June in the Garden in Central Otago -The Month of Rest & Gathering Gold
- thekitchengardennz
- Jun 15
- 2 min read
June in the Garden in Central Otago
Most of the time, I love this time of year.
It’s a time to reflect, relax and take a moment to appreciate what I have created.
But the beginning of this month has been busy. The gardens are calling me to spend time in them like never before.
As I work my way through them, clearing out spent plants and amending the soil, I am taking stock of how hard they have worked for me this season and that now is the month to give back to them as they gave to me over the summer.
So, June in the Garden in Central Otago - let's get into it.
June in the Garden in Central Otago
The weather has been perfect for the start of the month; the inversion layer isn’t about, and the sun has been shining, so I’m getting out to take care of things.
As I go, I’m raking up all that garden gold that falls from the trees each autumn, and I’m not letting it go to waste.
I’ll collect it and store it away on the waste pile I have at the top of the garden to add to the beds over the summer once it’s broken down a touch.
Never let the free stuff your garden produces go to waste; between the food scraps from your kitchen, the grass clippings when you mow, and leaves, there is little need for buying in compost unless you are starting from scratch.
June garden jobs in Central Otago
There are very few jobs at this time of year. June is the time of year for getting garlic in for most, or maybe just for me anyway. If it works for you to get it in early, go for it, but I’ve never had an issue planting out at this time of year.
Some people find getting it in April/May can combat rust, but I have yet to have it, so on the shortest day or thereabouts, I will plant out my year's worth of garlic.
Approximately 300 cloves will be enough to get me through the year and extra for the resow the following year.
Strawberry management in June
The other job I will take care of is the strawberries. I have lost count of the number of plants I have on the place, but they are popping up all over, so this is the time to go through them, removing any that have passed their use-by date, tidying up the rest, and giving them a good feed.
It’s not just my strawberries that are getting some tender loving care; all the berries are. The currants have had a prune back, removing a lot of the old wood because I’ve found a bit of disease there, so hopefully I can save them, and I’ve given them a healthy feed.
The blueberries will get a feed come September when they start to flower, and the gooseberries have had a tidy up and feed, but really, they are fairly self-sufficient.
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