Home Grown Notions: Garden To-Do List For August

Beth Cook, Mammoth Cave Transplants
Man, is it ever hot! July was graced with more rain than we ever thought about. If your gardens survived all of the rain, you are probably reaping the rewards right now like fresh, yummy produce. August will probably be on it’s usual track… HOT as blue blazes! Regardless of the heat, you still have work to do nearing summers end to prepare you gardens for fall.  Here are just a few things for our area that need to be or can be done in the sultry month of August. August To-Do List for Zone 6:

• 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.
  
• Fall Vegetables can be planted this month like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc.
  
• 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.
  
  

Don’t forget to keep harvesting and enjoying those garden goodies!

~~"A garden is a love song, a duet between a human being and Mother Nature" — Jeff Cox, American Garden Writer