Here are some things you should be thinking about in June:

• Hot crops like corn, zucchini, squash (all cucurbits), peppers, and potatoes can be planted now, if you haven’t already. Those who planted in May will have a head-start.
• Mulch! A 5 cm layer of mulch can cut down watering by 70% and weeding by 90%. Mark uses shredded cedar or pine bark mulch, and Ben uses straw. To each their own.
• Fast growing flowers can be sown now wherever you have a blank space in the garden. There are lots of great wildflower mixes out there that can bring pollinators to your garden. An easy way to plant these is by pouring the seed mix into a bucket with some dry potting mix, sand or vermiculite (one packet/25 sq ft). Pour the seed/sand or soil mixture back and forth between two buckets until they are fully mixed. Broadcast the seed by hand over a bed of soil and rake it in.
• Roses, peonies and clematis will start flowering this month – get out there and make sure they are supported before they fall over under the weight of their massive blossoms!
• Containers can be planted up now with annuals. Feed them once with a feed-and-forget fertilizer (slow release) and add a healthy amount of compost to the potting mix for season-long performance.
• Herbs can be planted right along side the rest of your containers and harvested immediately. Be careful not to over water; with the exception of Basil, most herbs like to dry out between watering.
• Stake your tomatoes! Getting them off the ground will double your crop. We like the Mark’s Choice Spiral Stake…not just because it has Mark’s name on it. Mark chose this product because it is the easiest way to stake, save yourself the hassle of tying tomatoes.

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