June Gardening Tips from Pike Family Nurseries

Take a look at the blooms on your rose bushes, hydrangeas and annuals at this time of year. Most flowering plants are at their best during the month of June. This is because the late spring season is warm enough to encourage prolific blooms but not so warm that you can fry an egg on the pavement. As a general rule, rainfall is also more plentiful in the spring. So enjoy your flowers and the moderate temperatures while you can. All too soon, our steamy summer weather will be upon us and our gardening focus will turn to watering our plants, mowing the lawn and weeding our gardens.

• Did you know? Turf grasses perform best when maintained at the correct height. No more than 1/3 of the blades should be removed at any one time. Also, instead of bagging the clippings, leave them on the lawn. The heat will decompose the grass clippings in a matter of hours, releasing nitrogen into the soil.
• Create a butterfly garden to provide months of visual enjoyment. Every butterfly garden should have at least one buddleia (butterfly bush). Abelia, azaleas, dahlias, gaura, lantana, pineapple sage, rose of Sharon, verbena and zinnia also attract butterflies.
• Plant Knock Out™ and Flower Carpet Roses® for continuous color all summer. These compact shrub roses, available in several colors, require very little maintenance and are reliably black-spot resistant.
• Plant an instant lawn. Warm season sod varieties such as Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede and St. Augustine are all available now.
• Tomato remedies. Blossom End Rot which causes ugly, dark blotches on the bottom of the fruit is caused by a calcium deficiency in the soil. There are several products that will correct this problem. Tomatoes that are splitting on the vine is caused by inconsistent watering. To prevent this, keep the soil uniformly moist at all times.
• Snails and slugs can take a bite out of your annuals, creating large holes and ragged blooms and leaves. To control these pests, distribute a snail and slug bait or simply sprinkle sand in their paths. They will go out of their way to avoid the sand because of its rough texture. If all else fails, take advantage of the snail and slug's fondness for fermented beverages. Put out a shallow container of beer or sugar water mixed with yeast in the evening. The next morning, you will find a saucer full of submerged snails and slugs.
• Deadhead your annuals on a regular basis. Pinching off dead blooms as they occur helps to prevent seed production and pauses in blooming.
• Got weeds? Apply a post-emergent weed killer to your lawn according to package directions. Make sure that the product you select is safe for use on your type of grass. Don’t wait too late. Weed killers work best when temperatures are 85 degrees or less.
• Plant a hydrangea for long-lasting, summer color. Although the plant itself is rather inconspicuous, the large, highly decorative bloom clusters that appear in June, July and August are real attention grabbers. The new Endless Summer™ variety blooms repeatedly throughout the summer.
• Japanese Beetles can be distinguished by their metallic green heads and bronze colored wings. They are insatiable eaters that usually feed in groups and devour leaves, flowers and fruit on many kinds of plants. To control these destructive beetles, use traps that contain both floral and sexual lures, chemical controls and/or grub controls.