Here’s your June To-Do List:

Spring-flowering bulbs are now done blooming and the leaves may have already turned yellow and died down.

Daffodil leaves should not be cut back until after they have at least turned yellow. They use their leaves as energy to create next year’s flower. Daffodils continue to absorb nutrients for about six weeks after the blooms have died.

Newly set-out plants and seedlings should be shaded for several days until they are adjusted to the weather.

Crabgrass seedlings may begin to appear in the lawn if no pre-emergence killer was used. Treat it now with any good post-emergence killer following the directions on the label.

When cutting peony blooms, leave some foliage on the base of the stalk to provide food for next year’s bloom.

Asparagus should not be cut after late June. Apply a liberal topdressing of a balanced fertilizer or compost to the bed.

Plant seeds of endive, broccoli and kale around mid-month for a crop of greens in the fall.

Sow seeds of beans, beets, carrots, kohlrabi, and turnips at month’s end for a late crop.

Lettuce should be shaded from the hot sun and given plenty of water.

Plant sweet potato slips early in the month.

Sweet corn planted now will make rapid growth with another planting by mid-month.

Invite beneficial insects to your garden with a mix of plants such as dill, fennel, parsley, tansy, sweet alyssum, daisies, coneflowers, sunflowers and chamomile.

Mulching flowers and vegetables after the plants are growing will save time and labor, keeping weeds from sprouting and holding moisture in the soil. Any organic, weed free material will be beneficial: grass clippings, peat moss, leaves, hay, or straw.

Sawdust may be used if adding a source of nitrogen at the same time. Placing sheets of wet newspaper under the mulch will keep the weed seeds in the dark longer.

Pinch back chrysanthemums to keep them bushy.

Thin, don’t top:

Topping trees is a severe pruning practice that should never be followed. It involves cutting all the primary branches at the top of a tree back to stubs in a uniform flat top manner.

Some people do this to try to decrease the overall height of a tree. However, it is unaesthetic and destroys the natural shape of the tree.

It also promotes the rapid development of thin, weak, upright water sprouts that form around the pruning cuts. These grow at narrow angles to the main branches and break easily in storms.

It leaves large areas of wounding which promotes decay and increases the chances that pests or diseases can attack the tree.

It also harms the tree’s photosynthetic ability since so many leaf-making branches are removed at once.

If you have a tree that has been topped, selective pruning in successive years after the topping can help direct more proper growth of the new branches, but the butchered tree will still never be the same again.

Mulching trees:

Don’t build a volcano mound of mulch around your trees or shrubs. This encourages rodent damage, invasion of disease organisms, and it decreases the amount of oxygen that can get to the roots. This can slowly kill the tree.

Keep mulch 3 to 4 inches away from the trunk and only about 2 to 3 inches deep. Rake old mulch to break it up before adding new mulch.

“Growing Green” is contributed by Lehigh County Extension Office Staff and Master Gardeners. Information: Lehigh County Extension Office, 610-391-9840; Northampton County Extension Office, 610-813-6613.