Itâs early August, and that means a new gardening season is upon us. You may not think of the final full month of summer as a great gardening month, but itâs indeed time to resume work in the garden.
Weeding at this time of year is particularly important, as many weeds are producing their seeds, which will cause additional problems in your garden next year. By pulling out the weeds now, you can save yourself from future trouble.
Itâs also time to freshen up some of those window boxes if the hot summer weather has taken its toll. Gardening stores still have new plantings, and while I wouldnât put in fall mums necessarily, there are other annuals that you could plant now.
The best time to do most pruning is late winter and early spring, when the energy of our trees and shrubs can overcome it. But you can still do some light pruning this time of year.
I tend to take out some of the growth that might be coming into a walkway or into another plant. The best time would be early this month, as if you wait until the end of the month and you get some new growth, it might not be hardened off before winter. Many of the buds are setting themselves for next year, and if we donât see adequate rain over the next four to six weeks, itâs a good idea to augment things with water, as your town allows.
In the vegetable garden, keep an eye out for tomato hornworms and other diseases. Itâs a good idea to use an organic fungicide on your tomatoes, as this is when disease starts taking hold. Harvest early in the morning when the weather is cool and crops are at their sweetest.
If you want to start planting for the fall, hereâs a list of some of the things you can put in from seed right now: lettuce, spinach, kale, swiss chard, arugula, radishes, turnips, beets, and broccoli (transplants). Japanese daikon radishes also do well when planted this time of year, and youâll be able to harvest them even after a couple of frosts in October.
Also, make a note of which varieties of plants might not be doing well. Are there certain tomatoes that are getting more disease? Are there peppers that arenât performing well? Personally, I have found this to be a terrible year for cucumbers.
For those of you with healthy lawns that are still growing, a late-summer treatment of organic fertilizer is recommended. If your lawn is dormant, do not feed it as the fertilizer will just end up getting washed away and isnât good for the environment.
Finally, this is also a good time of year to look at your light. We are approaching daylight that is equivalent to the spring. What you observe now gives you a good idea of where your light will be in the spring and where you might want to plant next year. Look for those areas that are shadier than you might expect, as well as those that have a lot of sunshine. Start making a plan for next year and taking notes â this will help you have a successful garden for years to come.
