Introduction

Gardening in the southwest can be a rewarding experience, but it’s important to know what to plant and how to care for your plants in the hot, dry climate. June is a great time to plant many vegetables and flowers in the southwest, but it’s important to take steps to protect your plants from the heat and sun.

What to Plant in June

There are many different vegetables and flowers that can be planted in the southwest in June. Some of the most popular choices include:

• Vegetables: tomatoes, peppers, beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, melons, squash, zucchini, okra, sweet potatoes
• Flowers: bougainvillea, lantana, hibiscus, esperanza, desert rose, firecracker plant

How to Care for Your Plants

Once you’ve planted your garden, it’s important to take steps to care for your plants and protect them from the heat and sun. Here are a few tips:

• Water your plants deeply and regularly, especially during the hot summer months.
• Mulch around your plants to help retain moisture and keep the soil cool.
• Fertilize your plants every few weeks with a balanced fertilizer.
• Protect your plants from pests and diseases by using organic methods such as neem oil or insecticidal soap.

Tips for Gardening in the Southwest

In addition to the general care tips above, there are a few other things you can do to make gardening in the southwest more successful.

• Choose heat-tolerant plants that are well-suited to the climate.
• Start your seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost date.
• Harden off your seedlings by gradually exposing them to the outdoors before transplanting them into the garden.
• Plant your seedlings deep in the soil, up to the first set of true leaves.
• Water your plants deeply and regularly, but avoid overwatering.
• Mulch around your plants to help retain moisture and keep the soil cool.
• Fertilize your plants every few weeks with a balanced fertilizer.
• Protect your plants from pests and diseases by using organic methods such as neem oil or insecticidal soap.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Even with the best care, you may encounter some problems when gardening in the southwest. Here are a few of the most common problems and how to solve them:

• Pests: Aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites are common pests in the southwest. You can control them by using organic methods such as neem oil or insecticidal soap.
• Diseases: Powdery mildew, rust, and blight are common diseases in the southwest. You can prevent them by watering your plants deeply and regularly, and by avoiding overwatering.
• Heat stress: Heat stress can cause plants to wilt, drop their leaves, and even die. You can prevent heat stress by watering your plants deeply and regularly, and by mulching around them to keep the soil cool.

Conclusion

Gardening in the southwest can be a rewarding experience, but it’s important to know what to plant and how to care for your plants in the hot, dry climate. By following the tips in this guide, you can grow a beautiful and bountiful garden in the southwest.

Introduction

June is a busy time for gardeners in the Great Plains region, which includes Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The weather is warm and sunny, and the days are long, providing ideal conditions for plant growth. However, it’s important to be aware of the specific gardening tasks that need to be completed in June to ensure a successful growing season.

June Gardening Tasks

• Spring Cleanup: Remove spent blooms from bulbs and perennials, and prune forsythia, spirea, lilac, and viburnum. This will help promote new growth and flowering in the future.
• Planting: Plant out warm season vegetables such as beans, cucumbers, and squash. You can also transplant seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables that were started indoors earlier in the spring.
• Mulching: Spread a layer of mulch around plants to help retain moisture, suppress weeds, and regulate soil temperature.
• Weeding: Keep up with the weeding to prevent weeds from competing with your plants for water and nutrients.
• Watering: Water plants regularly, especially during hot and dry weather.

What to Plant in June

The following is a list of vegetables and flowers that can be planted in June in the Great Plains:

• Vegetables: Beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, corn, cucumber, kale, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, spinach, squash, tomatoes
• Flowers: Cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, sunflowers, petunias, impatiens, begonias

Tips for June Gardening in the Great Plains

• Choose heat-tolerant varieties: Select plant varieties that are well-suited to the hot and dry conditions of the Great Plains.
• Water regularly: Water plants deeply and regularly, especially during hot and dry weather.
• Mulch around plants: Mulch helps to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and regulate soil temperature.
• Fertilize plants: Fertilize plants according to the manufacturer’s instructions to provide them with the nutrients they need for healthy growth.
• Protect plants from pests: Keep an eye out for pests such as aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies. Treat infestations promptly with organic or chemical pesticides.

Conclusion

June is a busy but rewarding time for gardeners in the Great Plains. By following these tips and completing the necessary gardening tasks, you can ensure a successful and bountiful growing season.

Introduction

June is a great time to enjoy the beauty of nature and attract wildlife to your garden. With the long days and warm weather, there are plenty of opportunities to see and hear wildlife, from buzzing bees and fluttering butterflies to singing birds and graceful dragonflies.

Plants for Wildlife

One of the best ways to attract wildlife to your garden is to plant a variety of plants that provide food and shelter. Some great choices for June include:

• Cosmos: These cheerful flowers are a favorite of bees and butterflies, providing nectar and pollen.
• Zinnias: Zinnias are another popular choice for pollinators, and they come in a wide range of colors.
• Snapdragons: Snapdragons are a good choice for attracting long-tongued bumblebees.
• Roses: Many types of roses are excellent for pollinators, providing easily accessible nectar and pollen.
• Herbs: Herbs such as marjoram, mint, sage, and thyme are all attractive to pollinators and other wildlife.

Feeding Wildlife

In addition to planting the right plants, you can also provide food for wildlife in other ways.

• Supplementary foods: Mealworms and sunflower seeds are good sources of energy for busy parent birds.
• Water: Make sure birds and other animals have access to clean, fresh water.

Creating and Maintaining Habitats

Providing wildlife with a variety of habitats is essential for attracting and supporting a diverse range of species.

• Wildlife ponds: Ponds are a great resource for many aquatic and land animals.
• Long grass: Allowing grass to grow long around the edges of your pond or in other areas of your garden provides shelter for young animals.
• Rock piles: Rock piles provide shelter for amphibians and other small animals.
• Dense shrubs: Dense shrubs give birds cover when they come down to drink or bathe.

Look Out For… Dragonflies

Dragonflies are one of the highlights of a wildlife pond. To attract these graceful aerial hunters, create a pond with a variety of features, including:

• Floating plants: Floating plants provide shelter for dragonfly larvae.
• Emergent vegetation: Emergent vegetation gives dragonfly nymphs something to climb up before shedding their skins.
• Stones and plants: Stones and plants around the edge of the pond provide places for adult dragonflies to bask.

Growing Greener

When planning your garden, consider the environmental impact of your choices.

• Permeable surfaces: Permeable surfaces, such as gravel or grass sown through a reinforcement grid system, allow water to drain through, reducing the risk of flooding and creating a more sustainable landscape.
• Planting through gravel or permeable paving: You can plant through gravel or in spaces between permeable paving with low-growing plants such as thyme and chamomile.
• Hedges and climbers: Adding hedges and planting climbers up fences adds texture and color to your garden, while also providing valuable habitats for wildlife.

Conclusion

By following these tips, you can create a garden that is a haven for wildlife. From providing food and shelter to creating a variety of habitats, there are many ways to attract and support wildlife in your own backyard.

Introduction

As the days get longer and the nights warmer, it’s time to get your garden growing! June is a great month to plant and harvest a variety of delicious fruits and vegetables. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you make the most of this growing season.

What to Plant in June

• Sweetcorn: Sow sweetcorn seeds directly into the ground in June. Plant two or three seeds in each spot and thin them out once they’ve germinated. Sweetcorn is wind-pollinated, so planting them in groups helps ensure good pollination.

• Broad beans: Broad beans are a cool-season crop that can be planted in June. Keep an eye out for blackfly, which can infest the plants. You can control blackfly by cutting off the tips of infested plants, spraying with an organic soapy solution, or blasting them off with a jet of water.

Watering and Mulching

• Water your plants regularly, especially during hot, dry weather. Use a ground-level method of watering to seep water into the soil around the plants. This encourages deep rooting and drought resistance.

• Mulch around your plants with compost or manure. Mulch helps to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and regulate soil temperature.

Thinning Out Fruit Trees

• Apple and pear trees often set more fruit than they can support. In June, thin out the fruit by removing small and misshapen fruits. This helps the tree to focus its energy on producing a high-quality crop.

Other Gardening Tips for June

• Sow sweetcorn outside: Now that the soil is warm, sow sweetcorn straight into the ground. Sow two or three seeds in each spot to be sure you get a plant and thin them out once they’ve germinated. You could carefully transplant the excess seedlings, it’s worth a try. Sweetcorn are wind pollinated so these group formations allow the pollen to waft down from the male flowers at the top to the cobs forming below. It’s partial pollination that causes empty and misshapen cobs. Seeds take just over a week to germinate. Once the plants have been thinned and are growing away, give them a good soak and mulch with plenty of compost or manure.

• Control blackfly on the broad beans: My heart sinks when I see the dark clusters of blackfly feeding on my broad beans. It’s inevitable. They mostly populate the tips where the sap is the sweetest and you might notice ants helping themselves to the sticky honey dew too. I start by cutting the tips off every plant. That reduces the population immediately but they will recolonise in a week or two and eventually head for the bean pods. If you’re able to use a hose pipe, put your hand behind the tops of a group of plants at a time to stop them snapping then blast the fly off with a jet of water. If that’s not an option, try spraying with an organic soapy solution. Whatever you do, unless you’re rescued by a legion of ladybirds, it’ll need repeating several times to keep them at bay before you’ve finished harvesting the beans.

• Water and mulch: I target the plants I water in the veg patch at this time of year. It’s wasteful to spray water randomly. The most effective way of watering is to use a ground level method of seeping water into the soil around the plants. If the weather is warm I use the strategy of soaking every few days in the evening or early morning. This encourages deep rooting and a level of drought resistance. Courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes, celeriac and celery are on my list for more frequent watering. Lettuce, spinach and leaves near to harvest can be kept from bolting with more water too. Keep a thick mulch cover of compost between plants and add more after a long rain downpour to stop it all evaporating.

• Thin out apple and pears: My apples and pears often set far more fruit than they can support. There’s a natural loss called the June drop where immature fruits thin themselves but it’s worth going through the trusses if you can reach them to improve fruit quality and just to keep the tree from exhaustion, particularly if the tree is young or is a trained form that is developing its shape. Don’t pull the fruit off by tugging at the trusses, I use scissors and remove any small and misshapen fruits leaving the best one per cluster. The remaining fruits should be about 10cm away from neighbouring fruits to be sure of plenty of space and light to develop into a good quality crop.

Conclusion

June is a great month to get your garden growing! By following these tips, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest of delicious fruits and vegetables all summer long.

Additional Resources

• How to Grow Sweetcorn
• How to Control Aphids
• How to Save Water in the Garden
• Essential Guide to Caring for Apples

Harvesting

June is a great month to harvest your homegrown fruits and vegetables. Strawberries, gooseberries, potatoes, lettuces, and more are all ready to be picked.

• Strawberries: Protect your strawberries from birds with netting and pick them when they’re ripe.
• Potatoes: Dig up early potato varieties for a soft, sweet harvest.
• Gooseberries: Cover your gooseberry plants with netting to keep birds away.
• Lettuce: Pick your lettuce on a dry day and wash it thoroughly before eating.
• Other crops: You can also harvest carrots, parsnips, beetroot, beans, and sweetcorn in June.

Planting and Sowing

There’s still time to plant or sow a second batch of crops in June.

• French beans: Sow dwarf or climbing French beans directly into the soil.
• Lettuce: Start a new batch of lettuce by sowing seeds in a cool place or buying plug plants.
• Other crops: You can also sow salads, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, beans, and sweetcorn now.

Caring for Crops

• Tomatoes: Pinch out sideshoots to encourage fruit production.
• Apples and pears: Thin out fruits to get larger, fully-formed ones.
• Plants in containers: Water your plants regularly, especially in hot weather.
• Pest and disease control: Keep an eye out for pests and diseases and treat them accordingly.

Tips

• Recycle pots and trays when starting new crops.
• Check for local plant pot recycling schemes.
• Add a half-strength liquid plant food to your watering can when watering container plants.
• Sow cut-and-come-again lettuce leaves for a steady supply of greens.
• Check your seed packets for leftover seeds that you can sow now.

Planting Sweetcorn

In June, it’s time to plant sweetcorn. We recommend planting sweetcorn with lettuce to improve pollination and ensure a continuous supply of vegetables.

Supporting Squash Plants

Squash plants need strong support to hold the weight of their mature fruits. We typically use tripods made of sturdy posts, but this year I’m trying a lattice arrangement. You can also grow squash as climbers, which is a good option if you’re short on space.

Caring for Soft Fruit

As soft fruit ripens in June, it’s important to protect it from pests and diseases. We recommend tying up the sideshoots on gooseberry cordons to protect the ripening fruit. He also discusses the advantages of growing cordons in small spaces.

Other June Gardening Tips

• Check for slugs and take steps to protect your crops.
• Water your plants regularly as the weather warms up.
• Keep an eye on your seedlings and young plants, and pot them on or harden them off as needed.

Harvesting in June

June is a great time to harvest crops like lettuce, sweetcorn, and soft fruit. We recommend harvesting soft fruit when it’s slightly underripe to extend its shelf life.

Additional Resources

• How to grow pumpkins and squash
• Gardening jobs for June
• Five crops to harvest in June

Introduction

June is the perfect time to start sowing seeds for beautiful blooms and bountiful harvests later in the year. With the last frosts behind us, many vegetables and flowers can now be sown directly outdoors. This guide will provide you with everything you need to know about what to sow in June, how to sow it, and how to care for your seedlings.

Flower Seeds to Sow in June

• Cornflowers: These easy-to-grow annuals produce an abundance of summer blooms in shades of blue, pink, white, and maroon.
• Zinnias: Zinnias thrive in hot and dry conditions, making them ideal for sunny borders. They come in a wide range of colors, including yellow, orange, purple, and pink.
• Sweet Williams: These short-lived perennials add rich color and scent to the garden in late spring and summer. They are available in a variety of colors, from deep maroon to soft pink.
• Forget-me-nots: These versatile biennials thrive in moist, well-drained soil. Their azure blue flowers will self-seed and spread throughout the borders, providing a mass of color from April to June.

Vegetable Seeds to Sow in June

• Lettuce: Lettuce is easy to grow from seed and can be harvested within six to ten weeks. Sow seeds in well-prepared soil and keep them well-watered.
• Spring onions: Spring onions are one of the easiest vegetables to grow in containers or raised beds. They can be harvested within eight weeks of sowing.
• Runner beans: Runner beans are prolific croppers, especially in cooler, wetter summers. They require sturdy support and should be sown in a warm, sheltered spot.
• Carrots: Carrots come in a variety of colors, including orange, yellow, purple, and red. Sow seeds in well-prepared soil and avoid thinning seedlings to prevent attracting carrot root fly.

Successional Sowing

To provide continuous cropping and avoid gluts, sow vegetables like lettuce, beetroot, and spinach successionally over the next few weeks. Small sowings can be made every 10-14 days. You can also sow in containers, which is ideal for radishes, salad leaves, rocket, and round carrots.

Growing in Containers

If you don’t have a vegetable plot or raised beds, you can still grow vegetables and flowers in containers. This is a great option for small spaces or for those who want to grow vegetables on a patio or balcony. Just make sure to choose a container that is large enough for the plants to grow in and has drainage holes.

Tips for Sowing Seeds

• Sow seeds at the correct depth. The depth will vary depending on the type of seed.
• Water the seeds well after sowing.
• Keep the soil moist, but not waterlogged.
• Thin seedlings to the correct spacing once they have germinated.
• Protect seedlings from pests and diseases.

Conclusion

June is a busy time for gardeners, but it is also a rewarding one. By following the tips in this guide, you can sow seeds for a beautiful and bountiful garden.

Introduction

As the summer months approach, it’s time to make the most of your garden. June is a busy month for gardeners, with plenty of planting, weeding, and harvesting to do. This guide will provide you with all the information you need to get your garden looking its best in June.

Planting

June is a great time to plant a variety of flowers and vegetables. Here are a few ideas:

• Flowers:
  • Eight plants that flower all summer: salvia, verbena, lantana, zinnia, cosmos, marigold, petunia, and geranium
  • Plants for beautiful June pots: impatiens, begonias, coleus, and fuchsia
  • Five scented plants for June: lavender, roses, jasmine, honeysuckle, and lily of the valley
• Vegetables:
  • Space-saving veg crops to grow: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash
  • Five crops to harvest in June: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and peas

Jobs

In addition to planting, there are a few other important jobs to do in the garden in June:

• Watering: Water your plants regularly, especially during hot and dry weather.
• Weeding: Remove weeds from your garden beds to prevent them from competing with your plants for water and nutrients.
• Fertilizing: Fertilize your plants according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Mulching: Spread a layer of mulch around your plants to help retain moisture and suppress weeds.
• Deadheading: Remove spent flowers from your plants to encourage new growth and flowering.

Wildlife

June is a great time to attract wildlife to your garden. Here are a few tips:

• Provide food: Plant flowers that are rich in nectar and pollen, and set out bird feeders and water baths.
• Create shelter: Build birdhouses, bat boxes, and insect hotels to provide shelter for wildlife.
• Reduce pesticide use: Pesticides can harm wildlife, so use them only when necessary.

Product Reviews

If you’re looking for some new gardening tools or supplies, here are a few product reviews to help you make the best choice:

• Best lawn mowers to buy in 2023: Honda, Toro, and Ego are all top-rated brands.
• Best self-watering planters and plant pots in 2023: Oya, Gardena, and Scotts Miracle-Gro are all good options.
• The best compost bins in 2024: Green Cone, Hotbin, and Compost Wizard are all highly rated.

Conclusion

June is a busy but rewarding month for gardeners. By following the tips in this guide, you can create a beautiful and thriving garden that you can enjoy all summer long.