Monthly Gardening Tasks – June June 1st, 2016

• Irrigation controller seasonal adjustment should be set to 100%
• Feed roses. To encourage growth and repeat blooming, feed plants with a complete fertilizer (one containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium); if leaves are mostly yellow and veins remain green (indicating chlorosis), also give plants iron. Water thoroughly before applying any kind of fertilizer and water again afterward if using a granular type. Remove spent roses. Cut blooms above a five-leaflet leaf.
• AVOID overhead watering of roses and other shrubs with large blooms to reduce disease.
• Shear spring–blooming perennials. To keep low-growing, spring-blooming perennials full and compact, remove spent blooms and 1 or 2 inches of growth. Use sharp grass shears or hedge shears.
  There is still time to plant late season warm season vegetables.
• Feed, water (especially on hot days), weed, and mulch. Remove faded blooms to encourage new blooms on ever-blooming shrubs.
• To eliminate aphids and spider mites from roses, spray plants with water, then apply insecticidal soap.
• Clean up fallen leaves. If they’re diseased, discard them (don’t compost them).
• You can remove yellowed, brown bulb foliage as soon as it pulls off without resistance — no sooner!
• Now is the time to control a number of diseases. Check junipers, birches, cherry and arborvitae for bagworms and other leaf-eating caterpillars, then treat with Bacillus thuringiensis as needed. Watch for fungal disease on tomatoes and roses and spray with a fungicide (a botanical, earth-friendly one if possible).
• Set the mower up a notch or two as the month heats up. Keep the grass a little longer in length.