June Horticultural Tips

Click here for information on color coded zones chart.

                     Lawns & Grasses
  Bermuda lawns will green up; the active growing season is June through 
         August.
      * Mow Bermuda at 1 ½ inches and the hybrid at 1 inch. 
      * Maintain fescue at 2-3 inches.
      * Maintain St. Augustine and dicondra at 1 ½-2 inches. 
      * Fertilize with nitrogen and iron.
      * Water well.

   Plant warm season grasses, e.g. buffalo, Bermuda and blue gramma 
         from seed or sod.

  Mow lawns at 2- 3 inches height.

      Continue to fertilize established lawn of warm-season grasses.  Do 
         not fertilize cool-season grasses: Kentucky blue grass, tall fescue and perennial 
         rye grass in June, July and August.
      * Water weekly, if no rain fall to 1 1/2 inches.

                             Fruit
  Peaches and apricots should be maturing. 
      * Thin apples, apricots, nectarines and pears.
      * Date palms ripen this month.
      * Do not prune citrus and sun-sensitive plants during the summer.
      * Harvest blackberries and raspberries.

  Thin deciduous fruit trees now.

   Mow off leaves from strawberries.  Narrow the rows, fertilize and irrigate.

  Begin thinning fruits to several per branch.

                   Vegetables and Herbs
  Plant Armenian cucumbers, muskmelons, eggplant and black eyed peas.
      * Harvest corn, peppers, new potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, onions and 
         radishes.
      * Providing  shade for tomatoes will help set fruit to ripen.
      * Rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano can still be planted this month.
      * Pinch back basils to keep them from flowering.
      * Continue watering.  

  Plant cucumbers, peppers, summer squash, beans, watermelons, onions 
         and potatoes.

  Protect vegetables using a shade cloth. 

   Plant corn, late cabbage, black eyed peas, cucumber, pumpkins and 
         melons.

  When evening temperatures are well above freezing, plant warm weather 
         crops, e.g.  tomatoes and peppers.
      * Fertilize vegetables after thinning.

                            Annuals
  Plants seeds of  Arizona poppy, sunflowers, zinnias  and marigolds.
      * Transplant  salvia, lisianthus and periwinkle.
      * Pinch back bedding plants for bushy growth.
      * Continue to water.  
      * Fertilize with a weak fertilizer solution.

   Plant poppies,  chrysanthemums, salvia, snapdragons, dusty miller, 
         cosmos and zinnias.
      * Water every week. 
      * Plant annuals to attract butterflies and humming- birds.

   Container and hanging baskets of flowering annuals may need water 
         twice daily.

  Plant summer blooming annuals.

                        Perennials
  Plant dusty miller, gazania, penstemon, pentas and  yarrow.
      * Continue to dead-head flowering plants.
      * Continue to water to a depth of one foot.
      * Add a slow-release fertilizer or use a weak, water-soluble fertilizer once a 
         month.
      * Do not prune sun-sensitive plants.

      Pinch back mums for bushy growth.

  Plant petunia, stock and columbine.

    Cut day lily stems back to base after blooming is over.  
      * Cut back penstemons to basal rosette.  Allow some seed stalks to remain for 
         seeding.  There will be some reblooming.
      * Mulch to 7 inches to conserve water and save weeding.
      * Plant summer-blooming perennials.
      * Fertilize flower beds.
      * Spent spring flowers should be removed.

                Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes
   Remove brown dead leaves.

  As bulb leaves die back, dig bulbs and amend soil with organic materials 
         before replanting.

                                         Roses
      Provide a slow-release fertilizer.
      * Maintain watering to a depth of 2 feet.  Water may need to be increased as 
         temperatures rise.
      * Continue to dead-head spent blooms.
      * Continue to plant container grown roses.
      * Hose off roses with a strong spray of water to contol aphids and mites.  If 
         temperatures are high; hose off roses in the late evening.
      * Continue spray program.

                     Shrubs & Trees
  Plant white thorn acacia, fairy duster, brittlebush, Arizona yellow bells and 
         yucca.
      * Dead-head spent blooms.
      * Do not fertilize this month.
      * Continue to water to a depth of 2 feet.
      * Plant palms this month.
      * Watch for leaf-drop with carob, African sumac and pines.
      * Queen palms with yellowing fronds will need a weak fertilizer with 
         manganese.  Water deeply. 
      * Hose off shrubs every 3-4 days.

     Continue to plant cold-hardy shrubs and landscape trees.
      * Water shrubs to a depth of 2 feet every 2 weeks.
      * Water trees monthly if no rain fall. 
      * Plant shrubs to attract butterflies and humming- birds.

    Prune early-blooming shrubs after they have completed their flowering.

                            Maintenance
      Check all watering systems again.
      * Control weeds this month.

     Start washing down shrubs weekly to keep aphids and spider mites 
         under control.

  Water deeply once each week and more frequently when it gets above 90 
         degrees before monsoons.  Established native plants can get by with less 
         frequent watering.
      * Redress the soil around plants with thin mulch layer.
      * Continue with regular fertilizing of flowering plants.  
      * Make a sun map of your yard.