Take advantage of crisp June days to recharge your garden. Plant, prune and prepare now and in time your plants will repay your kindness, writes Helen Young.

Timely tasks

This month, plant bulbs of exotic liliums and hippeastrums for summer flowers. On cannas and gingers, cut tatty stems to the ground and prune summer-flowering shrubs, such as plumbago, abelia, oleander and hydrangea. Shape sasanqua camellias when they finish flowering. Also, get major landscaping projects underway so any heavy-duty construction work is completed by spring, and the soil is ready for planting. June is the month to buy deciduous plants, which lose their leaves in winter, as bare-root stock. Roses, as well as ornamental and fruiting trees, are sold as bare sticks with the roots wrapped, rather than growing in pots. When selecting fruit trees, ask about the best varieties for your area and their pollination needs.

The productive garden

In cool climates, plant garlic now; in warmer areas, pop bulbs in the fridge for planting next month. Use organic Australian garlic – available from online nurseries, such as Green Harvest Organic Gardening Supplies. Sow lettuce, broad beans, peas and snow peas, leeks and silverbeet. Plant rhubarb and asparagus crowns into well-prepared soil. In frost-free areas, plant potatoes after letting them sprout. Prune grapevines and deciduous fruit trees, then spray with copper hydroxide to control pests and diseases.

June in bloom

Indoors, potted cymbidium orchids and brightly coloured cyclamens flower for months. Outside, camellias are the stalwarts of winter gardens, producing hundreds of blooms over several months. Red poinsettias enliven warmer areas and golden wattles are in bloom. French lavender, unlike other lavenders, keeps flowering through winter. Jonquils, violets and daphne provide sweet fragrance.

Tip

Avoid watering potted plants at night – it leaves the soil wet and cold, and the damp foliage will be prone to fungal attack.