• Finish your veggie planting. All your vegetables should be in by early June. If you're worried you waited too long, use starts rather than seeds. Fast-growing veggies like lettuce can still be planted from seeds, but look for those varieties that do better when exposed to the longer hours of summer sun.

• Stake your tomatoes early on. Get your tomato plants going in the right direction while they're young by putting frames, stakes or a trellis in place soon after you plant… You won't damage the roots by doing it then, and you can guide and tie up the plants as they grow (twist ties are ideal for the job). Prune off suckers and unwanted shoots (on the lowest part of the plant) as soon as they appear so they don't divert the plant's growing efforts.

Flowering Plants

• Give your planters a color kick-start! You'll find a huge selection of premium annuals and perennials in stock throughout June at your Fred Meyer Garden Center. Here are just a few of the varieties to look for:

Hint: Remember to always use a starter fertilizer when re-planting from store containers into your planters. It helps reduce plant shock and encourages strong root growth.

• Need help creating beautiful displays in your planters, baskets or beds? Take the guesswork out of combining annuals – look for Inspired by Design™, only at Fred Meyer. These pre-designed planters and hanging baskets include a diverse mix of fresh flowers that look great together!
  
  Stop by in mid-June for Inspired by Design™ White Hot containers, featuring:
  • Geranium
  • Trailing Verbena and Petunia
  • Bacopa
  • Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost'
  • Dichondra

  You can also bring the same coordinated design to your beds and borders. You'll find all the White Hot flower varieties in 6-pack and 4" pots at your Fred Meyer Garden Center.

• Keep your bedding plants blooming. As blooms fade, pinch them off. That encourages additional growth and flowering in many varieties. Now's also a great time to fill bare spots in your flower beds to keep them looking their best for the rest of summer.
• Feed flowering plants. Plants grown for summer flowers, such as fuchsias, geraniums, marigolds, petunias and other premium annuals, should be fed at least every two weeks with a liquid or water soluble plant food.
• Divide early blooming perennials, after blooms have faded. Set your transplants in well-cultivated ground (be sure to add soil amendments while you're planting… it's a great habit to improve your overall soil with every plant you put in). Then water well.

Watering Advice

• Water, water everywhere! As summer heats up and there are fewer rainy days, pay attention to watering, particularly with potted plants. Those can dry out quickly during hot stretches. And be sure to practice water-wise ways, even when water seems plentiful. Here are some other tips:
  1. Water early in the morning, so there's less water loss due to winds or evaporation.
  2. Use a drip irrigation system in your garden beds. It's a great way to give a slow, deep, direct soaking to your plants with minimal water waste.
  3. Use water timers. They're ideal for controlling the amount of time you water, plus you can set them to come on automatically in the morning so you don't lose any sleep over watering chores! For more ideas, click into 7 Tips for Better Watering.

Other June Gardening To-Do's

• Trim hedges, if you haven't done it already. Shrubs grow fastest at the top, which can make them top-heavy and sparse-looking near the base. Clip for a slightly wider base, and make a narrowing progression toward the top. Plan on your next trimming for late August/early September.
• Ground cover care. Shear back plants that are overgrowing their areas or that you want to keep compact (if a spring-blooming variety, make sure blooms are faded before trimming). Water well, then scatter a granular fertilizer for continued health.
• Take your houseplants outside. Most varieties thrive from some time spent outdoors in moderate temperatures. This is also a good time to replant larger plants into fresh containers. Visit your Fred Meyer Garden Center for a large selection of classic and colorful containers to match up with any plant or decor.
• Get your kids gardening. Are they looking for fun activities to do this summer? Consider giving your kids a corner of the garden to call their own, and help them pick out some plants to tend. For kids who love flowers, try growing sunflowers, marigolds and cosmos. Or encourage them to grow favorite veggies. Tomatoes are popular because they're really tasty, especially right off the vine.

While much of the information in these tips is applicable in several gardening zones/climates, some of the plants and timing suggested are best suited to the Northwest, generally in the mild/wet growing regions found along the I-5 corridor. You should make appropriate adjustments or consult local gardening experts in regions whose climates differ from this area of the Northwest.