Friday, June 03, 2005

Chores for June!

Here they are...now you've got a month to accomplish at least one or two! :-)

JUNE

Plant your window boxes

Prune spring flowering shrubs when they have finished blooming

Thin seedlings

Use balanced, organic fertilizers around flowers

Stake tall perennials and tomatoes

Use a pine needle mulch for blueberries

Be sure your lawn mower is set to cut the grass HIGH

After the iris are done blooming they can be divided

Gladiolus corms can be planted

Dead-head (prune off) spent flowers from plants and shrubs

You may still plant container grown shrubs

Plant broccoli seed for fall harvest.

If you have a water garden, there's still time to plant water
lilies.

House plants can soon be moved outside to a shady, protected spot.

These same houseplants can be lightly fed with half strength
fertilizer.

Mulch perennials and roses to keep down weeds and conserve moisture.

Any annuals can be safely set out now.

If you have an amaryllis, now would be the time to move it outside.

Pinch the leading stems of your chrysanthemum's to encourage them to
be bushier and have more blossoms. Continue doing this every 6 inches
or so, as they grow.

If you have apple trees, hang red sticky-ball traps to control apple maggot flies. Small trees can get by with 2 balls. Larger trees should probably have 4-6 balls.

Stop cutting asparagus when the new spears get pinky-finger thin. Let them grow into ferns instead. It will feed the roots.

Any questions about June?

3 Comments:

At June 03, 2005, Blogger OldRoses said...

I thought iris should be divided in August. Any thoughts?

 
At June 04, 2005, Blogger North Country Maturing Gardener said...

If you'll notice, I said in "chores..." that the iris should be divided AFTER they bloom. Remember, I'm writing for quite a geographically diverse region. I'm not sure when your iris bloom...hence, dig them up AFTER they bloom!
Let me address this on my next posting. Today is a busy day, so maybe I'll deal with that tomorrow. Come back and check!

 
At June 04, 2005, Blogger OldRoses said...

I was just curious because I am in Central New Jersey, Zone 6a. We are quite a bit ahead of you in terms of growing season. I was told by a Master Gardener here that iris should be divided in August. FYI, my bearded iris is just finishing up blooming, the Japanese iris are peaking and the Siberian iris is approaching peak. They will all be done well before August.

 

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