Winter in the garden - June
June is a great time to plant fruit trees and winter veges for a continuous supply. It's also time to begin thinking about the next season and the crops you might want to grow and harvest.
All deciduous fruit trees including apples and pears can be planted now while the plants are still dormant and the widest selection is available in-store. Most pip and stone fruit will now be losing their leaves and going into a dormant state for the next few months. Remember to tuck into the preserves from the summer and autumn harvests!
Brightly coloured polyanthus, primula, pansies and violas can be planted now, and new season roses will be appearing in-store, so make sure you check these blooms out.
In the vege patch it's garlic planting time, with garlic traditionally planted on the shortest day for harvest on the longest day in December. Keep planting winter staples including brassicas, beetroot, leafy greens and herbs.
Harvest time is from seedling planting to harvest. For seeds, depending on variety, it will take an extra 6-8 weeks from germination to planting.
Download our planting poster
Our handy calendar shows you when to plant in your region, including harvest dates.
This time of the year's great to start planting:
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Apples
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Blackberries
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Blueberries
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Brussels sprout
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Cyclamen
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Daffodil
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Garlic
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Hyacinth
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Kale
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Onions
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Peas
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Peaches
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Pears
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Plums
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Radish
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Raspberries
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Rose
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Silverbeet
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Spinach
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Tulip
The Southland Vegetable Gardener's Diary
Change regionPlant
Brussels sprout, garlic, kale, onion, peas, radish, spinach, rosemary, thyme.
Harvest
Brussels sprout, kale, leek, lettuce, mesclun, onions, peas, radish, spinach.
Maintenance
- Apply Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic to help plants cope with the cooler weather and frost.
- Protect young seedlings from slugs and snails with Tui Quash.
- Garlic and shallots - these are best planted when the soil is cool, and around the shortest day of the year. Prepare the soil by digging it over to a depth of about 20cm.
- In colder areas you may want to use poly tunnels or protective cloches for early season lettuce and salad greens.
The Southland Fruit Gardener's Diary
Change regionPlant
Apple, pear, raspberry,blueberry, blackberry, feijoa, plum, peach.
Harvest
Feijoa, apple, pear, lemon, limes, mandarin, orange.
Maintenance
- Plant evergreen frost hardy fruits such as feijoa and Chilean guavas.
- Remember, fruit requires a position in full sun and shelter from the wind is preferable.
- Collect and compost any rotting fruit from under fruit trees.
- Check harvested fruit to make sure nothing is rotting, remove fruit as soon as its starts to decay. Rot can quickly spread throughout a whole harvest within a week or two.
- Keep areas around fruit and fruit trees weed free. Add a layer of around the base of fruit trees, to keep the soil warmer over the winter months and help suppress weeds.
The Southland Flower Gardener's Diary
Change regionPlant
Cyclamen, roses, forget-me-nots – annual bedding types, calendula, polyanthus, flowering kale, poppy, primula, viola, pansy, snapdragon, sweet William, allysum, daffidol, tulip, hyacinth.
pick
Camellias, leucadendrons, wallflowers, winter roses – hellebores, dianthus, violets, daphne, iberis, snapdragons, kowhai, flowering kale.
Maintenance
- Apply Tui Bulb Food to existing bulb plantings.
- Apply a side dressing of Tui NovaTec Premium fertiliser to pots and planters.
- Apply a side dressing of Tui Dried Blood to polyanthus and primula to prolong the flowering periods, particularly if heavy rains may have leached away valuable soil nutrients.
- Add thick layers of Tui Mulch & Feed or Tui Pea Straw Mulch to garden beds and pots to conserve water, reduce weeds and add valuable nutrients back to the soil. It also creates a tidy and cared for look.
- Aphids, mites and whitefly are all still moving about now, particularly if the weather is still warm. Be vigilant, if infestations are small blast them off with the hose. If the infestation is larger spray with with a suitable insect spray.
- Put frost cloth or protection around delicate plants.
- Deadhead or pinch out old flowers of snapdragons, stocks, polys and pansies to encourage a new flush of flowers.
- Begin pruning in mild areas, and hold off pruning in cold areas until July or August.
- Collect seeds from poppy, wild flowers and other flowering annuals to grow your own free flowers in spring.
- Lift and divide perennials such as dahlias, echinacea, delphinium and hostas.
