Plan Garden Parties and Pruning This June

June marks the beginning of hurricane season in Florida, and it is also a time of growth, cultural celebration, and reconnection. Our landscapes are responding to the warmth and longer days, finally showing strong signs of recovery after a colder-than-usual winter and spring transition. While many plants are beginning to thrive, they are not yet structurally prepared to withstand the intense winds and rain that hurricanes can bring. Honestly, a hurricane ripping through my yard right now would find very little satisfaction—the plants would offer nary a whimper of resistance.

I am going to use this month to shift from simply encouraging growth to building strength and resilience into my landscape that will serve it in the seasons to come. All the new growth I encouraged last month now needs to be pruned for structure. While it is exciting to see the lush greenery, that soft new growth needs to be managed properly.

Homeowners should focus on structural pruning:

• Assess whether tasks should be handled by yourself or by a professional.
• Water plants the day before and the day after pruning to reduce stress.
• Remove weak, crossing, or overly elongated branches through light structural pruning.
• Reduce excess canopy weight, especially in shrubs and small trees to improve wind resistance.
• Avoid additional fertilization to allow the previous fertilizer applications to carry through the rainy season.
• Monitor plant recovery to ensure that the structure remains strong and stable.

This preparation will create peace of mind that allows us to fully enjoy everything else that June has to offer.

In between my landscaping activities, I plan to have several gatherings. There are many things to celebrate in June: I plan to double-down on Caribbean Heritage Month by having weekly mini-festivals at my home. Imagine my monthly Jerk Chicken and Rum Punch event quadrupled, just for June! There will be a lot of food, music, and culturally relevant plants involved.

Florida is one of the best states to live in when you have a connection to the Caribbean. It is close enough for the warm temperatures, familiar plants, and high concentrations of people from the region. There is ample shade in my landscape to reduce the discomfort of summer for outdoor activities. I have Scotch bonnet peppers, thyme, and culantro (an herb native to the Americas but not particularly common in the United States) all waiting to be harvested for my homemade jerk and green seasoning blends—the basis of every amazing dish that reminds me of my grannies. This is also the month when I am likely to attend festivals in Orlando or Port St. Lucie.

June is about balance, as the summer solstice marks the turning point from increasing daylight to the gradual return of shorter days. As summer heats up, I am certain we will be grateful for the minutes of reprieve this offers us in July.

Nickie Munroe is an environmental horticulture agent with the University of Florida’s IFAS Indian River County Extension.