Home Grown Notions: ​End Of Summer Garden-To-Do List

by Beth Cook, Mammoth Cave Transplants
August is nearing it’s end, so that means Summer will soon be over. Despite all of the heat, you still have work to do. Here are just a few things for our area that need to be or can be done

• Water the garden weekly if it isn't getting enough rain.
• Keep container plants watered.
• For fall salads, plant leafy greens like lettuce and spinach.
• Sow seeds of poppies, bachelor's buttons, and sweet William, black eyed Susan and other wildflowers where you want their blooms next spring.
• Gather and dry herbs and flowers at their peak.
• Send off your order for spring bulbs for fall planting—ASAP.
• Check that your mulch hasn't decomposed and add more as needed.
• Keep deadheading annuals.
• Leave some annual seeds to self-sow.
• Start saving seeds and taking cuttings.
• Pick up and destroy fallen fruit from fruit trees to limit insect infestations.
• Deal with late-season pests – such as aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites
• Keep Roses, Crepe Myrtles, and other plants desired by Japanese Beetles Sprayed.
• Treat diseased plants, and remove diseased foliage before leaves drop.
• If you plan on landscaping this fall, decide on the plants you want to use and how you want to arrange them.
• Take pictures of container combinations you'd like to repeat next year.

Gardening whether it be vegetable or flower, there is always something that can be or needs to be done in the Garden. Keep up the good work!

~What you do today can improve all your tomorrows. ~ Ralph Marston