June Garden Checklist

One of my favorite things to do during summer is ride around town and look at all the flowers planted in front of businesses and homes. A lot of work goes into having a nice landscape, so give yourself a pat on the back. Don’t let the heat deter you from continuing to maintain and grow your garden. Be sure to grab a bottle of water when heading outside in the Mississippi summer! Here are a few tasks to tackle during the month of June: 

1. Plant warm-season grasses including Bermuda, centipede, zoysia, and St. Augustine. This can be done anytime during June, July, and August. Extension Publication 1322, “Establish and Manage Your Home Lawn,” discusses how to maintain a healthy lawn and can be a useful resource. If you have any areas in your yard that are deeply shaded where grass won’t grow, consider planting liriope, ajuga, vinca, or pachysandra for ground cover.
2. Select daylilies in bloom for planting in your garden. Daylilies come in several shapes, colors, and sizes, so they’re a great plant to incorporate into your landscape. 
3. If you’re in south Mississippi, plant tomatoes toward the end of June to ensure a fall harvest. Many cherry tomatoes do well in our Mississippi summers, and the Bella Rosa tomato variety is a good choice that tolerates our heat and humidity well. Want more information on growing tomatoes? Check out the tomato section of our website!
4. If you’ve planted tomatoes, cucumbers, or zucchini in your garden, start fertilizing them monthly with 5-10-10. What exactly is 5-10-10? It’s a fertilizer that has 5 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphorous, and 10 percent potassium and is considered a complete fertilizer. For more information on fertilizing, our blog post on fertilizer is a helpful resource. 
5. For those lucky enough to have a blackberry bush in their yard, pruning is an important step to keep them growing well over the years. Remove blackberry fruiting canes after the harvest to encourage side branching. And be sure to bake a blackberry pie afterwards to reward yourself for all your work! The Fruit and Nut Review on Blackberries is a great resource for blackberry growers to keep handy.

As you’re out and about in your yard, remember to keep an eye out for pests and diseases. Also be sure to remove any faded flowers on your plants to keep your lawn and garden looking sharp!

The full garden calendar is available online for your convenience so you can stay on track with your gardening chores. If you have any questions as you prepare your garden or landscape this spring, our website is a great place to find answers. You can find helpful articles and videos in our lawn and garden section.

Another great resource for gardening tips is our Southern Gardening social media accounts. Follow MSU Extension horticulturist Dr. Gary Bachman on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay plugged into the gardening world. If you aren’t already a part of our Horticulture Hub Facebook group, you really are missing out!