds on apple trees, pear trees and other fruit trees with the midsummer fall. This will make the fruit more plump.
• If fruit trees were grafted in May, then in June you have to loosen the ties, start removing the tops of the scions and secure the scions against breaking off.
• We thin the raspberry beds. The weakest root suckers are cut out.
• Ripening fruit can be protected against birds by throwing a special netting on the trees. Birds in the garden often attack fruit out of thirst, so it is also worth setting up dishes with water for them, which should distract the birds from the fruit.
• On the trunks of plums and apple trees we place bands made of corrugated paper for catching fruit caterpillars.
• Already at the turn of May and June, it is worth hanging orange sticky boards with a pest attractant on cherries. They will be used for signaling and catching the seed beetle.It is a small fly (up to 5 mm long) with dark, transverse stripes on the wings. The basic protective measures in amateur cultivation include, apart from catching orange sticky plaques, systematically picking fruit with larvae to prevent the pest larvae from descending into the soil, as well as early fruit harvest. At the end of June, we spread a non-woven fabric or a dense mesh under the trees, which will prevent larvae falling out of the fruit from digging into the ground.

June in the vegetable garden

• This month is a period of intensive maintenance work in the vegetable garden. We regularly weed, fertilize, irrigate the plants and make sure that they are not present.
• Heavy rains can compact the soil surface, which is detrimental to emerging seeds. Therefore, after rainfall, it is worth touching the soil to prevent the formation of a soil crust.
• We stake tomatoes and regularly remove the side shoots growing in the leaf axils.
• In order to be able to regularly harvest young, fresh spice plants, in the first half of June, it is worth sowing garden dill, watercress, garden chervil and parsley.
• We are continuing the harvest of early vegetables. Among the vegetables grown in the tunnels, cruciferous vegetables (early cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli) are ready for harvest, and from vegetables grown in the ground, you can harvest leaf and red beet for consumption with leaves, onions with green chives, kohlrabi, radish, lettuce and spinach . At the end of the month, green pea and broad beans will grow from early crop for green grain.
• At the beginning of the month we sow cucumbers, pumpkins and patisons, as well as kohlrabi and beetroot for the late autumn harvest.
• To ensure the continuity of the harvest, we sow green beans, radishes and lettuce.
• Until mid-June, red beets and carrots can be sown for autumn harvesting and for storage on empty fields, which were left empty after harvesting early vegetables.
• On the seedbed, prepare a vegetable seedling for postcrop cultivation for autumn harvesting - cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, endive, crispy lettuce, romaine lettuce, butter lettuce and fennel.
• We stop the cucumbers, chicory and carrots sown in May.
• In crops under cover, we control temperature and humidity. On hot days, tunnels and greenhouses must be aired (the temperature must not exceed 30 ° C).
• In the pods of peas, caterpillars of the pod cone can appear. In the event of their occurrence, it is worth collecting the pods as soon as possible (before the caterpillars descend into the soil) and carefully digging the bed after harvesting. Next year, let's choose as early as possible varieties of peas for cultivation, which will allow us to harvest before the pest appears.

June in the ornamental garden

• Since it starts to be very warm and sunny in June, remember to water and sprinkle the plants.So that the plants do not suffer from drought, the soil should be moist to a depth of 10 cm. The best time to spray is in the evening. Long and less frequent sprinkling is recommended - better than daily short sprinkling.
• Faded seasonal plants in flowerbeds should be replaced with new ones.
• Remove the faded inflorescences of rhododendrons (preferably carefully tear them with trowels), lilacs and roses. From the latter, we also cut out wild shoots (they grow out of the ground and are brighter than the others).

• Hedges enter the rapid growth phase in June, so it is important to trim them. Spreading a rope along the length of the hedge will easily help you to trim the hedge fairly evenly. Cutting is conveniently made with electric secateurs. However, it should be remembered that some shrubs, e.g. irgi, require pruning only with a hand pruner.
• After the flowering period, the bearded iris can be divided. Dig up the rhizomes, divide them and, after planting, water them abundantly.
• Dig up and separate tulip bulbs when 1/3 of the husk is brown. We perform this treatment every year for tulips, and every 3 or 4 years for other bulbous plants.
• In June, we sow biennial plants, min. a daisy, pansies or a bearded carnation. Since they should have a lot of moisture during germination, sow them in a shady place.
• In early June, you can pick up non-lignified seedlings from some trees and shrubs.
• Aphids can devastate the garden. If you decide to spray with insecticides, remember to keep a distance of at least 30 cm from the plant while spraying. Before spraying with insecticides, it is worth using non-chemical methods of fighting aphids, such as removing the tips of shoots with aphid colonies and spraying with plant preparations prepared by yourself, min. onion or garlic extracts. There are also ready-made preparations of natural origin, such as Agrocover Spray or Emulpar 940 EC.

• On the underside of the leaves of some plants, slight brown spots may appear, signifying an attack by red beetles or other small insects. Since manual removal is very difficult, it is recommended to moisten the affected areas with spirit and then spray the plants with a solution of 20 g of soft gray soap and 100 ml of spirit per liter of water.
• This month, the convex, brown discs of the cups can be easily seen on the shoots of conifers. On the thuja there is a thuja cup, and on the yews a yew tree. Under the shield of the discs, the female of the pest lays eggs, and then the larvae hatch. In order that the young specimens of the bowl after hatching do not spread quickly over the plant, it is worth spraying with insecticides, e.g. Karate Gold, Mospilan 20 SP or Polysect 005 SL.
• When the weather is warm and humid, roses can be attacked by powdery mildew. Substral flowers comprehensive 2-in-1 protection will be helpful then, as it also fights black spot on rose leaves and numerous pests, such as aphids.
• Powdery mildew also threatens peonies in the budding phase. You can try to save the flowers by carefully cutting out the infested buds.
• Geraniums and fuchsia can be attacked by the whitefly. When pests are few, spraying with warm water will help. If there are many, you will need to apply an insecticide.
• Lilies are also in danger, and red beetles can feed on them since June.

Flowers in the house, balconies and terraces

• Plants standing on southern windows should be given some shade or at least move them a little further away from the window, on hot days, in the evenings, sprinkle the entire plants and the surface of the substrate with lukewarm water.
• We regularly water all house flowers and fertilize them by foliar or soil fertilization once a week with a multi-component nutrient. We use, for example, Florovit.
• In June, you can put almost all potted plants on the balcony or in the garden, even palm trees and fig trees.
• Remember to water flowers in boxes on terraces and balconies every day. In warm weather, it will even be necessary to water twice a day. The frequency of watering can be reduced if the soil in the containers is mixed with a hydrogel. It is worth fertilizing once a week, remembering to put the fertilizer on moist soil. Faded inflorescences should be removed.
• We make cuttings from terraced plants, such as lead, nightshade, room maple, common oleander or datura.
• African violets can be propagated from leaf cuttings. Place the leaves and petioles cut with a sharp knife in the ground at a depth of 2 cm.

Lawn in June

• A fast growing lawn should be mowed at least once a week. It is also worth raking it with metal rakes, which will reduce the risk of moss formation.
• In the growing phase, the lawn can be fed three times with compound fertilizer. If you do not have a fertilizer spraying device, you can sprinkle it by hand.
• The cut grass must be removed from the lawn. It can be spread as a mulch under the shrubs, which will prevent them from drying out and the growth of weeds. We can also add the cut grass to the compost.

How to plan work in the garden?

If you want to prepare as best as possible for gardening work for a given month and be sure that you will never miss anything important that needs to be done in the garden again, use the resourceful gardener's planner calendar book. It is a practical gardening guide with a gardening calendar for the whole year and a place for your own notes. More information in the description on our store's website: -)

The text was prepared on the basis of My Garden, Delta, Warsaw 1993, pp. 476-483, articles published in My Beautiful Garden No. 6/99, Flowers on the plot and balcony, No. 2/2003, p. 27, and Działkowiec, No. 6/2004, pp. 68-69.