A Master Gardener's Journal

by Joe Daniels, Delaware County Master Gardener

Compost
Keep the compost pile turned.

Add moisture as needed. Keep as moist as a wrung out sponge.

Continue adding garden waste from weed seedlings, kitchen trimmings, and garden clean-up.

Vegetable Gardens
Continue to sow heat tolerant vegetables of beans, chard, and cucumber.

Watch out for squash bugs on squash - they will appear on the underside of the leaves.

Complete setting out the initial plants of tomatoes and other warm season transplants, including eggplants, pepper, cantaloupe and watermelon.

Harvest any remaining cool-weather crops, including lettuce, radishes, carrots, scallions and asparagus.

Plant more vegetables in the garden - especially if the others have rotted or become diseased.

Fertilize vegetables transplants moved outside 6-8 weeks after they were sown.

Be aware of flea beetles eating small holes in flower and vegetables seedlings.

Don't forget to purchase seeds of cool weather veggies (broccoli, cabbage). The plants may not be available later in the season.

Pull up bolted lettuce, spent broccoli stems and other cool weather crops that are finished to make way for new warm weather plants.

Make certain all crops have sufficient water. Peppers especially need to be well watered.

Tomatoes like a steady supply rather than a wet-dry cycle, or else blossom end rot will occur.

Lawns
Leave nitrogen-rich clippings on the lawn.

Maintain your mower by sharpening the blade at least monthly, or before the grass starts looking torn when cut, and check the engine oil.

Spot treat for broadleaf weed problems such as dandelions or ground-ivy.

Mulch borders to keep down weeds.

Perennials and Annuals
Continue pinching chrysanthemums to make them full throughout June. Stop pinching around the 4th of July. Remember to pinch back mums by half until the middle of July if you want your mums to bloom in October. Otherwise, they will bloom earlier in September.

Deadhead peonies after they flower.

Remove spent blossoms of some perennials to prevent plants from self-seeding.

Don't forget to check your annuals for pests, as they usually arrive before the beneficial insects. The most common are aphids, who love those tender, juicy young plants. Handle aphids by pinching off the infested stems, washing them off with a forceful water spray from the hose, or spraying with insecticidal soap or fine horticultural oil (read the directions first).

Guide and control the growth of summer and fall blooming perennials that tend to become overly tall and lanky (beebalm, artemisias, asters, goldenrod, and others) by cutting back newly developing stems by about half after they grow to about 10 or 12 inches long. This will delay flowering somewhat, but it will result in shorter, fuller plants that may not need staking.

Pests
Take preventative steps whenever possible. In Delaware County, bring samples to the Smedley Park Cooperative Extension office for diagnosis on Tuesday or Thursday mornings from 9:00 until noon.

For more of Joe's June gardening tips, go to our web site.

Do you have a gardening question? In Delaware County, call our Master Gardeners hortline at 610-690-2671 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM-12 NOON.

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