June gardening checklist

Winter is officially here, but there is still plenty to do: prep for spring crops, new rose bushes, and new fruit trees to be planted and get winter crops in the ground.

Key gardening tips for June:

• If you haven’t already planted garlic, get onto it this month. June is the best time to do this. It is traditionally best to plant before the shortest day of the year and then harvest by the longest day.
• New seasons roses will be in store. Decide which varieties you want.
• Start pruning existing roses.
• Plant new deciduous trees
• Prune deciduous fruit trees.
• Plan a clean - up spray programme for fruit trees and spray June/early July as the weather allows.
• Plant new seasons strawberries.

What vegetables to plant in June

June is the perfect season for planting garlic. Garlic is planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested during the longest, making June the perfect time to start your Garlic planting. Some other vegetables you can start planting in June include:

• Cabbage
• Onion
• Lettuce
• Bok Choi
• Garlic

As June approaches, some of autumn’s early vegetables will be starting to crop now. June is about looking after the harvesting from previous months. Vegetables in June to harvest include:

• Brussel sprouts
• Kale
• Silver Beet
• Spinach
• Radish
• Remember to feed all winter vegetables every two weeks with a liquid general fertiliser.

Winter vegetables in New Zealand

In June, these winter vegetables will be in season:

• Broccoli: Cheapest winter vegetable
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage: Cheapest winter vegetable
• Carrots: Cheapest winter vegetable
• Cauliflower
• Celery: Cheapest winter vegetable
• Cucumber
• Fennel
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Kumara
• Leeks
• Mushrooms
• Onions: Cheapest winter vegetable
• Parsnips
• Potatoes: Cheapest winter vegetable
• Pumpkin
• Radishes
• Rhubarb
• Silver beet: Cheapest winter vegetable
• Spinach
• Spring onions
• Tomatoes
• Turnips

What fruits to plant in June

In mid-June, it is a good time to start planting berries:

• Strawberry: Plant new strawberries plants, they will show new leaves in the spring. Feed with blood and bone as you plant.
• Raspberry
• Blueberry
• Blackberry

If you have any fruit trees, apply clean up spray to bare fruit trees, use copper spray and winter oil to stop bugs and diseases from burrowing in for the winter.

What fruits are in season in Winter

In winter, these fruits are in season in New Zealand:

• Feijoas
• Grapefruit
• Gold Kiwifruit & Green Kiwifruit
• Citruses: Lemon, Limes, Oranges, Mandarins and Grapefruits are the cheapest winter fruits
• Passionfruit
• Persimmons
• Tamarillos
• Mandarins

Flowers in plant in June

In June, these are the flowers in season to plant:

• Roses: Winter in New Zealand is the perfect time to plant roses.
• Sweet Peas
• Cyclamen
• Calendula
• Forget-me-nots
• Polyanthis
• Viola
• Tulip
• Daffodil
• Hyacinth

Winter flowers at Mitre 10

At Mitre 10, we stock a range of winter flower bulbs ready for planting. Winter flower blubs include:

• Daffodils
• Tulips
• Hyacinths
• Freesias
• Ranunculus
• Anemones
• Dutch Iris
• Crocus

Winter gardening & lawn maintenance guide in June

• If your plants get hit by a frost, don’t prune off the damaged parts, as this will promote new growth that will be at risk again. Wait until all frosts are over before pruning.
• Plant new deciduous trees, stake well.
• Check your larger trees for any wind damage and prune and seal any larger cuts with pruning paste.
• Hydrangeas can be pruned back after the flowers have finished. Also mulch with compost and feed blue flowers with aluminium sulphate and red flowers with lime.
• Continue weed control; don’t spray within five hours of rain.
• Collect autumn leaves for composting.
• Remove moss and lichen from paths as they’ll get slippery in the winter months.
• Cover frost tender plants with frost cloth; drape the cloth over but not so it is touching the plants. If it is too close a hard frost will freeze it to the plants.
• Lawn growth will now slow down.
• Mark areas of poor drainage ready to fix when the ground is drier.