- Author: Amy Breschini
Published on: June 28, 2010
Picture Above: New Planter Beds using bricks and recycled concrete.
June Chores in the Garden
By Mary Giambalvo
Q: What garden chores should I plan for June?
Shirley Beard, San Luis Obispo
A: If ever a month beckons us outside to relish our gardens, it is sweet June. While savoring soft breezes and chirping birds, we do need to keep up with the jobs this madcap growth month requires.
It is not too late to add to the vegetable garden. Both coastal dwellers and inlanders can still sow herb seeds like basil, sage and oregano and warm weather crops such as cucumbers, corn, beans and eggplant. Vegetables that grow tall could use trellising, cages or poles right about now.
This is a lovely month to plant colorful annuals like dianthus, marigolds, and zinnias, among many others. Consider mixing vegetables and flowers together in beds. Both provide their own kind of beauty and make harvesting a nourishing activity for stomach and soul.
Fragrant bulbs like tuberose and night-blooming Jessamine can go in the ground now to provide sweetly scented summer days and evenings.
For those fortunate to have fruit trees, it’s time to cover them with bird netting to ensure a beak-free harvest. Citrus trees need deep watering every few weeks; this can aid in diminishing the traditional June fruit drop many experience.
While many plants will need the push of water for growth, this is the time to stop watering natives and other Mediterranean’s so they can slip into their summer dormancy. The more native plants and trees one has, the smaller the summer water bill.
Above all, spreading a 3-inch layer of organic mulch around garden plants helps conserve precious water and weeding chores. That gives us more time to stretch out in the hammock, sway in the breeze and let the birds serenade us to sleep.
Got a Gardening Question?
Contact the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners: at 781-5939 from 1 to 5 p.m. on Monday and Thursday; at 473-7190 from 10 a.m. to noon in Arroyo Grande; and at 434-4105 from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday in Templeton. Visit the UCCE Master Gardeners Web site at groups.ucanr.org/slomg/ or e-mail mgsanluisobispo@ucdavis.edu.
Hardware Cloth is placed on the bottom of raised beds to block gophers.
June Chores in the Garden
By Mary Giambalvo
Q: What garden chores should I plan for June?
Shirley Beard, San Luis Obispo
A: If ever a month beckons us outside to relish our gardens, it is sweet June. While savoring soft breezes and chirping birds, we do need to keep up with the jobs this madcap growth month requires.
It is not too late to add to the vegetable garden. Both coastal dwellers and inlanders can still sow herb seeds like basil, sage and oregano and warm weather crops such as cucumbers, corn, beans and eggplant. Vegetables that grow tall could use trellising, cages or poles right about now.
This is a lovely month to plant colorful annuals like dianthus, marigolds, and zinnias, among many others. Consider mixing vegetables and flowers together in beds. Both provide their own kind of beauty and make harvesting a nourishing activity for stomach and soul.
Fragrant bulbs like tuberose and night-blooming Jessamine can go in the ground now to provide sweetly scented summer days and evenings.
For those fortunate to have fruit trees, it’s time to cover them with bird netting to ensure a beak-free harvest. Citrus trees need deep watering every few weeks; this can aid in diminishing the traditional June fruit drop many experience.
While many plants will need the push of water for growth, this is the time to stop watering natives and other Mediterranean’s so they can slip into their summer dormancy. The more native plants and trees one has, the smaller the summer water bill.
Above all, spreading a 3-inch layer of organic mulch around garden plants helps conserve precious water and weeding chores. That gives us more time to stretch out in the hammock, sway in the breeze and let the birds serenade us to sleep.
Got a Gardening Question?
Contact the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners: at 781-5939 from 1 to 5 p.m. on Monday and Thursday; at 473-7190 from 10 a.m. to noon in Arroyo Grande; and at 434-4105 from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday in Templeton. Visit the UCCE Master Gardeners Web site at groups.ucanr.org/slomg/ or e-mail mgsanluisobispo@ucdavis.edu.
Hardware Cloth is placed on the bottom of raised beds to block gophers.
Raised beds are easier for people with limited mobility and wheel chair access.
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