Summer may be coming to an end, but a gardener’s job is never done!
Often Midwest’s hottest month of the year, August is a time to reap the benefits of all your hard work & put in the extra effort to keep your plants looking happy healthy.
Weeding, mulching, harvesting…view what you should be doing in the garden this August with tips from Prairie Gardens & Jeffrey Alans.
Watering
In the heat of the summer, proper watering is one of the most important things needed in maintaining a healthy garden. Make sure you are watering often and consistently.
On hot, humid days you may need to water more than once, especially your containers and hanging baskets. On rainy days, you may not need to water at all.
As a general rule, your plants should receive about 1″ of water a week. A rain gauge is a great too to use to measure rainfall in your garden.
“The best time to water is in the morning. The water will not evaporate as quickly, giving the plants enough time to soak up the moisture before the heavy heat of the day.”
— Mary-Ann M, Prairie Gardens Plant Expert
Mulching
Refreshing mulch beds will help the soil retain moisture and helps retain moisture (helping you save on your water bill), prevent disease, and prevent weeds.
Weeding
With the heat, weeds will flourish. Stay on top of them by pulling them before they get out of control.
Containers & Hanging Baskets
Water well and continue to fertilize with a liquid fertilizer or slow-release fertilizer according to label instructions. If a container is starting to look overgrown, give it a trim.
Tips for Keeping Your Hanging Baskets & Containers Looking Fabulous All Summer Long
Pruning & Deadheading
Pruning and deadheading, or removing spent blooms, helps promote new blooms and well-rounded growth habits.
Lawn Care
Seeding: Late August is a great time to start seeding – visit our solutions wall for grass seed mixes perfect for every lawn.
Fertilizing: Wait until September to fertilize your lawn.
Mowing: Our Plant Experts recommend keeping you lawn at about 3″ or at least 2″. Longer blades help retain soil moisture, which is especially important as we start to enter in the warmer months.
Herb and Vegetable Care & Harvesting
Keep up with harvesting! Harvest often to encourage more production. Failing to harvest can cause food production to slow.
Heat can bring about an increase in pests and disease. Survey your vegetable and herb garden often. If pests are spotted, apply treatment and remove any diseased foliage you spot.
Cutting Back
Many bloomed out perennials, such as Salvia, Veronica, Catmint and more, can be cut back about 2/3rds to encourage fresh new growth.
Replacing & Refreshing
Sometimes a missed watering, not quite the right sun exposure, or other factors can lead to some plants not thriving in your garden. If a plant has faded past help, just pop it out and replace it with a new one. Visit our greenhouse for tons of fresh options.
Fall Herbs & Vegetables
August is a wonderful time to plant cool-weathered veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, spinach and more for fall harvests. Begin planning, clearing, and amending soil if needed for august plantings.
Roses
Continue to fertilize you Roses throughout the growing season (until the end of August). Also remove spent blooms about once a week. Watch how to deadhead ever-popular Knockout Roses by watching the video tutorial below:
Look Ahead to You Fall Garden
It’s a great time to start looking out and planting fall blooming annuals and perennials, such as Chrysanthemums, Asters Astilbe, Coneflowers and more.
Prairie Gardens & Jeffrey Alans
Extraordinary Gardening, Home Decor & More
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