June Gardening Calendar - Colorado State University Extension Tri River Area Mesa Delta Montrose Ouray Counties

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Week 1
Check the Dial-a-Garden Message weekly for updated information. Call (970) 244-1706 or see the Gardening and Horticulture homepage for a link to this message.	Cheatgrass (Downy Brome) seeds get into the ears and nostrils of pets. While there is no control for this grass weed at this time other than mowing, a preemergent herbicide applied in late fall will help prevent seed germination of this winter annual.	Hollyhock weevil and lacebug insects are causing damage on hollyhock leaves and flower buds. An insecticide spray may be needed to control these insect pests.	Roses need to be fertilized throughout the season. The easiest way to do this is to use a systemic rose fertilizer available from your local nursery or garden center.	Black pine leaf scale attacks pines suffering from drought stress. If you notice these black scale insects on the needles of pines, check your watering program and adjust appropriately.	Garden peas turn yellow in the summer due to heat and powdery mildew. Peas are cool weather plants and should be planted about six weeks prior to the last killing spring frost. Peas can also be planted at the end of August to take advantage of the cool days of autumn.	Flea Beetles: eat holes in leaves of many flower and vegetable seedlings. Damage can be severe enough to kill the plants.
Week 2
Broadleaf weeds such as Dandelion and Plantain can be spot treated with a herbicide. The lawn should not be mowed for two days before or after spraying to increase the uptake of herbicide by the weed.	Deep infrequent Lawn Watering should be continued to avoid drought stress symptoms and disease infection.	Honeylocust Plant Bugs: Distorted leaves results from injury by nymphs.	Newly seeded lawns will need to be watered often enough to keep the top one-eighth inch of soil moist to allow germination and emergence.	No more than one-third of the blade of grass should be cut off during each mowing. Removing more stresses the grass increasing chances for turf diseases.	Elm Leaf Beetle: Egg laying often peaks in early June when Spirae x vanhouttei is finishing blooming. Sprays to control this pest need to be applied now.	Juniper Spittlebug: Spittle masses become obvious as nymphs become fully grown. Washing the plant down with a forceful stream of water is recommended.
Week 3
Newly sodded lawns will need a thorough daily watering until the roots `knit' with the underlying soil. Fruit trees can be pruned into June to shape the tree and help develop scaffold branches and fruiting wood.	Shoot Tip Blight of Aspen: will appear especially when we experience a wet spring. Codling moth sprays will need to continue on apples and pears to avoid wormy apples.	Lawns should be aerated if compact or dry spots are preventing water infiltration. Use an aerator that pulls a plug of soil from the thatch and soil layers.	Fertilizing the lawn prior to hot weather can increase stress and insect and disease problems. Applying one-half the normal rate of nitrogen is OK.	Melting Out Disease of turgrass causes purple spots on the leaf blades and rotting of roots and crowns resulting in patches of dead grass. If you had problems with this disease in the past, a preventative fungicide spray may be needed.	Cottony Maple Scale is noticable as the females swell with eggs. A dormant oil application in the spring (mid March for most of the Tri River Area) is the best control option.	Puncture vine (aka goathead) and prostrate spurge create a mat of growth in lawns. These are best controlled with a material containing Trimec To improve flower production on your annual and perennial flowers deadheads should be removed.
Week 4
Spider mite problems will increase as the days become hotter. Washing spruce, juniper and willow down occassionally with water will help control this pest. A miticide may be needed in severe cases.	Pinyon Spindle Gall Midge adults will emerge and lay eggs at the base of new needles. Pinon should be inspected for this pest and treatments made if necessary.	European Elm Scale egg hatch begins. Crawlers move from stems to leaves. Dripping of honeydew begins.	Mountain Pine Beetle preventative sprays should be made before adults emerge.	Many Pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, miticides, etc.) are available as dusts, wettable powders and liquid concentrates.	Pesticide sprays should be applied in the coolest part of the day to avoid burning.	Damage to elm leaves by Elm Leaf Beetle will become evident.
Week 5
After the tops of Tulips, daffodils, narcissus and other spring blooming bulbs have died back, these plants can be dug, divided and replanted to increase their numbers for next year.	Check underside of squash leaves for eggs, adults and nymphs of Squash Bug. Crush eggs and handpick bugs. Treatments made need to be applied to the underside of leaves to be effective.	Bacterial Wetwood oozing is quite noticeable during the summer months.	Kitchen wastes such as lettuce leaves, potato peelings and coffee grounds can be composted in a pit or hole dug between plants in the vegetable and flower garden. Do not compost meat or bones.	The June beetle, the adult stage of the white grub that damages lawns has finished pupating and is now emerging as an adult. These insects hide in the soil during the day and fly at night to lay eggs. Treatments can be applied within the next couple weeks to help prevent damage.	Pesticide sprays made from liquid concentrates are more apt to cause leaf burn on aspen and other sensitive trees, shrubs and flowers than sprays made from wettable powders.	Dust applications to plants should be preceded with a syringing of foliage with water to increase the amount of dust that sticks to the plant.