Design

June Gardening, Northern Hemisphere Posted on June 7, 2011 at 2:25 PM There are good and bad days for certain gardening activities, according to the moon. June, 2011 5th-8th  These are bad days for planting. It's now a good time to eliminate pests, and to cut down brush. 9th-11th  Good days for planting seeds for above-ground food-crops and flowers. 12th-13th  Very good days for planting leafy greens. Any above-ground crops planted during this period should do well. 14th-16th  Avoid all planting. These are good days in which to do hay-cutting, perform administrative duties and to engage in general farm-work. 17th-18th  Plant root-crops such as potatoes, celeriac, carrots and beets. 19th-21st  Poor days for any sort of planting. Kill plant-pests, fertilize, and do general farming chores now. 22nd-23rd  This is a good period in which to plant late root-crops and vines. Set strawberry plants now. These are favourable days during which to do transplan...

Aloe Vera Plant May  30th-31st  Transplant now, and plant root-crops. 1st 2nd  June: Do not plant seeds during these two days, Wednesday and Thursday. 3rd-4th  of June: Fruitful days for planting corn ,  tomatoes, cotton, beans, capsicums, hot-peppers,  all above-ground crops, seed-beds and flower-gardens.

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Elegant little nozzle yields a variety of streams and sprays, facilitated by a little twist in either direction.

At my cousin's estate outside of Goteborg, Sweden, strawberries are grown with straw around them, and will usually be ripe around Midsommarafton or Midsummer Eve (June 24th this year). ©M-J de Mesterton

These luxurious specimens are from my old Auguste Renoir rose-bush. ©M-J de Mesterton

My Princeton garden with impatiens set among the boxwood, ivy and myrtle, together with hostas and holly bushes.

Impatiens flowers like to spread, and make good ground-cover plants in shady, moist environments. ©M-J de Mesterton My Garden of Boxwood, Ivy, Myrtle, Hostas, Holly and Impatiens. ©M-J de Mesterton

Hydrangeas can be blue, white, lavender or pink, depending upon the soil conditions where they are planted , and what they are fed. ©M-J de Mesterton.

Situated in pots, alongside paths, or in vegetable garden-plots, solar lamps are an economical way to enhance the elegance of your landscape in the evening, and a possible deterrent to pests such as mice, who love to eat little plants but generally avoid light. ©M-J de Mesterton

Boulder lives up to its name, with elegant rockeries and large boulders featured in nearly every garden. ©M-J de Mesterton 2011

Boxwood shrubs are evergreens that thrive in cold winters, as well as in drought conditions. Once established, they need to be trimmed with shears every few months in order to stay full and dense. This is my old courtyard, lined with globe-shaped boxwood. ©M-J de Mesterton

It is time  to buy and plant a large number of peonies in a place where they can be admired by all. I never bring them inside from my garden (pictured here), because they are usually crawling with ants, who love them as much as we do. Here is a source for peony plants on the web: Hollingsworth Peony Nursery ©Photo and text copyright M-J de Mesterton

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Gardening with Trees in Dry Climates Create a well inside the mulch-ring, and keep mulch pieces away from trunk as shown.. Dry-Climate Landscaping with Stone and Gravel Conserves Water Landscaping in dry climates and during serious droughts that may be permanent is a challenge. To conserve water and protect this fruit tree's roots from drying heat as well as cold mountain weather, a classic Japanese gardening component, namely large gravel, was employed outside the initial wood-mulched ring around its trunk. Not only does gravel look gorgeous during the changing light of day and evening, but it inhibits the growth of competing plants--weeds and "volunteers" that steal precious water to survive. Gravel endures more than grass in dry climates, keeps dusty soil from blowing about, and always looks right. ©M-J de Mesterton 

Before: Bare Soil Awaits Gravel after Ground Was Cleared of Water-Depleting Undergrowth Fruit Tree after Water-Wise Landscaping

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