What to Do in Your Backyard in June
Average temperatures: High 91 Low 71
Average rainfall is 7.35 inches
First day of summer June 20.
What to Plant
Vegetables: Amaranth, boniato, calabaza, chayote, cherry tomatoes, dasheen, Everglades tomatoes, Jicama, lima beans, Seminole pumpkin, sweet cassava, sweet potatoes, and yard-long beans.
Flowers: Angelonia, begonias, bush daisy, butterfly plant, caladium, cat's whiskers, celosia, coleus, coreopsis, Dahlberg daisy, firespike, four-o'clock, gaillardia, gerbera daisy, ginger, goldenrod, impatiens, kalanchoe, lantana, lion’s ear, marigolds, melampodium, Mexican petunia, Mexican sunflower, moon flower, Porterweed, pentas, periwinkle, portulaca, purslane, salvia, showy primrose, shrimp plant, Stokes aster, sunflower, torenia and zinnias.
Herbs: Anise, basil, bay laurel, cardamom, chives, cilantro, cumin, ginger, lemon balm, lemongrass, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, turmeric, and thyme.
Bulbs-type plants: Achimenes, African iris, agapanthus, amaryllis, Aztec lily, blackberry lily, bulbine, caladiums, canna, crinum, crocosmia, day lily, eucharis lily, gladiolus, gloriosa lily, Hedychium, spp. peacock ginger, society garlic, rain lily, and walking iris.
Lawn care
Time to fertilize landscapes is over for most of the state.
Lawn fertilizing laws vary throughout Florida; check the rules in your county. https://ffl.ifas.ufl.edu/fertilizer/ Most counties have summer fertilizer ban from June 1st through October 1st.
Do not use. herbicides when temperatures are over 85 degrees.
Yellow lawns can often be greened up with an iron only application where permitted.
Fill bare areas or start new lawns with seed, plugs or sod for the grass type desired.
Avoid sodding shady areas during summer to prevent rot problems caused by the wet weather.
Water new lawns every day for the first week, every other day the second week, and every three days the third week. By end of 4 weeks, lawns are established and only need 1 - 1½ inches of water a week. Overwatering causes new lawns to decline.
Check irrigation heads monthly, adjust and replace sprinklers to only water the lawn, not driveways and sidewalks.
Check rain shut off devices to ensure efficiency. Depending on device, may need cork changed or debris inside collection cup.
Track the water lawns receive; up to 3/4-inch a week is normally adequate at each watering or rainfall for all turf varieties.
Lawns may have been stressed with the drought this Spring. Check for bare areas and insect issues. Plug bare spots and identify insects before using a pesticide.
Walk yards on a weekly basis to catch pest issues early, look for chewed foliage, pests, even under leaves.
Chinch bugs cause yellow to brown areas in St. Augustine lawns; treat when found.
Sod webworms are active right now. Check for damage.
Notice moths in your turfgrass? Wait until chewing damage is noted to treat.
Maintain the turf at correct height; learn the proper height for your lawn type.
Sharpen the mower blade after five mowings.
Mow lawns in a different direction each time the lawn is cut to avoid ruts in the turf.
Lawns that are overfertilized and overwatered are more susceptible to thatch.
Aerate older lawns (5 years or older) and water lawns that are compacted, hard to wet or have nematode problems.
Replace constantly declining turf in dense shade with mulch or a ground cover.
Landscape chores
Weed! Pull by hand or hoe for five minutes a day. Don’t let them go to seed!
Due to severe drought in 2024 and Spring 2025, plants and trees may have suffered die-back that needs pruning.
You can add new plants with the abundant rainfall this month.
Put up a rain gauge to determine how much rain your yard receives.
During hot weather new plants may need daily watering for several weeks.
Established landscape plants and trees do not need to be hand-watered with adequate rainfall.
When transplanting existing perennials and shrubs, wet the root balls and new holes several times before adding new plants to the landscape. Let water drain and repeat before placing plants in holes..
Tropical bromeliads, orchids, Spathiphyllum, Aluminum plants and dracaena like shady sites.
Mix old soil from containers and raised beds with organic matter before adding new plants.
Deadhead and remove broken and winter-damaged foliage and stems from perennials, roses, and spring flowering shrubs.
Hurricane season begins June 1; it’s not too late to have your trees checked and trimmed.
Make plans now to protect plants and landscape accessories from wind and storm damage.
Don’t let weeds grow out of control; remove them by hand.
Do not let weeds grow to maturity and flower. Weed seeds are easily spread after flowering.
Do not prune azaleas or camellias after June.
Trim back poinsettias 4” to 6” after a foot of new growth to keep them compact
Established plants do not need watering during the rainy season.
Hot summer days make it difficult to transplant trees and shrubs; wait until cooler weather.
Root cuttings of shrubs and foliage plants to grow more plants.
Feed shrubs and palms with a slow-release fertilizer where permitted.
Give container gardens a weekly feeding or use a slow release fertilizer as labeled.
Divide orchids and bromeliads outgrowing their containers.
Feed orchids every other week with a liquid or slow-release fertilizer as labeled.
Most orchids and bromeliads grow best in the shade of a tree, water frequently when hot & dry;
Check out terrestrial orchids and full-sun bromeliads are available for sunny areas.
Feed lilies and other aquatic plants in home water gardens.
Trim formal hedges after they produce 4- to 6-inches of new growth.
Groom hanging baskets removing old flowers and lanky shoots.
Clean and refill bird baths as needed.
Place Summit Responsible Solutions Mosquito Bits and Dunks in bird baths, containers, and places that fill with water.
Remove sprouts, Spanish moss, and tillandsias, from the trunk and base of crape myrtle, maple and similar trees.
Trim suckers and branches smaller than your pinkie from crapemyrtle before they get too large.
Vegetable and fruit care
Keep vegetable plantings moist and fertilize monthly to continue harvests into summer.
Make fertilizer applications every 3 to 4 weeks or use as slow release product as instructed.
Check planting lists to determine what your family likes for summer planting.
Obtain the seeds you need now for summer and fall planting; store in the refrigerator.
Many herbs can survive the summer if kept moist, but not wet. and lightly fertilized.
Continue cutting and using herbs to keep the plants productive; preserve extras.
When gardens will not receive summer plantings consider soil solarization to bake out pests.
Sweet potatoes are easy to grow: start transplants from a spouting grocery store root.
Handpull weeds in and near the garden under control to prevent pest problems for Fall.
Continue to add fruit trees, shrubs and vines from containers to the landscape
Learn the pests of your new fruits, check trees regularly to decide if you need a control plan.
Reshape blueberry shrubs and hedges and prune blackberries
Feed bananas monthly; harvest stalks when the first hand formed begins to yellow
Feed pineapples with a slow release fertilizer following label instructions
Provide citrus trees with proper fertilizing and pest control to avoid the greening disease.
Foliage and house plant care
Find a spot in the sunny garden for Easter lilies; plants gradually decline & regrow in winter.
Give declining foliage plants a rest outdoors in the shade.
Repot plants needing a new container.
Feed plants outdoors every two weeks and indoors monthly.
Use a slow release fertilizer as instructed to stretch the time between feedings
Wash away insects with soapy water.
Remove declining leaves, stems and blooms; pinch the tips of shoots to cause branching.
