Horticultural Hints for June!
In the vegetable garden, it's time to pland tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melon, summer and winter squash.
Use cutworm collars on tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. Cutworms chew off your plants just above ground level but can be deterred by a simple collar of stiff cardboard or a bottomless can pushed one inch or more into the soil around the plant’s stem. 
Side dress the beds of perennials such as rhubarb and asparagus beds after the harvest is finished with composted manure or other organic fertilizers. These plants are heavy feeders and need to replenish their reserves for next year.
When your bearded iris finish blooming, it’s time to divide them. Dig up the entire clump of tubers and divide it into two-armed ‘fans’. These will provide a good display next year. Because you have reduced the roots, also cut the foliage back by half. And discard any tubers that show signs of iris borer infestation.
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Keep up your weeding! Weeds are your plants enemies, stealing water, nutrients and sunlight. Straw or weighted newspapers placed between rows effectively block most weeds in the vegetable garden; reducing your workload and giving you more time to enjoy the garden.
When your rhododendrons (and remember azaleas are rhododendrons) are finished blooming, remove the dead flower heads. The plants will look better and not waste energy producing seeds you don’t want.
When your rhododendrons (and remember azaleas are rhododendrons) are finished blooming, remove the dead flower heads. The plants will look better and not waste energy producing seeds you don’t want.
Give your houseplants a summer of rejuvenation. Now that nighttime temperatures don’t go lower than 55 degrees, set houseplants out on a screened porch where they’ll get more sun and fresh air. Their time in a new environment will also promote growth and blooming.
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As the days get longer and hotter, make certain your garden doesn’t dry out. Plants under stress will not provide what you are growing them for. Pine needles, shredded bark, and leaf mold are all attractive beneficial mulches for flowers and vegetables that reduce weeds and preserve water — but no more than two inches of mulch! Too much is as bad as too little.
Now is the time to prune spring blooming shrubs before they set next year’s flowers. As you prune, use this clean-up process to also set the future shape of the plant. Left on their own, most shrubs want to get larger than the space you’ve allotted them. Your spring pruning will ensure the plant stays in the site as you envisioned when first planted
To download a pdf of the
June Horticultural Hints, click on the file below. 
Horticultural Hints are written and created by Betty Sanders. For more horticultural suggestions for May and throughout the year, please visit www.BettyOnGardening.com | ||
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Martha's Vineyard Garden Club
PO Box 5061 Vineyard Haven MA 02568 |