Things to do in the month of June.

Roses are looking their worst at this time of the year with hardly any leaves left on plant & with only minor rose flowers hanging on. If you live in a non frosted area I would start to prune roses in June but if you are in cold and frosted area I would suggest pruning in 1st -2nd week in July.

A couple of necessary rules I personally like to follow for Rose Pruning. (1) have a good pair of sturdy gloves so you can grip the plant, this makes it easier to get a nice clean cut of the stem & protects your hands from the sharp thorns. (2) Have a sharp pair of secatuers as a blunt pair of secatures can give you a bad cut & a higher chance chances that the rose may get a disease, or insect attack in that area, which can enter the whole plant causing long term harm. (3) Spray lime sulphur over the whole bush after pruning this helps kill the white louse scale which grows on the stems of roses.

Another tip is to spray the ground with the same chemical as this chemical also helps kill spores of fungal diseases such as black spot. Please spray with correct rates as directed on the label & always read the label. for safety instructions. (4) don’t put roses clippings in the compost bin as you will not want to spread any disease or fungal outbreak throughout your compost..

Vegetable Garden

In the vegi garden you should have your second crop of cabbage, cauilflower, brussel sprouts, broccoli, silverbeet, onions, spinach & all year round carrots and lettuce. If you haven’t its not too late to plant them now, but if you choose to plant use seedlings as it is to late to sow seeds for the above vegetables.

Lawns
It is that time of the year when you start to see the large leafed weeds enter your lawn. The good news is that these weeds are not that difficult to kill with some very good herbicides which are on the market these days, but the CRITICAL answer you need to know is WHAT TYPE OF LAWN HAVE I GOT.??? is it kikuyu, buffalo, couch etc…. as some chemicals can only be used on some turf species and may effect and even kill your lawn.

Thanks & happy gardening.

Tom

Tom lantry’s Total Garden Service Hunter Valley.