June garden checklist

Plants growing in containers, such as these at Sullivan Hardware & Garden near 71st and Keystone in Indianapolis, can be transplanted any time you can work the soil. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp

Indoors

• Houseplants will need more water and fertilizer during summer growing period.

General landscape

• Prune spring-flowering shrubs within a month after blooms fade.
• Supplement water as needed. Most newly planted stock needs an inch of water every week or 10 days. Established trees, shrubs and perennials can go several weeks without supplemental watering.
• Remove faded blooms from peony, iris, delphiniums and other spring perennials.
• Container-grown stock, including shrubs, trees, perennials and annuals, can be planted any time.
• Continue planting gladiolus for successive blooms.

Vegetables and fruits

• Discontinue harvest of asparagus and rhubarb in mid-June to allow foliage to develop and store food reserves for next year. Fertilize. Water when dry.
• Blanch (exclude from light) cauliflower when heads are 2-inches in diameter. Tie leaves up over the developing heads.

Broccoli head ready for harvest. Photo courtesy Purdue University

• Harvest spring plantings of broccoli, cabbage and peas.
• Plan your Halloween pumpkin. Determine the days to harvest for particular cultivar and count backward to find the proper planting date.
• Remove cold-season plants, such as radish, spinach and lettuce, as they bolt or form seed stalks.
• Every week or 10 days, continue planting carrots, beans and sweet corn for successive harvests.
• Do not be alarmed by June drop of tree fruit. It is a natural thinning process. If needed, help nature by thinning fruit to 6- to 8-inches apart and propping heavy branches.

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