June: Why do we garden? Because we must!

"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade." — Gertrude Jekyll

When temps approach the 60-degree mark, we gardeners have this unbearable urge to forge ahead to create our dream garden. The exquisite blooms of azalea, dogwood and tree peonies have come and gone, and now sequence, logic and most of all, restraint, are required.

A strong back is a must when you are in a race against time; when suddenly, seemingly overnight, thousands of tiny weeds pop up, and your attention, until now solely focused on planting, must now tackle chickweed and assorted relatives.

Don't let them mature to splendid profusion, take care of them now, either with time-honored (spell backbreaking) manual weeding or with a carefully applied weed killer.

Honeysuckle from a neighbor's property finds its way each year into my carefully tended border beds and wild grapevines flourish in every direction, courtesy of our bird population.

Boiling water might deter small seedlings, but will not significantly affect vines. You need strong medicine to control them. Although I prefer organic methods in gardening, I have not yet found one that can deal successfully with vines, except the slash and burn method. And even that does not guarantee success.

A

ssuming that you have successfully

handled the cleanup of winter detritus, trimmed branches when and where required, made your plant list and skirted the temptation to buy every annual in your garden center, you now have to do double time to keep up with the growing season.

Talk about multi-tasking! Those Ramapo tomato seeds I collected from last year's fantastic, wildly productive plant, have germinated, and the seedlings need an ideal place to grow, a sunny location being a primary requirement.

The distinctive sharp smell of the tomato foliage is a pleasant reminder that summer is almost here.

When you see ragged leaf edges on tomato plants, search for the lurking tomato hornworm. It is most difficult to detect, its color is identical to the foliage and it adheres closely to the stem. Perfect camouflage, except for its size (4-plus inches), which will lead you to it.

Dispatch it quickly, it is a voracious eater and can decimate a large plant quickly.

Our spring season had abundant rain showers creating a lush green environment. June, July and August are predictably drier months and you will probably need to water.

Avoid over-watering or watering at the wrong time. When foliage and soil stay damp for a prolonged period, you will see an increase of plant diseases, especially

in lawns. Deliver supplemental irrigation once or twice during a week, rather than daily.

When you water at the wrong time (middle of the day), it leads to excessive evaporation from wind and heat, reducing the amount of water reaching the soil by approximately 50 percent. Watering during the late evening through early morning is recommended. Plants stay healthier and less water is wasted.

One word about mowing: Mow high before the summer heat sets in, this promotes deeper rooting. Trim your lawn: never cut more than one-third of the leaf blade at once or you will shock the grass.

What to do

in your spare time

• Add organic mulch to beds to conserve moisture, stabilize soil temperature and control weeds. Mulch encourages earthworms and beneficial bacteria to move in and feed on organic material, freeing up additional nutrients for plants.

• Pinch back annuals to encourage compact, lush growth.

• Prune spring-flowering shrubs as soon as flowering is finished.

• When planting tomatoes, remove all but the top leaves and set the plant deeply right up to those leaves. The buried stems produce a stronger root system.

A new "must-have" plant is Tiger Eyes Staghorn Sumac, which is getting glowing reviews from horticulturists and nursery associations. Pennsylvania Horticultural Society chose Tiger Eyes as a Gold Medal Plant Award winner.

Tiger Eyes' stunning color is vivid chartreuse green, quickly changing to its glowing yellow summer hue. This spectacular color stays vibrant in even the brightest summer sun. The leaf stems are a fuzzy purplish-pink and form a dramatic contrast with the lemon-lime foliage.

Colors turn even more magnificent in the fall as it turns a combination of yellow, orange and intense scarlet. Tiger Eyes grows to a 6-foot height and 6-foot width and is completely sterile. Check it out online or in your garden center.

Gotti Kelley, past president of the Navesink Garden Club, serves on the Board of The Garden Club of New Jersey.