Garden almanac

Time to Thin Fruit

If you are lucky enough to have fruit showing up on your fruit trees this year, now is the time to thin the fruit out a little. It can feel wrong to remove perfectly good fruit, but your apples, peaches, and pears will really benefit from it. Try to leave about 4 to 6 inches between fruits. Thinning helps the tree put more energy into the remaining fruit. This usually means bigger, healthier fruit later in the season. This also helps reduce broken branches from being overloaded.

A large brown June Beetle on a leaf.

June beetles are starting to emerge from lawns right now. You may notice little holes in the ground where they are coming up. The beetles themselves usually do very little damage. If you have struggled with grub problems in the past, this is a good time to apply a lawn grub control treatment. Catching them early can help prevent lawn damage later in the summer and fall.

A bunch of red bladder galls on the underneath of a maple leaf.

A lot of people have also been noticing strange little bumps or growths on maple leaves, and soon linden trees may start showing them too. These are caused by tiny mites. As they feed, their saliva triggers the leaf tissue to grow around them, creating those unusual bumps or galls. They may not look great, but the good news is that they rarely cause any real harm to the tree’s overall health. Most years, the best thing to do is simply leave them alone.

Dark sunken areas on the limbs of a plum tree caused by brown rot cankers.

Stone fruits like plums and cherries can sometimes develop brown rot cankers this time of year. These show up as sunken, dead-looking areas on branches or trunks. If you spot a canker on a branch, prune it out several inches below the damaged area. Unfortunately, if the trunk is affected, there is not much that can be done. By monitoring the tree and hoping it can compartmentalize the damage.

Sometimes, though, what looks alarming is actually just natural gummosis. Stone fruit trees occasionally ooze sap naturally, especially during periods of stress. If there are no sunken or dead areas around the sap, it may simply be a normal response. Mechanical injuries from weed eaters or lawn mowers can also cause sap to ooze from the trunk.

And if your asparagus seems to have headed out earlier than usual this year, you are not imagining things. The hot, dry weather has pushed asparagus to mature faster than normal. Once it starts to fern out, it is best to stop harvesting. Just let the plants grow so they can store energy for next year’s crop.

Garden almanac

In the Garden this Week

In the garden this week is planting time. When you’re planting flowers, it’s a good idea to pinch off any blossoms before putting them in the ground. It feels a little backwards, but it helps the plant focus on what really matters first, building strong roots and healthy leaves. Those early blooms take energy, and giving that energy back to the plant will pay off later with better growth and more flowers. Same for vegetables with that one tomato or pepper hanging off the plant.

A young tomato plant starter with a visible white root ball lies flat against dark brown compost soil. Two large, curved red arrows point to the middle and upper leaf nodes on the stem. A translucent gray text box in the bottom left corner reads, "Bury up to the 2nd or 3rd highest set of leaves."

Tomatoes actually benefit from being planted deep. Go ahead and remove the lower leaves and set the plant deep in the soil. Even lay it in a shallow trench with just the top growth sticking up. Wherever the stem is buried, it will start to form new roots. That means a stronger, more established plant. In general, smaller tomato transplants tend to do better anyway, they adjust quicker and experience less transplant shock.

A close-up of a tomato plant with several large, yellowing leaves covered in numerous small, dark brown or black spots. The spots are scattered across the leaf surface, and the most heavily affected leaf in the center is almost entirely yellow, while a healthier green leaf is visible in the background.

As the season goes on, keep an eye on those tomato leaves, especially the lower ones. You may start to notice spotting, which could be septoria leaf spot or even early or late blight. If that happens, remove the affected leaves right away to slow it down. Consider starting a regular spray program with an all-purpose garden fungicide. The goal is to protect the newer, healthier growth at the top of the plant.

This image features Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica), a native groundcover characterized by its low-growing, arching, fine-textured green leaves.

Right now, sedges are becoming a popular choice for planting under trees. They handle shade well, stay low-maintenance, and often keep growing even when other plants start to fade. In many cases, they only need one or two mowings a season. This makes them a practical option for tough shady areas.

An outdoor, eye-level shot captures a collection of approximately nine weed killer containers arranged on a bed of brown wood mulch, with a blurred green hillside in the background. The containers vary in size, color, and brand, featuring names like Southern Ag, Ortho, Roundup, Spectracide, and Avenger. To the right, a portion of a wooden garden bed is visible. The scene is brightly lit by natural sunlight, casting soft shadows on the mulch.

When it comes to herbicides, it helps to understand that there are really three main types, and they often get mixed up. The first is a grass killer. These are designed for small, unwanted annual grass in flower beds or around shrubs. Just be careful, don’t use them on your lawn because they will kill your turf grass too.

The second type is a nonselective herbicide, often called a weed and grass killer. These products kill almost everything they touch, including both grasses and broadleaf plants. Think products like Roundup or Ground Clear. They’re best used on driveways, sidewalks, rock beds, or other areas where you want complete control.

The third type is lawn weed killers. These are made to target broadleaf weeds in turf without harming the grass itself. Most of them are “3-way” mixes that include ingredients like 2,4-D, dicamba, and others to get a broad range of weeds under control.

You may also start seeing some newer “organic” weed killers on the market, like Spruce. While they tend to be easier on the environment, they don’t always perform well on established perennial weeds, and they can be a bit pricey for what they do.

No matter what product you’re using, always read the label first. Timing and conditions matter more than people think. Avoid spraying when it’s windy or when temperatures are above about 85 degrees.

Pennycress weed showing white flowers and round seed pods in a meadow.

For now, the simplest and most reliable weed control is still mowing and hand-pulling. I’ve been battling pennycress in my own garden, and honestly, pulling and hoeing are the only way to stay ahead of it. Each plant can produce hundreds of seeds, so letting even a few go to seed just makes next year’s problem worse.

Astronomy

🌌 Night Sky This Week

Night sky this week through June 5th, 2026, with spring giving way to summer. You can really notice the change taking place from week to week. The evenings are getting warmer, sunsets are stretching later into the night, and the familiar stars of winter are slowly slipping away as the constellations of summer begin rising in the east. It’s one of the best times of year to spend a few quiet minutes outside, enjoying that transition overhead and watching the sky slowly shift into its summer pattern.

🌙 Evening Highlights

Bright full moon with visible craters against a black night sky.

On Sunday, there will be a full moon. It is the second full moon in May and is called a blue moon. The saying once in a blue moon comes from this. Right above the moon is a star called Antares (the heart of the scorpion). This moon is at the furthest point from the Earth, so it is known as a minimoon.

Sunset western sky with labeled Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Pollux and Castor above a dark horizon.

Mercury shows up in the evening skies this week. In half an hour after sunset, look to the west just above the horizon. The little planet sets an hour and a half after sunset.

Right after sunset, Venus is stealing the show. It’s incredibly bright and usually becomes visible before any of the other stars do. Look toward the west-northwest, and you really can’t miss it.

Venus has now moved into the constellation Gemini, where Jupiter is also shining brightly nearby. Over the next few weeks, the two planets will slowly appear to move closer together in the sky, and that’s always fun to watch from night to night.

Jupiter remains high enough to enjoy for most of the evening before finally setting after midnight. Even a small pair of binoculars can make things interesting. If the sky is clear and steady, you may be able to spot Jupiter’s four largest moons lined up beside the planet like tiny little stars.

🌅 Early Morning Sky

If you happen to be out before sunrise, there’s still quite a bit going on.

Twilight sky over a dark field with labels for Mars, Saturn, and E; stars dot the dusk horizon in a calm, orange-purple glow

Saturn is becoming easier to spot in the southeast around 5:00 AM. It has a steady golden glow that stands out once you know where to look.

Mars is nearby, sitting lower and a little to the left of Saturn. The red planet rises half an hour before sunrise.

✨ Constellations of the Week

This time of year is when the sky really starts showing the transition between seasons.

Near Jupiter, you’ll notice two bright stars that mark the constellation Gemini. The brighter yellow-orange one is Pollux, a red giant star about 34 light-years away. Right beside it is Castor, which looks like a single star to our eyes but is actually a multiple-star system located around 51 light-years from Earth.

Scorpius constellation labeled in a starry night sky above a dark horizon, with white connecting lines and a blue glow.

At the same time, Scorpius the Scorpion is beginning to rise in the southeast, giving us one of the first big hints that summer skies are on the way. Around midnight, the constellation lies to the south.

If you get a clear evening this week, take a few minutes to step outside and enjoy it. This is one of those stretches of the year where the sky changes noticeably from week to week, and you can really feel the seasons shifting overhead night by night.