Birds and Wildlife
- Keep birdbaths full of fresh water.
- To attract butterflies, you can plant coral vine, blue plumbago, butterfly weed, lantana, purple coneflower and yarrow. Yes, the critters will eat the plants, but the plants will come right back.
- Although the hummingbirds are nesting, clean and refill the feeders every week.
- Pour the old hummingbird feeder sugar water into a pot-saucer for the butterflies.
Color
- If you’re looking for color for the hot part of the summer, consider periwinkles, esperanza, firebush, zinnias, poinciana, portulaca, purslane, or lantana.
- Firebush is a favorite hummingbird plant and lantanas are a great butterfly bush.
- Lantanas are deer resistant.
- Plant vincas in full sun.
- Shade plants include coleus, caladiums, firespike and begonias.
- Leave the bougainvilleas in full sun and fertilize them regularly with hibiscus food or soluble fertilizer.
- Moss rose and purslane are showy all month long in full sun.
- Remove spent flowers from perennials for more blooms.
- Don’t let the weeds get ahead of you. Weed regularly.
- Keep up the fertilizer on the roses. Control spider mites with soap sprays—one tablespoon per gallon of water—applied under the leaves.
- A wide variety of hot-weather-loving plants for summer color can be transplanted now such as salvia, purslane, copper plant, firespike, lantana and firebush.
- Many landscape and garden plants will exhibit symptoms of “iron deficiency”- with yellow leaves and darker green veins. This condition will only grow worse and the affected plant will decline and die if not corrected with generous quantities of iron sulfate mixed with organic material. Alkaline soils of this area of the state require frequent applications of summer iron-containing products such as Iron Plus or green sand to correct or prevent iron deficiency of plants. Mulches can be used to increase the availability of iron for plant uptake in the soil by making a synthetic iron chelate. If iron is applied directly to the soil, calcium in the soil causes the iron particles to be unavailable for plant uptake.
- Gardeners can make a synthetic chelate with mulch by mixing one cup of iron sulfate (Copperas) to each bushel of mulch applied. Iron particles will adhere to the surface of the mulching material and will be released for plant use as decomposition occurs around plants. Iron sulfate-treated mulches also effective when are incorporated into the soil. Iron sulfate or chelated iron as a foliar spray can provide a rapid-but-temporary green-up. A light application of fertilizer to beds of summer annuals will give them a boost. Heavy producing vegetable crops will also benefit from supplemental fertilizer. Use two pounds (or four cups) of the slow-release fertilizer (mentioned earlier) evenly distributed in a 100 square feet area every three weeks.
Fruits and Nuts
- Peaches, apples, plums and blackberries with developing fruit must receive regular moisture or the fruit will not develop appropriately and may be dropped.
- Figs are especially sensitive to dry soil.
- Prune out old blackberry canes (the ones that bore fruit this year) to make way for the new canes.
Shade Trees and Shrubs
- Your established trees and bushes should do well without supplemental watering. Newly planted trees, however, need deep watering by hand when the soil dries to one inch.
- Remember to mulch 2-3 inches deep around new trees so that they don’t have to compete with grass. Leave 6” clearance around the trunks.
- Crape myrtles reach full bloom in June. Deadhead spent flowers for more bloom.
- Control aphids with acephate (Orthene) and powdery mildew with Funginex or almost any good filngicide.
- Use a weekly spray program to protect your roses from insects and black spot. Alternate ftlngicide and insecticide on alternate weeks. Be sure to follow label directions.
- Keep fruit trees well watered if they’re still producing.
- Cut suckers from the roots of trees—don’t use Roundup; it may damage the mother tree as well.
- Container-grown trees and shrubs can be selected and planted, but be certain to maintain adequate moisture in the root zone to avoid injury or death during summer’s heat and dry weather.
- Diseased or storm-damaged branches of trees should be pruned immediately, but avoid major or drastic pruning of trees through mid-summer. Prune hedges on an as-needed basis, but avoid severe pruning.
Turf Grass
- June’s warn soils make this an ideal time to establish or renovate the home lawn. Bermudagrass for all sun/no shade, St. Augustine for all sun/partial shade and zoysia for all sun/partial shade all produce acceptable turfs in this area. Floratam St. Augustine is the best St. Augustine for this area. Bermudagrass seed can be planted in areas which are not shaded. Try some of the Bermuda seed such as Sahara or Cheyenne and remember to keep the planting moist EVERY day until seed germination occurs in 10-12 days.
- Irrigate the lawn grass only if it hasn’t rained in the last two weeks, and then no more than 3/8 inch of water on the St. Augustine—less for Zoysia, Bermuda, and Buffalo. Water only the most important part of your lawn and let the rest go dormant until we get rain.
- Raise the blade on the mower to 3.5 inches or more if you have St. Augustine. Continue to mow the Bermuda at 1-1.5 inch. Keep the mower blade sharp.
- If you had grub or chinch bug problems last year, treat the lawn at the end of the month. Follow the directions on the bag.
- June is a good month to lay sod or plant grass seed if water isn’t being restricted.
Vegetables
- Vegetables to plant now will include black-eyed peas, okra, sweet corn, cucumbers, peppers, New Zealand “spinach” and squash.
- You can still plant eggplant and okra for mid-summer vegetables.
- Use Bt or Spinosad to control hornworms, fruit-eating pinworms, and other caterpillars.
- Use bags of oak leaves for mulch. Pull non-producing plants—especially the tomatoes—before diseases and spider mites move in.
- Powdery mildew will probably take the vine plants this month. Pull them out and wait for fall.
