JUNE GARDENING IN THE WESTERN CAPE

There’s always work to be done in the garden to keep green fingers busy – even in winter. Our June gardening guide is packed with tips, from keeping your garden healthy to which vegetables to grow in winter.

Spotlight on: Indoor projects for kids

Keep your children busy these winter holidays with fun indoor-garden projects:

• We love this eggshell succulent garden, and so will your kids. They’re easy to make and an effective way to teach the basics of gardening.
• Dress up ordinary flowerpots with these creative gumboot gardens. They are also the best way to upcycle your old boots!
• Transform an ordinary herb pot into a work of art with just two creative tools: blackboard paint and chalk. Simply paint the rim or base of your terracotta pots (whichever style you prefer) with blackboard paint, then label with the herb name in chalk when it’s dry.

ON YOUR TO-DO LIST FOR JUNE 

Plant and sow

• Plant cool-season bedding plants such as alyssum, calendula, dianthus, lobelia, nemesia, pansies, sweet peas and violas.
• Azaleas, camellias and liliums can be planted in dappled shade.
• Add Brussels sprouts, kale, leeks, onions, radishes, turnips and members of the cabbage family (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and spinach) to your vegetable garden.

  Feed

• Feed lemon trees with a 2:3:2 general fertiliser.
• Remedy yellowing leaves with a micro-element mixture such as Trelmix.
• Feed bulbs with bulb food once every two weeks and water well.
• Winter- and spring-flowering seedlings require an organic fertiliser such as Nitrosol or Atlantic All-purpose fertiliser every two weeks with a weekly watering.
• Check the edges of sweet peas. If they’re brown and papery, feed with a 3:1:5 fertiliser.
• Feed indoor plants with Nitrosol weekly.

    Prune & Trim

• Remove side shoots on sweet peas to encourage strong upward growth.
• Trim autumn-flowering shrubs such as barleria, pride of India, ribbon bush and wild dagga.
• Prune fruit trees such as apricot, peach and plum.
• Prune roses after transplanting.

  Pests

• Keep an eye out for leaf miner on cinerarias and spray with Bioneem.
• Use Bioneem on conifers to ward off aphids, or dissolve insecticide granules in water to pour at the base of the tree.
• Use organic snail bait on clivias, daffodils and young seedlings.

OTHER FRESH IDEAS

Create an indoor garden haven

As the weather cools down, you wouldn’t be blamed for heading indoors and spending less time in the garden. Get your daily dose of gardening and keep your green fingers busy by building up your collection of indoor plants, instead. Not only are they air-purifying (some varieties more than others), but they’re certain to make your winter home that much more cosy.