While the list of gardening tasks for August is shorter than in many months, there are still ongoing tasks to perform in the garden. The hot temperatures of mid summer make it tough to spend much time working in your garden, so take advantage of any cooler days to take care of grooming and weeding. Right now, your primary concern will be assuring an ample supply of water for your plants. Weed control is also very important, because with the warmer weather and increased watering, weed seeds will germinate and grow faster, and mature to the point of producing more seeds. Take advantage of your spare time to keep the weeds cultivated out of all parts of the garden. Here are a few August gardening tasks and projects that you can do to help keep your garden looking it’s best for the rest of this season: Watering Watering can be the biggest task this month particularity if the weather gets really hot. Vegetable gardens, most flowering plants, and the lawn all need about one inch of water every week to keep them green and looking nice. Be sure to water thoroughly, and deeply each time you water. When possible, do your watering in the morning or early afternoon so the soil has a chance to warm up before the cooler evening hours set in. Of course, if you planted drought resistant plants in your garden, you won’t have to water as often, but the principal of deep watering still applies. Be sure to check the hanging baskets and container grown plants every day during hot weather and about every second day on moderate summer days. Don’t just check the surface, push your finger an inch or two into the soil to be sure there is adequate moisture below throughout the…
Check out the following July gardening tips! Remove faded flowers from perennials after they finish blooming. Deadheading redirects energy towards healthy roots. Maintain a 3 to 4 inch mulch layer around trees and shrubs to protect them from mower and weed whacker damage. Check plants regularly for insect problems; hand pick or use suitable control measures if found. Fertilize warm-season grasses. Plant butterfly nectar and larval food plants such as asclepias, buddleia, and passion flower. Replace spent annuals with heat-tolerant lantana, verbena, pentas, and hibiscus, Consider drip irrigation and/or soaker hoses as efficient watering alternatives. Harvest raspberries and blackberries daily to avoid attracting insects to overripe fruit. Prune water sprouts from apple trees. Water flowerbeds and water flower beds and gardens deeply. This encourages a deep root system. Start basil seedlings for a fall herb garden. Mow warm-season grasses at a height of 2.5 to 3 inches; apply at least an inch of water a week. Prevent rose diseases with a fungicide spray program. For longest vase life, harvest cut flowers just as they begin to open and condition them in floral preservative. Fertilize container plants every two weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer solution for best bloom. Keep annuals in bloom by removing faded flowers. Bats help control mosquitoes; attract these friendly mammals with bat houses. Help trees survive the heat by mulching heavily over the root system–avoid mulch too close to the trunk. Save space in the garden with trellises, fences, and stakes-harvest is easier too. Be sure to log in to BackyardGardener.com for everything concerning your flower and vegetable gardening! Written by: BackyardGardener.com
Don’t be afraid to trim those flowering shrubs and trees that need it. Failure to prune is probably the biggest gardening mistake a person can make. I spent 20 years landscaping homes and businesses, and I watched people make the investment in my services, then they failed to prune when the plants needed it, and before you know it their landscape looks terrible. If you make a mistake pruning, don’t worry about it. It’s like a bad haircut, it will grow out. Of course use common sense and read the previous articles that I’ve written on pruning. Along with summer time comes high humidity. High humidity can cause a lot of problems with the plants in your garden and around your house. One of the simple things you can do is don’t water just before dark. Make sure your plants are nice and dry when you tuck them in for the night and you can cut down of the chance fungus being a problem. One of the more common fungi that I get asked about a lot is powdery mildew. This appears as a white film on the leaves of ornamental plants. Dogwoods and Purple Sandcherry are often the victim of powdery mildew. Powdery mildew isn’t extremely harmful to the plants, it’s just that the foliage is damaged, and little growing takes place once it sets in. Your local garden center will have a general fungicide you can spray if you’d like to try and control it. Usually once the plant defoliates in the fall the plant is back to normal. If you have Perennial Rye Grass in your lawn, and you probably do if you’re in the north, you must be careful not to leave your grass wet at night. There is a fungus known as Pythium Blight that…