Welcome to June at Grimm’s Gardens! Blueberries are just right around the corner, and we are enjoying the sunshine! Right before everything turns hot here, June comes in with light breezes, LOUD thunderstorms, and lots of native perennials blooming along the roads. June is usually Native Plant Month for the Start of Kansas, and a lot of members of the Kansas Native Plant Society spend time outdoors in their own gardens.
June in the Lawn
Now is the time to apply a Grub Preventer or Insecticide to the lawn to kill grubs. Only do this if you have had a problem in the past. Use any product with the names “Merit” or “Mach II (2)” in the label. Do this near the end of June. Water it in after application.
If you are not already mowing high, raise your mower blades to at least 3″ for bluegrass or fescue lawns. Remember to sharpen your mower blades every 3 to 4 cuts at minimum.
You can apply a high nitrogen fertilizer to zoysia or bermudagrass lawns now. This is also the time to spot spray for bermudagrass in fescue and bluegrass lawns.
If you are irrigating your lawn with sprinklers, do not run them more than 2 times per week. Run them longer, letting water go deeper, but for less days. This will promote deeper root systems which can handle drought and heat better.
In the Vegetable Garden
You can continue to plant succession crops of beans, sweet corn, and cucumbers for a longer harvest period. Now is also the time to plant or set plants out for pumpkins, gourds, and winter squash. By planting in June, you will have less risk of damage from both Squash Vine Borer Moth and Squash Bugs.
Remember to mulch your tomatoes deeply with straw, grass clippings, leaves, or shredded hay! This will prevent rain splash on the soil which can cause bacterial diseases and fungal diseases to develop. Mulch at least 6 inches deep.
You should be harvesting peas, beets, spinach, lettuce, radishes, and early onions. Also, everbearing and June-bearing strawberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, and serviceberries.
• Were grasshoppers a problem last year? If this summer is a typical hot and dry summer you may want to apply Semispore around your flower beds, garden and perimeter of your yard. Semispore is a biological grasshopper bait that contains bacterium that they ingest and it makes them sick and die. Now is the time (early June) to apply this product. Re-apply again after a hard rain.
• Check for bagworms and other leaf-eating caterpillars. Spray now.
• Watch for sticky honeydew produced by aphids, white flies and other sucking pests. Spray with insecticidal soap; repeat in a week.
Vegetables and Fruits
• Renovate June bearing strawberry beds
• Fertilize strawberries and water regularly to promote new growth
• Plant another crop of sweet corn and green beans
• Watch tomatoes for foliar leaf disease development and treat
• Mulch crops for moisture conservation and weed control
• Continue a regular fruit disease and insect control program
• Treat peach trees for trunk borers
• Remove sucker growth from base of trees and along branches
• Pinch herbs to keep bushy and fresh with new growth
• Turn compost pile and keep moist for a quicker breakdown
• Watch for early blight and other fungal diseases on tomatoes. Remove infected leaves, mulch and use drip irrigation to prevent spread of disease.
Flowers
• Pinch chrysanthemums for development of a bushy plant
• Deadhead spent flower blossoms to keep plant flowering
• Remove flower stalks from peonies and iris
• Mulch flower gardens for the summer to conserve moisture, control weeds and cool the soil
• Water and fertilize container plantings regularly to encourage growth and flowering
• Water plants as needed
Trees and Shrubs
• Remember to fertilize roses with rose formulated fertilizer.
• Dead-head roses by cutting back to the first leaf with 5 leaflets. Avoid overhead irrigation to reduce blackspot on roses.
• Fertilize with acidic fertilizer once a month: Azaelas, Rhododendrons, Holly, Hydrangeas.
• Check for bagworms and control as needed
• Mulch around the bases of trees and shrubs to conserve moisture. Be sure to keep the mulch 3” away from the trunk of the tree.
• Do not damage tree trunks with mowers and weed whips
• Check for spider mite damage on various shrubs
• Clip hedges as needed to maintain shape
Pruning
• Remember the saying “Prune In June” and do just that to anything that looks wild and has lost its shape! The spring growth has slowed down now and if you lightly prune this will keep growth under control through the rest of the season. Now is a good time to lightly prune Dwarf Spirea, Barberry, Burning Bush, Euonymus, Dogwoods, Boxwood, Holly, Mockorange, Junipers, & Yews (just shape).
• Water newly planted trees and shrubs as needed
• Prune spring flowering shrubs
Houseplants
• Fertilizer throughout the summer months to encourage growth
• Wash leaves to remove dust
• Take cuttings to start new plants
• Prune and shape plants for added beauty
• Repot plants as needed in 1″ larger containers
• Check for insect problems
This information is brought to you from Nadine Champlin, Designer, Grimms Gardens; and Johnson County K-State Research and Extension. http://www.johnson.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=141
