June Gardening Tips

Garden Maintenance

Thin apples when ½” diameter.
Mow general cleanup for fire protection.
Mulch garden beds to retain moisture and encourage deep roots by deep and infrequent watering.
Check sprinklers and drip systems for needed repairs and adjustments.
Water early in the day to conserve water and minimize plant disease.
Pinch back tips of chrysanthemums, fuchsias, marguerites.
Tie up vines and stake tall growing dahlias, gladiolas, and lilies.
For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers.
Hang strips of foil or CD’s in fruit trees to help deter birds.
First summer pruning for stone fruit.
Thin grapes.
Dig and divide crowded bulbs if the tops have died down.
Give your indoor plants a bath.
Place a 1” board under pots sitting on pavement to insulate them from radiated heat.
Thoroughly clean debris from ponds, fountains and bird baths.
Check dates of Master Gardener classes.

Fertilize

Strawberries (end of May).
Cane berries after harvest.
Azaleas, camellias. rhododendron and acid loving plants.
Roses at bloom start.
Citrus. Monthly.
Corn – N when knee high.
If you did not use slow-release fertilizer for summer bloomers, feed them now.
Fertilize vegetables monthly.
Feed indoor plants with slow release fertilizer.
To control corn earworms, apply 20 drops of mineral oil to the silks 3-7 days after silks appear.
Monitor stink bugs and tomatoes, squash, etc. Hand pick.

Spray: Check the California Backyard Orchard website for current information.

Apples and pears for codling moth. First treatment when pears are ½” in diameter. For more, call Master Gardeners at (530) 621-5512.
For codling moth control, attach 4” corrugated cardboard bands around tree trunks in early May; in late May or early June remove and destroy bands to kill the larvae and pupae found in the cardboard.
Check for citrus scale and control with horticultural oil. Encourage natural enemies and protect trees from ants.
If needed, apply Tanglefoot around tree trunks to deter ants and other crawling insects.
Pears, except Comice – weak copper spray when in bloom, one to three applications for fire blight.
Check roses for black spot, mildew and rust and spray if needed.
Check roses for aphids; control with a strong spray of water or insecticidal soap.
Spray for Peach Leaf Curl
Note: all the effective insecticidal sprays kill bees and other beneficial. Do not spray while trees are in bloom.

Lawns

Plant Seed

It is getting late, but…Beans, beets, corn, cucumber, melons, parsnip, peppers, pumpkins, radish, all squash, tomatoes.
Gladiola corms every 2 weeks.
Dahlias

Plant Seed - Greenhouse or Cold Frame

Set out Plants

Eggplant, peppers, tomatoes.
Annuals: ageratum, bachelor buttons, celosia, cosmos, impatiens, lobelia, marigold, petunia.