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Early summer at last! In June there is a lot to do in the garden, on the balcony or on the terrace: sowing, planting, tending and harvesting. Now, for example, elderberries, black locust trees and summer lime trees are in bloom. And of course the queen of all flowers, roses, are in full bloom during these weeks. That is why June used to be called Rose Moon.
As soon as the temperatures rise, water is even more important than usual. Water all plants and the lawn sufficiently, but not too generously because of fungal diseases such as grey mould or lettuce rot.
If you want to reseed your lawn, now is the time to do it. Thanks to the higher temperatures, the lawn germinates faster than in spring. In June, be sure to mow your lawn regularly so that it grows more evenly and densely. With a robotic mower you can automatically cut and mulch the lawn. The grass clippings retain humidity in the soil and provide the lawn with valuable natural nutrients.
In our article "Lawn Mower Purchase Guide: Important Criteria for the Right Lawn Mower Choice" read what you should look out for before buying a new robotic lawnmower.
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Ornamental plants need a lot of water and fertiliser now. Water them early in the morning. Then they absorb water better and are supplied for the whole day. In addition, the midday sun dries the stems and leaves, so germs and pests have no chance. Without sufficient nutrients, ornamental plants suffer from deficiency symptoms such as yellowing. But don't fertilise them too often: too much fertiliser is just as harmful as too little. Prune flowers such as lady's mantle or geraniums with scissors or a high-mounted lawn mower. Because many birds have already nested in June, you can now cut back hedges to a third of their annual shoot. Seed-producing shrubs such as lilacs, peonies or magnolias will become stronger if you remove faded flowers, and perennials will flower a second time in autumn if you cut them now. Rhododendrons are particularly vulnerable to pests in June. Remove wilted leaves and inspect all plants for pests.
You can extend the flowering period if you remove the faded flowers. This works for flowering plants, for example roses or ornamental shrubs, and for many balcony plants.
In our article "Smart Gardening Makes Garden Work Easier" learn how to water your garden automatically early in the morning without having to get up early.
If you have sown vegetables in spring, you can now harvest and enjoy cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, kohlrabi, radishes, lettuce, white cabbage or savoy cabbage. From mid-June, the first early potatoes should also be ready. In order for the tomatoes to ripen wonderfully in summer, you should prune the tomato plants in June, i.e. remove their axillary shoots between the leaf axils. You can encourage the growth of beans, peas, peppers and tomatoes by mounding soil around the plants. This way they absorb more water and nutrients and form new lateral roots. Green manure plants such as yellow mustard, oil radish or winter rape form and bind valuable nutrients for all plants and drive away pests. In June, your garden is a paradise for slugs and snails. Protect your plants with slug fences made of concrete, plastic or sheet steel or sprinkle organic slug pellets.
In June you can already harvest the first strawberries or rhubarb. It is also the right time to prune espalier fruit such as apples, apricots, cherries, peaches, cherries or grapes. If you remove excess branches, all the others will receive more nutrients and therefore have more vigour. Cut the shoots at bud break while they are still soft and pliable. If the cut is larger than two centimetres, preserve the branch from disease with tree wax. You can protect the berry bushes from drying out with a five to ten centimetre thick layer of lawn clippings or bark mulch. In addition, the mulch layer keeps weeds away.
Slowly but surely the strawberries are getting too heavy for the strawberry plants. Therefore, put some straw underneath, then the strawberries will not lie on the ground and will be protected from rotting.
In June, July and August you can cut evergreens into shape, for example box trees or laurel trees. They have their strongest growth phase behind them and will stay in shape longer after pruning than if you cut them too early. If you would rather have fewer but larger than more but smaller apples, pears or plums, remove half the fruit from your fruit trees. Once the cherries have been harvested, it is time to thin out the branches of the fruit trees. The cherry harvest starts at the end of May, beginning of June and lasts about seven weeks until the middle of June, end of June.
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Balcony and patio plants also need more water and nutrients in June. Water all plants in balcony boxes or tubs in the morning and if necessary in the evening if it was hot during the day. Potted plants do not store much water. If your plants are in the sun all day, a flower box with a water reservoir makes sense. Provide the plants with nutrients, for example with a fast-acting liquid fertiliser or an organic slow-release fertiliser, and check them regularly for pests. The same recommendations apply to vegetables and fruit on the balcony or terrace as to vegetables or fruit in the garden. Tomatoes, which are especially often grown in balcony boxes, will bear more fruit if you remove the shoots in the leaf axils (sprouting).
Lavender grows in many flower boxes. You have to prune lavender, otherwise the old shoots become senile and the plant dies. Remove the old inflorescences generously once a year.
You can leave your houseplants outside with a clear conscience from now until the end of summer, even at night. Make sure that they do not stand in the blazing sun. If there is a thunderstorm or hail, you should take them back indoors or into the flat. All houseplants, indoors and temporarily outdoors, need more care in summer. That means water, some sun, fresh air and nutrients. Many forget that your houseplants also need a little fertiliser in between.
By now at the latest, you should make your garden seating area, balcony or terrace homely so that you can relax and enjoy the summer. Pressure wash the flooring, get all the garden furniture out of winter storage, clean the barbecue if you forgot to do so in autumn, install all the fairy lights and connect the garden shower to the water. Be sure to also think about good sun protection for you and your family: in the article "Sun protection in the garden, on the balcony and on the terrace" we present sunshades, sun sails and alternatives.
In June, the garden is an all-you-can-eat buffet for slugs. Protect threatened vegetable beds with slug fences or organic slug pellets. But there are more pests that feel at home in the garden and flower boxes in June. For example, ants and aphids that attack flower stems and leaves. You can fight them with a pesticide or a home remedy: dissolve 50 grams of soft soap in a litre of warm water, pour the cooled soap solution into a spray bottle and spray all infested plants. If you notice spots or discolouration on rose petals, it could be rose rust, a fungus. It usually disappears after pruning. If it does not, you will need to control rose rust with a special organic fungicide. Fungi such as grey mould or salad rot only settle in humidity. That is why you should keep enough distance between the plants, water only the roots and water in the early morning instead of in the evening.
Many believe that ants eat aphids. This is not true. On the contrary: ants defend aphids against their enemies because they want to secure their honeydew excretions.
With an insect hotel you control pests such as aphids, leaf beetle larvae, scale insects or cicadas naturally and at the same time promote biodiversity in your garden or on your balcony.
