- Time to fertilize your lawn again. Mid-June is one of the four times recommended by the WSU Agronomist for fertilizing lawns in Puget Sound. The other three times are mid-September, 25 November and the 1st of May. We recommend Dr. Earth Super Natural Lawn Food or Gardener & Bloome Lawn Fertilizer. Both are completely organic.
- Help control algae in your pond by adding floating plants. Water Hyacinth and Water Lettuce are both excellent choices. Their roots hang down (offering cover for small fish) and absorb nitrogen in the water. Nitrogen deprived water is harder for algae to grow in.
- Fertilize asparagus and rhubarb throughout the spring for maximum leafy growth. Use fertilizers high in Nitrogen such as Blood Meal or Sulfate of Ammonia.
- Watch for aphids on new growth of cherry, plum, peach and apple trees. If detected after infestation is so bad that leaves are curled, simply prune off the growing tip of the branch. If seen early enough a hard spray of water will knock them off, or you can use a mild insecticide such as insecticidal soap. Sprays will not be effective if the leaves are badly curled.
- Now is the time to hang apple maggot fly traps in your apple and pear trees. We have the traps and additional lure packets if you already have the traps. We also carry the nylon footies for covering the fruit.
- Sedums like ‘Autumn Joy’ will be ready to be cutback by 2/3 this month. You’ll get more flowers on sturdier stems.
- Plant a pot of 3 or 4 Heliotrope and place it by your front door or a walkway. Heliotropes have beautiful purplish leaves and very fragrant lavender colored flowers and they bloom all summer.
- Keep hanging fuchsias looking nice and blooming all summer by removing old flowers and seed pods. Fertilize every two weeks with Blooming and Rooting Soluble Plant Food.
