Flower/Landscape Gardens
- Maintenance is key! Stay on top of weeding and watering!
- This is the time of year when watering for one hour between 6-8am is worth 3 hours of watering the rest of the day because of evaporation. A rule of thumb for watering is 1 inch of water a week if not provided with rain. Purchase a rain gauge to get an accurate measurement and remember to empty the rain gauge regularly! It is better to water less frequently, but more deeply. It is easier too!
- Signs of drought stress:
- Wilting
- Upward curling or rolling of leaves
- Yellowing and browning of leaves, particularly along leaf margins and tips
- Yellowing and dropping of inner leaves
- Under-sized and off-flavored fruits, vegetables and nuts
- Under-sized leaves, twig and branch die-back
- Blossom and fruit drop
- Interior needle and leaf drop on conifers and evergreens
- Iron chlorosis symptoms on foliage (leaf yellowing between veins)
- Keep Camellias, Hydrangeas and Azaleas watered thoroughly.
- Continue to deadhead perennial flowers and annuals regularly to keep them blooming.
- Deadhead roses regularly to keep them blooming all summer. To prevent boring insects from entering the cut rose branch, apply waterproof wood glue to the cut.
- Feed roses every two weeks to promote vigorously blooming plants.
- Continue watching roses for appearance of black spot. Remove infected leaves regularly (do not add infected leaves to compost).
- Keep staking necessary perennials BEFORE they flop for the best effects and to make maintenance easier as the season progresses.
- Continue training and tying vines and climbing roses.
- Fertilize containers weekly with a liquid feed of fish emulsion or liquid seaweed.
- Primp containers when needed by removing any brown leaves and spent flowers to keep them healthy and looking great.
- Late in the month, when temperatures are moderate and cloudy with prospects of rain, begin dividing and replanting overgrown perennials.
- This is a good time to divide and transplant garden Irises and Daylilies. The fleshy rhizomes of Irises and crowns of Daylilies have stored enough food to encourage active root growth and successful re-establishment after moving.
- On a cooler day when gentle rain is in the forecast, apply compost to your lawn and become the envy of the neighborhood by creating a dense, healthy green lawn- organically!
- Take soil samples for gardens and lawns. It takes 5 months for lime to work into the soil.
- This is a great month for drying herbs and flowers.
- When cutting flowers use sharp clippers and pick early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
- Order fall planted, spring blooming bulbs.
Vegetable Gardens
- Garlic can be planted in August or September by breaking a whole bulb into cloves and planting them 4-6 inches apart in a 3 inch deep trench. Cover with soil. Foliage should grow throughout winter and a new bulb will form and be ready for harvest next summer.
- Strawberries can be planted now.
- August is a good time to assess flower and vegetable gardens to see what performed well and what additions and changes need to be made for next year.
- At the beginning of the month, start new plantings of peas, lettuce, spinach, beets, broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi and kale.
Call Designs for Greener Gardens, at 410-626-6122, to help you with your August garden needs!
