Now that we have crept into June, it is that time of the year again to play….It’s not too late! As in, it’s not too late to treat your lawn for weeds is it? Or it’s not too late to keep planting things in the vegetable garden, is it? And it’s not too late to plant trees or shrubs, is it?

The quick and easy answer is, no, it is not too late! The open window for easy plant care is generally June 15. After that, typically, it gets hot, hot, hot and things can get tricky in order to keep plants moving along in the heat. This year, the heat came right after the snow in April. So, yes, you can still plant anything that you want but take care that (do I dare say it?) Jack Frost will eventually show up in September so the growing days will start to shorten up quite soon. This is only a problem at this point in time for such things a sweet corn or pumpkins so any of those long growing season vegetables. The next step in planting anything since it is so hot so soon, is to keep it watered. If you have planted something new like a shrub or trees, it is best to give it water every day or every other day. It will depend on how quickly the soil dries out. The key is to remember to do it. If you are gone on vacation, it would be best to hire someone to come over and do the watering while you are gone just to be safe. Mulching, as I had wrote about last week, will help to keep you from having to water as much than compared to having not mulched at all.

Seeding your lawn or weeding your lawn with a spray type chemical is probably past time. The reason is that most, if not all, of our lawn grasses are cool season grasses. This means as it heats up outside and less rains comes, it will eventually go dormant. So, you are not using your best resources for your lawn at this time. There are a few exceptions such as if you are redoing your lawn or fixing bare spots in your lawn. The next best possible time to take of weeds in your lawn is this fall. Seeding or even laying out new sod, will work better when there are better growing conditions. You can even use the last hurrah in the garden as your time to get ahead of next year’s weeds by using a pre-emergent weed killer on your lawn too.

And last but not least, if you want to give yourself a challenge this year, try your hand at starting some of your own perennials from seed. This is the best time to do something like this as there is plenty of sunshine and all you need to do is add a little TLC plus water. You may find that you have so many lupine or other perennials that you will need to share them with your friends! Read the back of the seed packet for directions and you will be all set. This is something that can be a lot of fun when the growing conditions are good. If you are interested in doing something like this, purchase your seeds soon before they are put away for the year. Most of the seeds that are for our growing zone which is zone 4 and should grow next year for you. I started out with a package of Lupine seeds and most of them have made it to about 4 inches tall. I keep transplanting them into larger pots and hopefully by mid to late summer, I can add them into my garden. If you want a bigger challenge, you can purchase hosta seeds which will take you up to two years before they will be ready to be moved into some area of your garden permanently. There is a certain amount of satisfaction that you can have by saying you raised something yourself from seed.

For more information on gardening, you can reach me at s.dejaeghere@me.com. In order to reach the Master Gardener group, you can call the Lyon County Extension at 507-532-8219.