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.

Begonias, Boxwoods, Caladiums, and Cypress, Oh My!

Begonias, Japanese Boxwoods, Caladiums, and Japanese Cypress, (Cryptomeria japonica ‘Globosa’)

What to Do in Your Backyard in May

Average temperatures in May: High 87 Low 62

Rainfall 3.47 inches

What to Plant:

Vegetables:

Amaranth, boniato, calabaza, cassava, chayote, cherry tomato, collards, dasheen, Everglades tomato, ginger, lima bean, longevity spinach, Long-squash, Luffa, snap bean, Malabar spinach, malanga, New Zealand spinach, Okinawa spinach, okra, papaya, hot pepper, peanuts, pigeon pea, pineapple, roselle, Seminole pumpkin, Southern pea, sugarcane, sweet potato, Swiss chard, tamarillo, yam, and yard-long bean.

Annual and Perennial Flowers:

African iris, ageratum, angelonia, Apostle iris, balsam, beach sunflower, begonias, black-eyed-Susan, blue daze, blue sage, bromeliads, browallia, bulbine, bush daisy, butterfly weed, cat's whiskers, celosia, cigar flower, coleus, coneflowers, coreopsis, cosmos, crossandra, Dahlberg daisy, dusty miller, gaillardia, gazania, gerbera, goldenrod, gomphrena, impatiens, Jacobina, Jewels of Opar, lantana, Justicia, leopard plant, liatris, lion’s tail, marigolds, melampodium, Mexican heather, milkweed, moon vine, New Guinea impatiens, nicotiana, nierembergia, Nun’s orchid, ornamental sweet potato, pentas, periwinkle, phlox, Porter weed, portulaca, purslane, salvia, scorpion tail, Stoke’s aster, sunflowers, terrestrial orchids, toad lily, torenia, verbena, whirling butterflies, yellow alder, and zinnias.

Herbs:

Anise, basil, bay laurel, cardamom, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, lemon balm, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, sweet marjoram, mint, tarragon, and thyme.

Bulbs:

Achimenes, agapanthus, Alocasia, amaryllis, blackberry lilies, blood lilies, bulbine, caladiums, calla lilies, cannas, crinums, crocosmia, Colocasia, day lilies, eucharis lily, gladiolus, gloriosa lilies, hurricane lilies, lily of the Nile, peacock ginger, society garlic, rain lilies, spider lilies, St. Bernard’s lilies.

Shrubs and Trees:

In Florida, most shrubs and tree species can be planted year-round.

Lawn Maintenance:

• May is still our dry season. Set irrigation for 1.15 inches two times a week if there is no rainfall.

• Check rain sensors are working.

• Rake out brown leaf blades in turf that declined from winter.

• Some areas of lawns may have died during the winter or with the drought; add new sod or plugs.

• Make sure lawns and shrubs are watered thoroughly with rainfall or irrigation before final spring feedings with slow-release no-phosphorus fertilizers.

• Retrofit irrigation systems to separate turf zone and landscape bed zone.

• If needed, apply an iron-only or minor nutrient fertilizer to regreen yellow lawns.

• Check for chinch bugs in yellowing areas of St. Augustine grass; treat at needed

• Walk yards on weekly basis to look for sod webworm moths flying up from turf.

• For low maintenance, reduce lawns areas needed for family and pet areas.

• May is a good month to seed Bahia lawns.

• Avoid mowing with dull blades; sharpen blades every five mowings.

• Measure leaf blades to make sure the lawn it being cut at the proper height – remember the height of the blades is typically the depth of the roots.

• Take a new route at each mowing to avoid ruts in the lawn.

• Dig out or spot kill weeds and replace with plugs of grass or sod.

• Aerate older compacted and hard to wet lawns.

• Turf needs at least 5 hours of sunlight a day. Select shade-tolerant grasses or an ornamental ground cover for difficult shady spots.

Landscape care:

• Plant Easter lilies, amaryllis, and poinsettias in the landscape.

• Put declining tulips, hyacinths, and other forced bulbs into the compost pile.

• Walk yards on a weekly basis to catch pest issues promptly.

• Look under the foliage and move hand over shrub foliage to notice any pests flying up.

• All winter-damaged ornamental grass fronds should be removed.

• Reshape and prune shrubs with dieback or winter damage.

• Avoid shearing across the tops of shrubs and perennials unnecessarily; remove out of bound shoots with hand pruners.

• Have older trees checked by certified arborists before hurricane season and prices go up.

• Look for sap-stained bark, hollow areas, oozing, in twin trunks as signs of tree problems.

• Shape young shade trees to have one central leader with evenly spaced branches.

• Maintain a 3” mulch layer under trees, shrubs, and garden beds to help conserve moisture, reduce weeds, and enhance landscape.

• Older shade trees seldom need fertilization.

• Lift up and remove tree limbs affecting traffic along walkways.

• Keep new trees and shrub plantings moist with additional hand-watering if there is not enough rainfall.

• Use low-volume irrigation to conserve water.

• Create rain gardens to redirect excess water from home..

• Correct drainage problems before the rainy season arrives.

• Make sure new plant selections have adequate room to grow.

• Select plants for pool and patio areas that do not drop messy flowers or foliage.

• One application of a slow-release fertilizer could feed your plants through summer.

• Feed palms with an 8-2-12-4 or similar slow-release palm fertilizer according to label.

• Fertilize all flower beds and shrub plantings with slow-release fertilizer as the rainy season returns.

• Deadhead spent flowers from annuals to encourage new blooms.

• Plant shady gardens with shade-tolerant flowers, shrubs, bulbs and foliage plants.

• Cut back perennials finishing their spring bloom.

• Complete pruning of azaleas and camellias this month.

• Transplant palms when the rainy season returns.

• Feed container gardens weekly or use a slow-release fertilizer as labeled.

• Control rose pests by using systemic products for insects, only water the roots, not the foliage, and providing good air circulation.

• Kill adult lubber grasshoppers by stepping on them or cutting them. Look for pairs.

• Turn compost piles every two weeks. They may need to be watered 2x – 3x this month.

• Feed water lilies and lotus monthly.

• Begin rooting cuttings of favorite shrubs and perennials.

• Collect and sow seeds from your favorite plants or save them until the proper time.

• Pull or spot kill weeds among shrubs and flower beds.

• Reapply mulch if not 3” thick.

Vegetable and fruit plantings:

• Check your herbs and vegetables every day. Check for insects and soil moisture.  

• Feed vegetable plantings monthly.

• It’s too late for most tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants; select summer tolerant vegetables.

• Maintain 3” mulch in the garden and use low-volume irrigation to conserve water.

• Keep bananas and papaya moist and feed monthly to have flowers by late summer.

• Give citrus, grapes, and other fruit trees a late spring feeding.

• Prune blackberries and blueberries when fruiting is over.

• Harvest maturing crops to keep the plants producing.

• Remove declining fruit plantings and add new varieties.

• Trellis vine crops to save space and prevent diseases.

• Use soil solarization treatments to control nematodes and diseases.

• Control fruit worms and leaf spots on vegetables with natural sprays as needed.

• Control aphids feeding in new shoots with an insecticidal soap spray.

• Incorporate aged compost with planting sites to improve sandy soil.

• Purchase seeds now for planting in August; seed displays are often removed from stores during summer.

Foliage & houseplants:

• Give weak and thinning foliage plants a spot in the shade outdoors to recover.

• Check water needs daily.

• Plants that are wilting often need to be checked for overgrown root system and not enough soil. If root bound, water plants well, then next day, cut a third of the roots off, and add more soil. Replant in same pot or move to larger pot.

• Remove yellow leaves and faded flowers.

• Reshape taller tree-form foliage plants and remove declining limbs.

• Move orchids outdoor under trees for the summer.

• Divide African violets, bromeliads, and orchids.

• Place plants in bathtub or sink, wash pests and dust away with soapy water.

• If you go on vacation, move plants to bathtub or sinks and fill with several inches of water to keep them watered while you’re away.

• Feed outdoor foliage plants with a slow-release fertilizer.