PLANT
Get ready to plant your fall vegetable garden. In order to calculate planting dates, determine the frost date and count back the number of days to maturity plus 18 days for harvest of the crop. For example, if snap beans mature in 55 days and your frost date is Oct. 31, you should plant on or before Aug. 19.
As areas of the vegetable garden are harvested, seed a cover crop that can be turned over in spring to boost the strength of the soil.
Extend the flower season by planting more summer and fall bloomers such as petunias, zinnias and marigolds.
FERTILIZE
Bermudagrass lawns are growing actively and would benefit from an application of fertilizer. Be sure to water the lawn thoroughly after feeding to prevent grass burn.
Do not apply nitrogen fertilizer of any kind, including manure, straw or sawdust, to shrubs.
To increase the blooms of marigolds, celosia, cosmos, zinnias, petunias and impatiens, apply a fertilizer with more phosphorus and potassium than nitrogen, perhaps a formulation such as 5-10-10.
Apply fertilizer around peonies and scratch it into the soil.
Your container plants have been roaring through the nutrients in their soil. It’s time to give them a trim and a good feeding to help them continue to flourish.
PRUNE
Pinch off onion flower buds from the top of the plants to direct all of the plant’s energy into the developing bulb instead of seed production.
Prune blackberries if you haven’t already.
For larger chrysanthemum blooms this fall, disbud them now. Stake and tie the plants to prevent drooping and breaking.
Prune summer-flowering shrubs as the flowers fade.
This is not a good time for general pruning of shrubs. Restrict trimming to removing a few stray shoots.
Trim hanging baskets to prolong their beauty.
WATER
Your gardens should be getting an inch of water per week. August can be a month of extremes when it comes to rain. Some years it pours while others struggle for any rain. Use a rain gauge to measure rainfalls and compensate with regular watering. Irrigate early in the morning to keep the water from evaporating.
When watering vegetables, the golden rule is to soak not splash. Give plants an occasional thorough soaking rather than watering little and often.
If you’re thinking about growing a fall garden, remember that you may have to water every single day, maybe even twice a day, to get the vegetable crops germinated and out of the ground. Straw mulch can be a good help with the water management – just remember not to get the mulch so deep you smother the young seedlings. For all this effort, you will find that, for most of our cool-weather loving crops, fall can provide a better quantity and quality crop.
Do you have a problem with shoulder cracks on your tomatoes? This is when the shoulder of the fruit nearest the stem cracks either longitudinally or sometimes circumferentially as the fruit is getting close to being ripe. Shoulder cracks are caused by a sudden growth spurt most frequently caused by heavy rainfall or irrigation following even a short-term dry period. It is very important to maintain fairly constant soil moisture around tomato plants. Use lots of straw or hay mulch and then water, preferably at ground level every other day if not every day during August heat. If the soil surface is dry for more than six hours, under these high-temperature conditions, then you probably need to water again. Tomatoes can handle high temperatures with proper irrigation.
Brown spots in your lawn? Check your sprinkler coverage of that area. It may be getting substantially less water than other parts of the lawn.
Water any newly planted shrubs and trees, but cut back water on established trees and shrubs by mid-August. They need to start drying out and hardening up for winter. A little drought stress won’t hurt them a bit. If you’re watering thoroughly once a week, cut back to once every 10-14 days.
Container-grown plants have a limited area from which to absorb water. Plants in a sunny and/or windy location may require watering several times a week. Check plants often to avoid water stress.
PEST CONTROL
Give your garden a daily look for pests and disease. The sooner you catch any problems, the easier they are to knock out. Pests can really thrive and destroy your garden in August while you are hiding from the heat.
Clean up as you harvest vegetables. Keeping your garden free of debris and rotting fruit can help reduce the amount of pests and disease. Always remove any diseased or infested plants and debris.
With your tomatoes, do you have a problem with little white specks just under the skin of mature fruit? If you dig down to these things, they are often the size of a pinhead and kind of hard. They are caused by feeding damage of the stinkbug. Usually way before the tomato ripened, the stink bug stuck his mouthpart into the tomato and took a drink of sap. Then it left and the plant responded with this callous tissue development to seal the location where the skin was pierced. There’s no way to stop stink bugs from doing this but, don’t fret, it does nothing but slightly alter the appearance not the taste of the tomato and you can still eat them with no problem.
Regular applications of Bacillus thuringiensis will prevent caterpillars from devouring everything in the cabbage family.
White flies are attracted to yellow, so use yellow sticky boards to reduce their populations.
Have you got hostas? Are there slugs chewing them? Try this solution if you haven’t already. Combine nine parts water to one part common household ammonia and spray it on the hosta just before dark. When the slugs hit this, they will dissolve!
Silvery Mylar balloons like those sold at flower shops are filled with helium. They will move erratically in the wind and can help scare birds from vegetables or fruit … at least until they get used to them being there. Scarecrows, whirligigs, aluminum pie pans on strings, inflatable snakes and plastic owls work in the same fashion. If you keep switching these deterrents on a weekly basis to where the birds don’t get accustomed to seeing any one object, you can be successful at keeping them out. Persistence will pay off … you ARE smarter than a bird!
Electric fences can be used to thwart the efforts of nocturnal critters such as raccoons and deer … at least until the deer figure out they can jump it. Bright motion lights may also help keep four-legged critters away at night and a radio tuned to a talk radio station can also help. Human voices seem to be better at frightening away wildlife than music.
Don’t give your hoe a moment’s rest! Every weed producing seed means more trouble next year. Although it is easier to hand weed after a rainy day, when it is hot and dry, hoeing is just the thing. Hot weather will dry up hoed weeds and destroy them before they get a chance to reroot.
Do not add weeds with mature seed heads to the compost pile. Many weed seeds can remain viable and germinate next year when the compost is used.
ODD JOBS
Make some notes in your garden journal.
Take pictures of your garden at peak. Take pictures of container combinations you’d like to repeat.
What a great season to have fresh, home-grown fruits and vegetables! Even if you don’t grow it yourself, you can buy produce grown locally from the farmers market.
To ensure you have plenty of homegrown herbs year-round, preserve them. The best time to put them up is at the peak of their flavor, August is a great time. Freeze or dry herbs such as parsley, basil, rosemary, chives, thyme and many more to bring a little summer flavor to the cold months.
Don’t let red tomatoes become overripe on the vine. Pick them when they’re fully firm, not squishy.
Are you remembering the lawn mower should be set at 2.5-3 inches to help the grass stay hydrated? Cutting the grass lower will be very stressful!
Buy fall mums.
Cut strawflowers intended for dried flower arrangements when the blooms are only half open. Tie small bundles of the flowers together and hang them upside down in a well-ventilated place to dry.
If you see mushrooms growing up around an existing tree, it shows there are dead roots and the tree is probably dying.
Colorful plastic golf tees can be stuck in the ground to mark the location of dormant plants such as spring bulbs or perennials.
Order spring-blooming bulbs if you haven’t already!
Harvest garlic if you have not already. Different types and varieties ripen at different times. When garlic is ready, loosen the soil around the garlic delicately with a spading fork and gently lift the garlic by the bulbs rather than pulling them from the stem. Save the best for replanting in October or November.
Make sure the compost heap is getting enough water. It won’t cook if it is dried out.
Many herbs self-sow if the flowers are not removed. Dill produce seeds that fall around the parent plant and come up as volunteers the following spring.
Re-edge your garden beds to keep them neat looking. If it’s too hot, save this chore for fall.
Start saving seeds and taking cuttings.
Hummingbirds will be migrating back in full force through August. Get more feeders ready!
