June Garden Calendar
Planting, watering, weeding, pruning, fertilizing and harvesting should all be on your checklist for June garden tasks. It's usually a great month to be outside in the Midwest, so enjoy the sunshine and warm temps as you work to keep your plants healthy for the coming summer season.
Finish Planting
Plant Seeds That Like Warm Soil
Sow corn, squash, cucumbers and melon seeds or seedlings when the soil has warmed to at least 65° F, usually two weeks after the last frost date.
Finish Planting Annuals
It's time wrap up putting annuals in containers and in bare spots in your garden. Large greenhouses will still have lots of selection at the beginning of the month.
Divide and Transplant Some Perennials
Divide and transplant most late-summer and fall-blooming perennials now. Wait to divide spring bloomers until fall.
Plant Trees, Shrubs and Roses
Continue putting shrubs, trees and roses in your yard. But don't plant bare-root types. They need cool, wet weather to take off.
Plant Summer Bulbs
In the northern Midwest, continue to plant gladiolus corms, canna rhizomes, begonia tubers, and other summer bulbs.
Deadhead, Harvest, Weed and Fertilize
Deadhead Flowers Regularly
Deadheading means pinching or cutting off flower stems below a faded bloom and just above the first set of healthy leaves. It not only keeps your landscape tidy, it encourages certain flowers to bloom more.
Harvest Veggies
Picking vegetables on a regular basis will encourage them to keep producing well until fall. This is especially true with green beans, but also green peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplants and tomatoes.
Keep Up with Weeding
The best time to weed is after a good rain so you can easily pull out the roots.
Fertilize Containers
Watering flushes out many nutrients from container plants, so fertilize regularly. For best results, use a special bloom-boosting fertilizer on flowering plants.
Mulch
Use wood chips and other weed-suppressing materials now that the soil has warmed.
Remove Spring Bulb Foliage
Once the foliage pulls away with very little resistance, you can discard it.
Mow Lawns Often
Longer grass will shade the soil, conserving moisture and discouraging weeds. Mow to 3 inches long for cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass and 2 inches for most warm-season grasses, such as Bermudagrass and zoysia. But also remember never to remove more than one-third of the grass blade at a time or you'll stress your grass.