Summer work in the garden

What to do on the site in June

plant seedlings. If it was supposed to grow tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in open ground without shelter, then it’s time to send the seedlings to the beds – in the middle lane after June 5 there are no more frosts. You can safely plant.

Sow the seeds. Heat-loving crops such as cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, beans and corn can be sown outdoors after May 25th. But there is a risk – shoots can destroy frost. And in the first decade of June, there is no longer such a danger – you can safely plant the seeds in the soil.

plant potatoes. Traditionally, it is planted in the first decade of May, but anything can happen – the tubers came late from the online store, the weather did not allow planting in May, or they suddenly decided it was too late – it’s okay. Potatoes can be safely planted until June 10. Early varieties planted in early summer have time to produce crops before the onset of autumn frosts.

thin out carrots. Carrots are traditionally sown densely, because the seeds are small and it is very difficult to sow them individually. Therefore, at the beginning of summer, it is necessary to thin out the crops so that, as a result, 4 cm remain between the plants in the row. It is better to thin out the carrots in rainy weather so that the smell of the uprooted plants does not attract the carrot fly (1).

By the way, surplus carrots do not have to be thrown away. Few people know, but they can be planted on a separate bed.

Make a furrow, and in it – holes 8-10 cm deep at a distance of 4 cm from each other (they can be made with an ordinary stick). Then carefully lower the pulled-out carrot into each hole so that the shoulders are just below ground level. Fill the plantings with a mixture of dry soil and ash, water the bed well, and then gently pull the tops so that the shoulders of the root crop are level with the ground – the root, if it is bent during planting, will straighten. If this is not done, the root crop may grow short and ugly.

Remove stepsons from tomatoes. If the seedlings were planted in the garden at the beginning of May, under cover, then now is the time to stepchild them. Side shoots should be removed as early as possible, until they have grown longer than 4 cm. The easiest way is to simply pinch them with your fingers so that a small stump remains (about 0,5 cm).

It is better to pinch tomatoes in the morning – in the afternoon, while it is warm, the wounds dry out and heal faster. After removing the side shoots, the plants cannot be watered for a day – again, so that the wounds heal better.

It is necessary to remove stepchildren constantly, 1 time in 7 – 10 days (2).

Feed currants. This should be done in mid-June: 1 liter of mullein per 10 liters of water or 0,5 liters of bird droppings per 10 liters of water. Watering rate – 2 buckets per bush.

The rest of the berry bushes and fruit trees do not need top dressing in June – they are given earlier.

feed strawberries. 2 weeks after harvesting, strawberries need to be fed with organic matter – mullein (at a concentration of 1:10) or infusion of chicken manure (1:25). Norm – 1 liter per bush. The day before watering with fertilizers, the berry should be watered with plain water so that the organic matter does not burn the roots.

Harvest radishes, lettuce and other early crops. And so that the site is not empty, you can sow peas or herbs in their place.

Water vegetables and flowers. Of course, taking into account their needs for water.

Mulch the beds. It will protect the soil from moisture loss. As mulch, you can use fresh grass, hay, straw, sawdust of deciduous trees (conifers acidify the soil, and not all plants like this).

What to do on the site in July

Cut and root cuttings of berry and ornamental shrubs. By this time, they are usually semi-lignified, and this is an ideal option for reproduction. In addition, by the end of summer they will have time to take root well and get stronger by winter.

Cuttings in July can be currants, gooseberries, sea buckthorn, honeysuckle, dogwood and all ornamental shrubs that are propagated by cuttings.

Remove stepsons from tomatoes. They continue to grow all summer, so in July you need to continue pinching, which you started in June. The rules are the same.

In addition, in July, all the lower leaves must be removed from the tomatoes to the first flower brush – when watering, the ground often falls on them and as a result they become a breeding ground for phytophthora.

Form watermelons and melons. In the middle lane, where the summer is short and often cool, gourds in the open field do not have time to produce a full-fledged harvest, so their growth must be limited so that the plants direct their forces to the formation of fruits.

Watermelons need to remove all side shoots, because the main crop is formed on the main stem. In melons, you need to cut off the main lash after 5 – 6 sheets, and shorten the side ones after 3 – 4 sheets. And on each plant, leave no more than 5 – 6 fruits, and remove all the other ovaries – they still will not have time to ripen.

Dig up potatoes. In July it is already possible to dig early potatoes (3). Such varieties are usually not stored for a long time, so they are used for food in the first place.

sow vegetables. The end of July is the ideal time for sowing summer varieties of radish and daikon.

In addition, at the end of the month, you can sow peas, mustard, cabbage (kale, Beijing, Chinese, Japanese, kohlrabi), radish, watercress, monarda, potrulak, turnips, arugula, leafy lettuces, turnips, asparagus beans and sorrel.

Feed the plum. In July, not all fruit and berry crops need top dressing, but they are needed for plums at the moment when the fruits begin to pour: 2 tbsp. spoons of urea and 3 tbsp. spoons of nitrofsky for 10 liters of water. Norm – 2 buckets per tree.

water vegetables. July is the hottest month of summer, so you need to water the plants more often.

water the garden. All fruit crops need watering 15 to 20 days before harvest.

The rate of water consumption per tree is as follows:

• up to 5 years – 7 buckets of water;
• 5 – 10 years – 14 buckets;
• over 10 years old – 20 buckets.

What to do on the site in August

Dig up potatoes. Until August 20, you need to remove mid-ripening and late varieties of potatoes. You should not leave them longer – at the end of summer and early autumn it rains more often and it will not be easy to dig tubers. In addition, they will be stored worse.

Pinch off the tops of the tomatoes. They continue to grow even at the end of summer and spend energy on it at the expense of the crop. Therefore, our task is to limit their growth. At the same time, you need to remove all the upper flowering brushes – the fruits on them still do not have time to ripen.

Feed the garden. At the end of summer, not all fruit trees need top dressing, but some require additional nutrition.

Apple and pear trees – they need to be fertilized twice in August:

• at the very beginning of fruit ripening: 5 glasses of nitrophoska and 20 g of sodium humate per 200 liters of water, the norm is 30 liters per tree;
• immediately after harvesting: 1,5 cups of superphosphate and 1 cup of potassium sulfate – evenly scatter in the near-stem circle and pour over.

Plum – as soon as all the fruits have been collected: 2 tbsp. tablespoons of potassium sulfide and 3 tbsp. spoons of superphosphate. The norm is 40 liters per tree.

Plant strawberries (strawberries). Strawberry seedlings are planted at the end of August. The place for it must be chosen even and bright. The distance between plants in a row should be 15 – 20 cm.

At the same time, rooted mustaches of strawberries can be planted.

Trim raspberries. Raspberries give the main crop on two-year-old shoots, and then there is no point in them, so all the branches that had berries this year must be cut flush with the ground. Hemp should not be left – pests can settle in them.

Extra annual shoots must also be cut out – 1-30 shoots should remain per 40 running meter. For the remaining one-year-olds, the tops need to be shortened by 10 cm – next year such plants will give more side shoots, which means that the yield will be higher.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about summer work in the garden and garden with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Yakubovskaya L.D., Yakubovsky V.N., Rozhkova L.N. ABC of a summer resident // Minsk, OOO “Orakul”, OOO Lazurak, IPKA “Publicity”, 1994 – 415 p.
2. Gavrish S.F. Tomatoes // M.: NIIOZG, publishing house “Scriptorium 2000”, 2003 – 184 p.
3. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.