
June Gardening Tasks



June is South Africa means winter is at our doorstep, the days are getting shorter and colder making it harder to get out of bed in the morning. That said, there is much you can do in your garden this month, no matter how dark or cold it is outside.
General Tasks
- Visit your local garden centres to see what’s on sale and what’s in flower. Winter is not as dull as you might think!
- Water your plants at least once a week. Soil should be moist, not over-wet or allowed to dry out completely. Plants have better cold tolerance in moist soil.
- Keep raking up fallen leaves and add them to the compost heap.
- Move wormeries into a sheltered, warm area if possible. Worms are sensitive to the cold.
- Keep clivias fairly dry now, as this will stimulate flower spikes.
- If there has been a bout of cold or dry wind, give your garden a deep drink. Do this early in the morning to allow the plants to dry off during the day. Winter-flowering plants, especially camellias and emerging bulbs, must be watered regularly for a long-lasting flower display.
- Fix the loose bricks and pavers on pathways and patios, and replace the broken ones.
- Move houseplants like ferns away from cold windows and cut down on watering. Remember that heaters dry out the indoor atmosphere so the plants should be misted often with tepid water to increase humidity around them.
- Clean out leaves and dead plant material from gutters, down pipes and drains. Clean out the openings of stormwater drains in front of your property too as this can prevent flooding.
- Send your lawnmower for a service and to have new blades fitted.
Sowing
- Indigenous bokbaaivygies (Cleretum bellidiforme) should be sown in large drifts in the sunniest of spots.
- Complement your bokbaaivygies with sowings of alyssum (Lobularia), lobelias, nemesias and linarias.
Planting
- It’s time for the four P’s – primulas, poppies, pansies and petunias. Get them in punnets and plant for gorgeous late winter and early spring colour.
- Visit your local garden centre to see what other bedding plants you can plant in your area.
- Plant glorious hellebores in your shade garden.
- Primulas or primroses (Primula malacoides) are synonymous with winter and spring gardens. They are ideal for mass planting among spring-flowering bulbs, for edging, or in containers.
- It’s prime time for pretty cyclamens.
READ MORE: Here are 8 flowers to brighten up your winter garden.
Bulbs
- Lilium bulbs are for sale now and should be planted immediately after you have purchased them. Plant them in compost-rich soil, to which a handful of bonemeal has been added.
Feeding
- Remember to feed winter-flowering annuals every two weeks with a water soluble fertiliser to keep them growing well.
- Feed anything that is actively growing or in season, like winter vegetables, citrus, bulbs, annuals and small flowering succulents



Diving and replanting
- It’s not too late to dig up and divide thick clumps of ornamental mondo grasses. Split them into small clumps for replanting in freshly composted soil, and remember to pot the excess up into old plant pots to give away as gifts to other gardening friends.
- Divide overgrown daylilies and replant in composted soil.
Plant Cuttings
- You can still take hardwood cuttings from deciduous plants. Choose plants like hibiscus, bougainvillea, parasol flower and flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa), spiraea, forsythia, plane tree, populus, pomegranate and figs.
- Take cuttings of coleus and keep them protected until rooted.
June Pruning
- Don’t prune evergreen plants that have the potential to get frost damage. Pruning will encourage new growth which is especially tender to frost
- You can start pruning deciduous shrubs and trees for neatness and shape at the end of the month. Don’t prune those that will flower in spring such as Cape may (Spiraea), mock orange, ornamental prunus and bushveld bride (Dombeya rotundifolia).
- Remove any green growth from variegated plants like coprosmas or the plants can revert to just being green again
- Cut back perennials like Michaelmas daisies, physostegias, penstemons, salvias and achilleas (yarrows).
- Regularly pinch back winter annuals like pansies, violas and snapdragons to promote bushy growth and more flowers.
- Conifers grow actively in winter and can be lightly sheared to encourage denser foliage.
- Cut back ornamental veld-like grasses such as pennisetum hybrids, muhly grass, Aristida juncea and zebra grasses.
- Prune vines and plum and apricot trees at the end of June and spray with lime sulphur. Do not use last year’s supply because it will have lost its potency. Buy fresh stock and use only on plants that have become completely dormant.
Lawns
- Keep watering overseeded lawns and cool-season grass, which regularly grows throughout winter.
- Winter grass, a tufty, bright green grass, can become a problem on winter lawns but dies off naturally when the weather warms up again. If it becomes too much to handle, kill off with a selective herbicide. Keep in mind that small birds often feed and survive winter on the seed it produces.
- Keep off the lawn if it is frosted, as walking on it can encourage the growth of moss and algae.
- Water the lawn every 2 – 3 weeks and mow as needed.
Rose Tasks For June
- If you didn’t do so last month, it is still possible to move roses to a new position. It’s a good idea to transplant roses that aren’t receiving enough sun or have outgrown their space.
- Water once a week if necessary.
- No need to fertilise or spray in summer-rainfall areas.
- Spray roses fortnightly in winter-rainfall areas with Chronos or Rose Protector for black spot and rust. If they are defoliated, don’t worry to spray or water; just let them go dormant.
- In subtropical areas, fertilise with Vigorosa in mid-June and spray with Ludwig’s cocktail of Insect Spray and Chronos twice a month.



June Veggie Sowing Guide
Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands
No sowing except in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands where garden peas and snow peas can be sown
Middleveld (Tshwane and other less frosty areas)
Garden peas/snow peas
Eastern Cape and Little Karoo
Garden peas/snow peas
Western Cape (and Southern Coast)
Broad beans, celery, garden peas/snow peas, radishes, turnips.
Northern Cape and Great Karoo
Onions (prepare beds for sowing garden peas in July and August).
Lowveld and KwaZulu Natal coast
Runner and bush beans, beetroot, brinjals, cabbages, carrots, cucumbers, melons, garden peas, pumpkins and other squashes, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, tomatoes, turnips.
Veggie Garden Tasks For June
- Seedlings of kale, bok choi and marjoram can still be planted out in summer-rainfall areas.
- Cover tender veggies with frost cloth in the late afternoon and remove it the next morning.
- Cover carrots, beetroots, parsnips and turnips that are still in the ground with a thick mulch in order to protect them from cold.
- You can still plant a last crop of garlic.
- Stake broad beans and Brussels sprouts, earth up around cabbages and cauliflowers.
- Feed brassicas once a month with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser.
- Check for aphids, especially on brassicas, and spray with an organic insect spray. Cabbage is spoilt if aphids get into the head.
- Correct yellowing leaves with a microelement mixture.
- Have frost cloth ready for protecting tender veggies.
- Prepare planting beds for permanent crops such as asparagus, rhubarb, chives and globe artichokes by adding lots of compost and well-rotted kraal manure. Add a dressing of balanced organic fertiliser before planting.
- Cut back overgrown herbs and add fresh compost around their bases.
- In subtropical climates you can feed paw-paw trees. Water them well before and afterwards.
- Lemon trees should also be given a feed (one should feed garden citrus trees four times a year, in September, January, April and in June or July, and those in pots more regularly with a foliar fertiliser).
- In frosty areas, protect lettuce with frost cloth when icy weather is predicted.
- Deeply water fruit trees, berries and vines once every three weeks
READ MORE: Learn about leafy veggies you can grow in winter.
Weekend Projects
Follow our steps to learn how to build your own worm farm.
Create your own Pinterest-worthy patio display with this succulent terrarium.
Winter Recipes
Enjoy a delicious breakfast with our Shaksuka recipe or our three-ingredient banana pancakes.
If you are looking for a spicy, creamy coconut-based soup, try this recipe for Tom Kha Gai.