Moon Valley California Blog

Monthly Landscape Tips and Tricks for June

Written by Jessica Downs | 5/31/19 5:00 PM

June is such a critical month when it comes to proper care of our landscapes. The weather is changing as we transition into summer and our yards might need a bit more TLC.

Now is the time to prep your yard to guarantee a healthy landscape all summer long that you, your family, and your friends will enjoy this season. Our nursery experts have recommended a few tips and tasks for your landscape this month.

June To-Do List for your Home and Yard

Watering Tips

Be Observant

It is always a good idea to keep an eye on the weather as temperatures start to increase consistently, leaving your yard needing more water with higher temps.

Take Your Time

Always remember to deep water your plant material. Small and short applications are ineffective and can cause issues to your plant’s root system. Long and slow applications are best as you want the water to penetrate far into the soil to reach the roots.

Not only does this help your plants right away, but it also helps long-term development and can increase drought tolerance. 

For more information on deep watering practices, download our water guide to help you get a better idea on how to take care of your landscape.

Fertilizer Tips

June is a tougher month than others on the material in your landscape as it transitions to warmer days. Now is an ideal time to give our landscape the best nutrients and care so that it can thrive and look gorgeous all summer, with minimal upkeep.

Give your trees, palms, and shrubs a boost they need with our custom-blended fertilizer from Moon Valley Nurseries. We have fertilizers for everything in your landscape from palms, to fruit and citrus, to flowering trees.

In addition, we also have fertilizers that can assist with plant material that may be dealing with stress from weather changes or newly planted materials that need a little extra help getting established in their new environment.

Our Super Charged Moon Juice and Super Palm Juice are designed to trigger growth responses and supplement the essential micro and macro nutrients that plants need to thrive in our climate. You will always find these products at any Moon Valley location near you.

Tree Protection Tips

Sun Protection

Trees, just like us, can be burned by the sun and could use some protection from the sunlight. Young trees, especially citrus, need protection from the sun when temperatures increase. You can protect the trunk of a new tree from sunburn with a Protective Tree Wrap. Available at any Moon Valley Nursery location.

Wind Protection

To further protect your tree, young or old, you can stake them to provide more stability if you are prone to high winds in your area. Moon Valley Nurseries also offers staking material and staking services at all our locations.

Weeding Tips

Continue to use the right products for your yard to keep the weeds away. It seems as if they can take over your yard overnight, but if you continue to pull weeds as you see them and apply pre-emergent products in problem areas, the weeds will not be able to keep growing!

Pruning Tips

The summer is a good time to leave the citrus and other sun-sensitive plants alone and not prune until it gets cooler, as this can expose them to sunburn.

You should examine and remove faded/dead flowers and branches from your trees and shrubs so that the plant will encourage new healthy growth. This will also help get more sun on your plants.

Lawn Care Tips

A lawn will grow faster in the warmer weather. For a healthy lawn, you need to make sure that it is getting a healthy trim regularly with a well-tuned mower or the mower might be causing damage. Make sure your mower blades are sharp and set high so that you do not cut the grass blades too short.

Give your lawn a boost with specialized fertilizers like our fast-acting Moon Royale Professional Turf Fertilizer. In most cases, you will see results in just four days, and it gets stronger as it goes to work greening up your lawn.

Planting Tips

We often hear about how there are only a few good months out of the year to plant trees and shrubs. We disagree with that because we plant our trees nearly any time of the year, especially the summer!

Moon Valley Trees

We grow all our trees locally to the region, or in a similar area, so they are used to the conditions of your home from the summers to the winters. No matter what season we plant your trees, we guarantee every one of them! In fact, this is one of the best times to plant most palms, all desert trees, shade trees, citrus, and cacti!

Trees for June Planting

Keep reading to learn more about some of our favorite trees to plant in California this summer.

Magnolia

Every variety of Magnolias that we grow are a popular request with our customers at Moon Valley Nurseries. Many are drawn to the Magnolia's softball-sized and fragrant white flowers, which are truly breathtaking to see in full bloom. The flowers bloom throughout the summer and fall and attract many of our pollinating friends such as hummingbirds.

The flowers aren't the only thing that makes the Magnolia a popular tree for our region. Many of our customers love the attractive glossy leaves and the Magnolia's ability to produce a thick canopy, providing plenty of needed shade during the warmer months.

Come in and check out all varieties of Magnolias that we have in our nursery, grown right at one of our many farms in California!

Southern Live Oak

The Southern Live Oak is often called “the Mighty Oak of the South”, but they do great in the general southwest regions and most of Southern California. This oak tree grows great in nearly every region of Southern California. While the Southern Live Oak does grow at a moderate rate, planting mature oaks will let you enjoy them MUCH sooner.

This oak is a clean shade tree with dense and dark-green foliage that will fill your yard with shade and cooler temps. This large evergreen oak tree is noted for its beauty, strength, and “classic” style it brings to a landscape. The Southern Live Oak is extremely drought-tolerant and requires very little water, once established.

Crape Myrtle

The beautiful Crape Myrtle tree can be planted nearly any time of the year and with annual to occasional maintenance and clean-up. Plant these beautiful ornamental trees in your landscape and bring a splash of lively color to the SoCal area. Moon Valley Nurseries only grows and sells specific Crape Myrtle varieties that are custom-grown and mildew-resistant to be a stronger variety!

The drought-tolerant Crape Myrtle tree thrives in the heat and may bloom for long periods of time, with large clusters of delicate flowers. Crape Myrtle varieties can add massive color to neighborhoods, public parks, shopping malls, and resorts with their colorful flowers that range from pink to red, and white to purple.

Shrub Spotlight

Hibiscus

Hibiscus are medium to large growing shrubs with very lush, dark foliage and beautiful flowers that come in a wide variety of colors. They grow great in partial sun and will acclimate to full sun easily.

They grow great and look amazing when planted in pots or containers, especially oversized ones! But do not limit Hibiscus to pots because they do just as well in the soil. They can grow into a medium-to-large size and can be used for small hedges when planted in rows.