The summer solstice is this month, meaning this is the time of long, summer days. Plan a garden party to celebrate. Visit a botanical garden, shop for sales at the garden center, and enjoy watching the garden grow. But while you are admiring the flowers, don’t forget to accomplish these tasks to keep your garden in top shape and get ready for the next season.
Northern Region
In the northern tier of states, such as Minnesota, Michigan, and Maine, summer is finally here. The world is green, there are good things to eat in our veggie patch, and the perennials are blooming in the flower bed. Don’t forget your sunscreen.
Vegetable & Herb Garden
The vegetable and herb gardens are hard at work and green, getting ready for production. Some cool-season crops like lettuces, spinach, kale, and peas are fading this month.
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It’s tomato pruning time. Remove any branches whose leaves touch the soil to minimize the spread of soil-borne disease.
This is the heavy weeding month. Weeds pop up everywhere. Use a stirrup hoe to cut off annual weeds just below the soil. Work carefully around young plants.
Flower Beds, Perennials, and Ornamentals
It’s not too late to plant perennials and trees you find at end-of-season sales at the garden center. In fact, those sales can be an excellent way to fill in holes in the perennial bed or get a new fruit tree for the yard.
Enjoy June-bearing strawberries, and cut bouquets of Monarda, sweet pea, and peonies.
Give oregano, mint, and other fast-growing herbs a haircut. Dehydrate the extra you can’t use right away and save it in glass jars for winter.
Pinch snapdragons, dahlias, and other cut-and-come-again flowers as they develop 3 to 4 sets of true leaves.
Mark any spring-flowering bulbs you intend to divide this fall now, so you can find them after the leaves die back.
To-Do Checklist
Don’t forget to tie up tomatoes. Even those with a cage can use some guidance. Prune off any leaves that are near the soil or touching it.
Middle States
In middle states, such as Kansas, Virginia, and Missouri, it’s plenty warm, and you may feel more like a day at the lake or beach than in the garden. If the weeds are under control, the garden is sort of on autopilot now, and a day or two off won’t hurt. Be sure to keep up with harvesting, deadheading, and set your irrigation on a timer if you leave for a week.
Vegetable & Herb Garden
The bounty of the garden feels real this month. If you’re lucky, there will be baskets full of produce to be brought into the house by the end of June. Keep lettuces going a bit longer with some shade cloth, and succession plant sweet corn for a late harvest.
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Minimize powdery mildew and other issues by watering in the morning, and from below, not overhead, if possible. Drip lines and soaker hoses work well, as do longer wands on your hose.
Scout daily for potato beetles, Japanese beetles, and other garden-eating pests. Carry an old plastic container with an inch or so of soapy water. When you find a leaf-munching pest, pluck it off and drop it in.
Don’t let those zucchini get away from you. They’re best when small, not the size of a boat. Keep up with the cucumber harvest, too.
Flower Beds, Perennials, and Ornamentals
Spring-flowering shrubs can be pruned now that the bloom is over, but don’t wait too long or you’ll trim off next year’s buds. Annual flowers are starting to bloom, and many native perennials are at peak color. Take a moment to watch a bee sleep in a zinnia or sunflower. Enjoy a bouquet, and take a daily garden walk not only to look for pests, but also to appreciate the season and all your hard work.
Bagworms show up on junipers and arborvitae. Collect and dispose of them unless the birds beat you to it.
Treat roses for black spot and fertilize them if needed.
Deadhead flowers to encourage more blooms. Trim back spring-flowering bulb foliage as it yellows and dies back.
To-Do Checklist
Stop fertilizing woody shrubs and ornamental trees at the end of the month to allow new growth to harden off before fall weather.
Thin overloaded fruit trees to avoid branch breakage later on. You’ll also enjoy larger fruit.
Renovate June-bearing strawberry beds after harvest.
Southern Region
In Texas, Georgia, Florida, and other southern states, summer is in full swing, and it’s approaching the midsummer gardening break. Irrigate early in the day so the plants have water during the heat of the afternoon.
Vegetable & Herb Garden
The vegetable and herb garden is still busy, although some plants will begin to slow down with the heat this month. Between harvesting tomatoes, planting hot-weather crops, and enjoying the flowers, there’s lots to do.
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Direct sow melons, Southern peas, and Malabar spinach.
Transplants of heat-loving crops like eggplant and peppers can still be planted early in the month with careful attention to watering.
Keep up with tomato harvests. If you can’t preserve them all at once, they freeze for later use in sauces and soups.
Keep planting basil, oregano, and rosemary.
Look out for tomato hornworms and leaf-footed bugs.
Flower Beds, Perennials, and Ornamentals
With the heat, it’s time to focus on summer plants that don’t mind the extra warmth. Mulch, irrigation, and plant selection are the keys to a healthy summer garden now.
Plant more summer annuals like zinnias, gomphrena, sunflowers, and cosmos.
Check soil moisture for containerized flowers daily and water deeply. Remember that potting mix can dry out and become hydrophobic. If the plants wilt, it may take several waterings to rehydrate the potting mix.
A light coating of mulch in containers can help keep the soil cool and conserve water. Shading the sides of the pots will also help.
To-Do Checklist
Harvest blackberries. Netting can protect them from the birds.
Keep your compost pile watered. Dry conditions greatly slow the microbial activity that breaks down the materials into good compost.
Walk the garden daily, preferably in the morning, scouting for pests. Many can simply be plucked off and disposed of, and some are slower (easier to catch) in the cool of the morning.
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