doodle by andre: vegetable-doping scandal

doodle by andre: vegetable-doping scandal

tidy up, and keep sowing

i.d., and tackle, weeds

be vigilant with watering!

ideas, and care tips, for pots

garlic and asparagus care

cutback of some perennials

lilac pruning asap!

hill up your white potatoes

water and turn compost

mulch!

Get my ribbiting free newsletter!

join the conversation Cancel reply

Get my ribbiting free newsletter!

join the conversation Cancel reply

JUNE GARDEN CHORES

Root Around a Bit

JUNE GARDEN CHORES

Newest Book: ‘The Backyard Parables’

Your Favorite Recent Posts

perfect for giving

Quotes

June 1, 2013

June 3, 2013

June 4, 2013

June 5, 2013

June 8, 2013

June 9, 2013

June 12, 2013

June 14, 2013

June 20, 2013

June 24, 2013

August 23, 2012 at 8:48 am

I MEANT TO RUN THIS ONE during the recent Olympics, but the post-Games disqualifications of medalists for doping make it timely now, too. Perhaps instead of shooting up on metenolone (a.k.a. Primobolan), the disgraced Belarusian shot-putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk should have eaten her carrots? Thanks, Andre Jordan, for the timely commentary.

{ Leave a Comment }

Previous Post:
7 tips on how to shop for flower bulbs

Next Post:
garden bugs i have known: knowledge is power

Previous Post:
7 tips on how to shop for flower bulbs

Next Post:
garden bugs i have known: knowledge is power

1 June 1, 2013 tidy up, and keep sowing “NOTHING LASTS.” That Eastern-style philosophical message of impermanence is also what the June garden teaches. What was just all about fresh color and foliage and newness can suddenly looks like a whole lot of big brown deadheads on things like lilacs, with floppy, gone-by perennials beneath them, waiting for you and your trusty shears to make it all better. Are you up for the task—and for insuring the vegetable garden keeps on producing by keeping up the planting? read all the june chores ⇒

3 June 3, 2013 i.d., and tackle, weeds MAKE A PASS through each garden bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Apply mulch to all beds to help in the plight. First: Learn to identify your opponents. Here’s help with weed ID. I am about to do battle with this prolific one—called clearweed. Look familiar? read all the june chores ⇒

4 June 4, 2013 be vigilant with watering! GARDENS NEED an inch of water a week from you or the heavens. Check your rain gaugeto make sure they get it, and remember: Soak deeply in the root zone. Don’t spritz things with a sprayer now and again like you’re washing the car. read all the june chores ⇒

5 June 5, 2013 ideas, and care tips, for pots POTS need extra attention, especially smallish ones in sun, and they also need regular feeding (no blue chemicals, please; try seaweed and fish emulsion concentrates that you dilute in your watering can). Be alert! Didn’t plant up any pots yet? Plenty of time still, and here’s how to take your containers up a notch this year. read all the june chores ⇒

8 June 8, 2013 garlic and asparagus care KEEP ASPARAGUS and garlic well-weeded. Let asparagus grow lots of ferns the rest of the summer and fall; never cut back the foliage untit it’s totally brown. If you’re growing hardneck garlic, the “extra” crop of their scapes (flowering stalks) will be coming in about now up North. Water garlic during dry spells. Many people wonder all spring about when to harvest, which is high summer sometime, around July here. Not yet! read all the june chores ⇒

9 June 9, 2013 cutback of some perennials SOME PERENNIALS MAY be so tired they need a full cutback now or soon. My perennial geraniums, particularly the great groundcover Geranium macrorrhizum and extra-handsome G. phaeum, are like that. You sometimes have to make things worse for the garden to look better in the long run. read all the june chores ⇒

12 June 12, 2013 lilac pruning asap! SPRING-FLOWERING SHRUBS like lilacs get pruned now. Later pruning (after July 4th in my Zone 5B Northeastern location) risks damage to emerging buds for next year’s blooms. Clean up unsightly deadheads of other big bloomers like rhododendron if you care to, but with fruiting things (roses that make nice hips, viburnums, you get the idea…) faded flowers are left intact to set beautiful, bird-feeding fruit. read all the june chores ⇒

14 June 14, 2013 hill up your white potatoes DID YOU HILL UP your white potatoes? read all the june chores ⇒

20 June 20, 2013 water and turn compost DON’T LET THE HEAP dry out completely, or it will not “cook.” Turning the compost pile to aerate will also hasten decomposition, but things will rot eventually even if not turned. read all the june chores ⇒

24 June 24, 2013 mulch! MULCH VEGETABLES with baled or chopped straw, partially rotted leaves, or other available organic materials. Confused what mulch to use? Read this. MULCH AROUND WOODY PLANTS after cleaning away weeds and grass, but no volcano mulch (meaning no piling thick mulch up against trunks). Two inches depth or slightly less is plenty, starting several inches or so away from trunks. read all the june chores ⇒