Alchemy Greens

Sundays and garden finds

Why planning matters:
🐝 Bee prepared - pollination helps your fruit and veggies set
🐝 laying the ground work for a healthy garden starts well before planting
🐝 plugs and starts - the health of these seedlings plays a role in end result

Want to know more? Schedule a consultation today for more information on how we can help you!

YOUR GUIDE to pruning Lavender & Thyme in JUNE ~ Lets get started 🌱

June is the sweet spot for pruning your Mediterranean herbs!

For lavender, cut back by about one-third after the first blooms appear — never into the woody base. You’re shaping a dome, not scalping it! For thyme, trim straggly stems back by half to encourage a fresh, bushy flush of growth before summer heat sets in. Both love the haircut — and so will your garden. ✂️🌸

Alchemygreens.com

Dahlia Care in TN 🌸

Powdery mildew 😡 loves our humid Tennessee summers! Here’s how to fight back:

Space your dahlias 18–24” apart for good airflow, water at the base (never overhead), and do it in the morning so foliage dries fast. At first sign of that white dusty coating, spray with a diluted baking soda mix (1 tsp per quart of water + a drop of dish soap) or a neem oil solution weekly. Strip any affected leaves immediately — don’t compost them. In Middle and East TN, stay especially vigilant from July through September when humidity peaks. Healthy soil + full sun = your best defense. 🌿

Looking for expert advice on this and many more ornamental plantings scheduled your session with a today Alchemygreens.com

Medicinals in your garden!🪴 Calendula gets the job done ✔️ this little gem of a plant helps you in and out of the garden. What are some of your favorite uses?

🌿 What’s Happening Right Now ➡️HELLO JUNE

Your summer garden is likely producing most of its yield this month and into August. Think tomatoes setting fruit, squash going gangbusters, beans coming in. Collecting ripe tomatoes and squash consistently encourages more growth , so harvest aggressively — don’t let anything go past ripe on the vine.

🌱 What You Can Still Plant in June

You can still plant beans, lima beans, southern peas, peppers, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and tomatoes directly in the garden in June. For fall transplants, start Brussels sprouts and collards indoors in June for transplanting into the garden in mid-July.

💧 The Big June Challenge: Heat & Water

Deep watering in the early morning helps prevent disease and keeps plants healthy during the hottest months. Tennessee’s humidity is deceptive — focus on deep watering at the base of plants instead of frequent, shallow watering. Overwatering is a common mistake.

🐛 Pest Watch

June is prime time for pest pressure. Watch cucumbers for cucumber beetle, squash for squash borers and aphids, tomatoes and eggplant for flea beetles, and brassicas for worms. Also spray for Japanese beetles as needed. BUT we have found just picking them off into soapy water is the best!

🍂 The Secret of June: Start Thinking Fall NOW

This is what separates good gardeners from great ones. July and early August are the prime time to start sowing fall vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale — which means your planning and seed-starting happens in June. Fall varieties are important to select carefully, as the best spring varieties are not always the best fall varieties — fall crops face long, dry days early and short, cool, moist days as they mature.

🔄 Crop Rotation Reminder

Don’t use the same spot for the same crop. Planting in a new place helps avoid soil-borne diseases that can build up in the same plot year after year.

Bottom line: June is the peak of your summer garden AND the launchpad for your fall garden. Harvest hard, water deep, watch for pests, and get those fall seedlings started indoors by late June.

Want to make a plan for your garden? let’s talk 🙏🌱 booking for Fall now.

Seed snails by
Giving our plants a leg up on life ❤️