Take advantage of June gloom to check sprinklers, plant color

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Fruit drop

Deciduous fruit trees often thin themselves by shedding excessfruit in June. This is fairly common, so don't be alarmed. Too muchfruit stresses trees and breaks branches. Follow their lead: Thincrowded fruits still on branches to give them enough room so thatthey won't touch as grow. There's usually no need to thin citrus.Put props under any heavily laden tree branch, including citrus.Use sturdy 2-by-2-inch stakes and make a saddle by nailing shortpieces of 1-by-2 at the top.

If deciduous or citrus fruits split, there's a good chance it'scaused by erratic or over watering. Don't irrigate too often butlet water soak deeply each time you do. Mound up watering basins orlet hoses trickle so water can soak in to a depth of at least 18inches.

Mulch

A proven way to save water is to mulch the soil around plants tokeep them moist. The trouble is that good mulches are hard to comeby. Most commercially available kinds, such as chunks of bark orsimple soil amendments, are either too fine or too coarse. Theyallow spaces where creatures such as earwigs, sow bugs and evenslugs can hide and breed, or they may not shade the soil enough, orthey might simply wash away.

Partially composted garden waste makes the best mulch and residentsof Los Angeles are lucky because the city gives the stuff away.There are six locations from San Pedro to the West Valley. Formaps, go towww.lacity.org/san/solid_resources/pdfs/mulching_poster.pdf. Orstart a compost pile to make it yourself.

Container care

Plants in containers need frequent watering in summer, sometimestwice a day. If the plants wilt often, they may need to be repottedto a larger container. Increase the size of a pot only one or twoinches at a time. "Over potting" - where there is too much soil andtoo few roots - lets water run around the old root ball rather thanto it. If there are not enough roots to absorb the moisture, thedirt stays too wet and plants rot. Fertilize every two weeks oronce a month; irrigations flush fertilizers from potting soils. Afew soils have slow-release fertilizers built in, so they may notneed any additional feeding.

By the beach

Coastal gardeners can easily grow fuchsias and tuberous begoniasfor summer color. These two plants bloom best with strong light orspeckled sun. They thrive in a rich, porous soil or in pots. Theyseem to do best with frequent fertilizing - every two weeks withsomething like fish emulsion or another gentle fertilizer (to avoidburning). Some fuchsias are for hanging baskets; others are moreupright kinds that make little shrubs, such as the readilyavailable, sun-tolerant 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt.' Summer eats

Vegetable patches should be up and growing now. As space becomesavailable, you can still plant beans, beet, carrot, chayote, corn,cucumber, endive, melon, New Zealand spinach, onion, squash,sunflower, Swiss chard, tomato and watermelon. Leaf lettuce isanother possibility, but it will need some shade inland. If youwant pumpkins for Halloween, plant before June 15. Tomatoes plantedearlier in the season are getting huge, so watch for those bigtomato hornworms. Green in color, they are hard to spot, but ifentire branches and leaves begin to disappear, or you see theirblack, pellet-like droppings, search harder. Pick them off, withgloves if you are squeamish, and put them in the trash or otherwisedispose of them. Also watch for the green, triangular Keel-backedtreehoppers, and their black, spiny young. They suck plant juicesand can be dispatched with a squirt of soap spray, though new onesmay appear within days. Stay vigilant.

Save water

Unless your plants require little irrigation, watering will be anissue this month, especially with local authorities looking forways to conserve the precious resource. Hours for watering may becut back. Automated sprinkler systems are best set to come on inthe wee hours of the morning. But it's a good idea to check themoccasionally during daylight to make sure the sprinklers areworking properly. You also may be wasting water if the nozzles havebroken or if pipes are cracked or separated. Irrigate early in themorning, when water pressure is highest. Keeping soil dry at nightdiscourages disease and slows the malicious wanderings of slugs andsnails, which prefer moist ground.

Too late to plant?

Not if you're trying to get in a little more summer color. Manyplants love the sun and heat, including dahlias. These can be foundat your local nursery. In the shade try coleus, mimulus andimpatiens. Lobelia do fine in partial shade.