If there could be one word to describe June gardening here on the North Coast, it is more. More planting, more watering, more flowers, more berries, more weeds, more pests and more fresh produce to the table from the garden. June is one of the best months to be in the garden. Here is what to do this month to keep the momentum going:
NO MORE RAINY DAYS: This means more watering. It’s time to get the hoses out and begin watering. Now is the time to be checking newly planted fruit trees, berries, roses and rhododendrons. In-ground plantings need a deep soaking at least once a week starting this month. Container plantings should be watered up to three times a week, depending on weather. Stop watering garlic two weeks before a planned harvest. Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries all need a good soaking once a week until fall. Don’t let these crops dry out.
MORE VEGGIES: Keep the produce garden growing by planting warm season vegetables like corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, basil and cilantro. These days the nurseries are loaded with fresh starts. Spring flowering annuals and perennials may begin to wane this time of year. Replant with fresh summer bloomers.
MORE PESTS: Slugs and snails love those drizzly mornings that keep our redwood forests healthy. The slime troops are especially attracted to basil, marigolds and dahlias, hostas and young vegetable transplants, so get out the organic bait and apply before you plant. Then keep up patrol.
Flea beetles and the spotted cucumber beetle are two pests that will chew up a young crop of green beans in no time. Cover plants with row cover after planting to keep pests from gnawing foliage. If you are growing cabbage, broccoli, kale and the like, now is the time to start spraying plants with Bt, Bacillus thuringiensis. This organic spray will keep the green cabbage worms from making a mess of your crops.
Greenhouse grown vegetables like cucumber, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes should be inspected daily for aphids and whitefly.
MORE SNIPPING: Roses, rhododendrons and azaleas should be deadheaded weekly this month. Thinning fruit from apple and pear trees is best done this month as well.
Terry Kramer is the retired site manager for the Humboldt Botanical Garden and a trained horticulturist and journalist. She has been writing a garden column for the Times-Standard since 1982. She currently runs a gardening consulting business. Contact her at 707-834-2661 or terrykramer90@gmail.com.