By mid-August, many gardens start to look a bit unkempt. With a little attention, your garden can be spruced up to carry on well into fall.
Begin by cutting back the straggly flowering stems and seedheads from perennials and annuals that have finished blooming. Cut off any tattered or overgrown foliage. August is also a good time to move or divide perennials that have finished blooming. Mulch around the newly groomed plants and water them well, or refresh them with manure tea. To make the tea, scoop a shovelful of manure into a large bucket, cover with water and let sit for a day or two. Then ladle out the nutritious water and use it to water your plants. The manure will have settled to the bottom of the bucket and you can continue to add water and make more tea several times.
If there are gaps in your flower garden that need filling, many beautiful chrysanthemums are available now in nurseries. Another alternative is to move some of your container plants to the spaces in the beds. Place the container atop a brick or two so it can drain properly.
In the vegetable garden, remember to harvest green beans, peppers, tomatoes and zucchini at least every other day. As you harvest the vegetables, the plant is stimulated to produce more.
It is important to keep tomatoes evenly watered. If enough rain doesn’t fall, make sure that the plants get an inch a week from your hose. This will prevent blossom end rot and splitting of skins. One deep soaking is better than several light waterings. Try to avoid wetting the foliage since wet foliage invites disease. Tomatoes will benefit from manure tea also.
Raspberry canes that bore fruit this year should be cut to the ground. You can tell which canes have borne fruit – the stems are brown and appear woody. Canes with stems that are still bright green will bear fruit next year.
There are some things you shouldn’t be doing in August. Discontinue deadheading and fertilizing roses and do not prune or fertilize any deciduous or evergreen tree or shrub. Deadheading, pruning and fertilizing all stimulate growth and any growth that occurs now will not be tough enough to survive winter and will likely suffer winterkill.
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