This June 2022 is a hard one to predict, and so hard to line up garden tasks for you. Lots of winter wind, record highs, dry so far,,, so what might this summer bring?!
Water Wisely
Some things don’t change. Like watering. When you do water your landscape trees, water deeply. Water trees so the water soaks in to three feet deep. This may mean for eight hours, depending on water flow and soil type, but unless we are slammed with heat, established trees need water only about once per month.Especially in June when monsoon season has not started yet.
Water Wide
Make sure you are watering out at the canopy line of the plants (the outer edge of the leaves). This is also called the drip-line – where a light rain drips off the leaves to soak the soil. This is where water absorbing roots should be. Watering wide will encourage trees roots to grow wide and thus anchor the trees. With good anchoring roots, trees are less likely to topple in a heavy wind or one of those wild June micro-bursts.
To Do Before mid-June
Fertilize citrus if you haven’t already. Use a fruiting fertilizer.
If you wish, apply pre-emergent weed control before monsoon season starts. Consider this though – it is also toxic to all those tiny soil critters that help keep your garden growing.
To Do Anytime during June
Fertilize lawns and palm trees with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer.
Plant native vegetables and herbs like amaranth, corn, devil’s claw, epazote, squash and tepary beans.
Plant non-native heat-loving veggies like black-eyed peas, gourd, muskmelon, squash, and watermelon.
Watch for tiny young praying mantis, emerging as weather warms. Do not freak out – they are tiny at first and need a second look. Don’t mistake the baby green walkers for aphids, their prey.
Continue to eliminate spider mites on evergreens with insecticidal soap or blasts of water. Repeat as needed. Water the evergreens to help reduce stress.
Keep fruit trees irrigated to minimize June fruit drop. Some fruit drop is normal.
Protect developing apricots, peaches, figs, and grapes from birds with netting. Use a high quality product made for the task because improper netting can harm birds.
Harvest early grapes, jujube fruits, and some Southwest bounty, like barrel cactus seed (learn how on Savor the Southwest).
Thanks for reading!
Jacqueline
Learn More about Southwest Gardening
Option 1 – Sign up for my newsletter to learn more timely tips I can’t cover in the blogs. I value my privacy and yours – I will never share your information. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Option 2– Head over to my Gardening With Soule Membership Site – offers the members tons of in-depth content, live Q & A, and so much more.
Legal
© Article copyright Jacqueline A. Soule. All rights reserved. You must ask permission to republish an entire blog post or article. Okay to use a short excerpt – but you must give proper credit to Gardening With Soule. You must include a link to the original post on our site. No stealing photos.
Be the first to reply