June In the Garden
June is upon us at last. June has always been my favourite month of the year—not only because it’s my birthday month. Growing up, June always marked the end of the school year and the start of summer holidays. June marks the official beginning of summer and the longest day of the year. And for many of us here on this page, June means gardening season!
This is the time to see our seedlings take hold and begin to grow on their own, for our annual flowers to begin blooming, and for some of—in my opinion—the best weather of the year.
That doesn’t mean it’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labour. Not just yet, anyway, though it’s certainly nice to enjoy the days as they pass.
Many of us probably have the bulk of this season’s plants already in the ground or in containers, but there are still plenty of beautiful plants and amazing weekly sales on at Floral Acres to fill up that out of the way corner or underwhelming garden bed.
If you haven’t already, transplant your warm-season veggies like tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers. For crops like lettuce, spinach, beets, and carrots, planting in batches works well to stagger your eventual harvest. Pick any grown radishes, trim your early lettuce, and watch for early ripening strawberries as a sweet treat so these plants can keep producing. By mid-June, leave your perennial food sources like rhubarb and asparagus to begin growing foliage and storing reserves for next year.
Regarding garden maintenance, now is a good time to layer mulch around those new, hopeful plants. Straw, compost, or other natural mulches will moderate soil moisture and temperature, providing a consistent environment and preventing weeds from taking over.
As the summer heat begins to descend, switch from shallow daily watering to deeper, less frequent doses which will develop stronger roots as a whole. Any plants that are starting to grow tall may benefit from a stake, cage, or trellis. Thin out overcrowded rows of root vegetables, and deadhead those faded blooms. And always keep an eye out for pests who may be moving in. June is all about giving our plants their best shot!
This month, we’re going to dig into the topic of deadheading.
Working in the annual benches, we often hear the request: flowers that won’t require deadheading. An attempt to minimize the extra maintenance that goes into an already labour-intensive endeavour. But the fact remains that many flowers require deadheading, and do their best when we take the time to assist them.
Deadheading actually has several purposes. To allow the plant—and in some ways, trick it—to produce more blooms. This keeps the garden looking tidy, and also prevents the plant from attempting to go to seed. A pollinated flower wants to reproduce, and seed production requires massive amounts of energy. By removing that option, the plant will continue to produce new buds. This also keeps your garden tidy and according to plan by disallowing prolific perennials from seeding all over your beds.
Here are a few pointers that may help make the process a little easier.
There are three methods of deadheading depending on the type of plant.
For tender plants with thin stems—marigolds, petunias—simply pinch the spent blooms from the stem just below the base of the flower. Foliage-rich plants with medium stems like zinnias or dahlias, use a clean pair of snips to trim the stem back to the next set of healthy leaves. For thick or woody stems like roses, prune the stem at a 45-degree angle just above the next bud or node.
Tall flowers like lupines or delphiniums benefit from cutting the stalk back down to the level of the foliage once more of the blooms are spent. For bulbs like daffodils and lilies, only snip the faded flower or seed pod. The plant will save the energy remaining in the stalk towards the following year. Some plants, like hydrangeas, coneflowers, and ornamental grasses provide winter interest, as well as early spring food for birds and pollinators, if you opt to leave them over winter and deadhead in the spring.
Now that we know what to do, here are a few things to avoid.
● Don’t cut the stem back too far down. This could remove developing buds, preventing those buds from blooming.
● Be cautious not to use blunt, dirty shears. This can not only damage tender stalks, but can also allow for the spread of fungal or bacterial disease from one plant to another. Clean or sterilize your tools for best results.
● Some plants don’t require deadheading at all, like certain lobelias and fuschias. No point in spending your valuable time on plants that don’t need assistance.
● Waiting too long to deadhead can encourage the plant to enter seeding mode, at which point it will stop attempting to produce new flowers.
● If you deadhead too late in the season, when the plant is running low on energy, it won’t produce new blooms. As above, leaving the seed pods near the end of season can provide for pollinators in the late winter and early spring when other sources of food are scarce.
● Pulling or ripping off flowers by hand can tear the stem, shocking the plant’s system, and allowing the stem to die or attract disease.
● Lastly, pruning or deadheading under poor conditions—during periods of extreme heat, drought, or shortly after planting—can stunt the plant’s growth. Producing new buds requires a lot of energy, and during those times a plant is often in energy conservation mode.
Hopefully some of this has been helpful in keeping your garden looking and producing at its best for the rest of the growing season. One of my favourite parts of gardening is learning along the way—and I definitely learn a lot from researching these blogs. With no small amount of work, and definitely a bit of luck, our gardens will thrive through the summer!
Until next time!