Ahhh August.
The time for camping trips and barbecues and also the time when my kids start avoiding specific isles in stores…the isles that contain s-c-h-o-o-l supplies.
I hope you are taking some time to relax and enjoy the bits of summer we do get!
Here’s the list:
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Make sure you water new plantings, annuals and baskets when we do have the sun. With our wet and cool spring, plants have not had to root in very deeply and will be vulnerable to extended heat waves.
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Continue to thin fruit if needed. Fruit trees and berry bushes have put out a lot of soft growth with all of the rain this summer and if you
have tons of fruit on your trees and bushes you might need to support the branches or thin the fruit.
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You can do a summer prune up until mid month. With summer pruning I’d suggest taking off no more than one quarter of the plant.
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Continue to dead head and trim back the excess herbaceous growth in perennial beds as needed if your perennial beds look like the jungle that mine does.
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Avoid any further fertilizing of trees, shrubs and perennials past early August.
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Harvest it if you’ve got it. Tomatoes, berries, early apples, veggies. If you’re lucky, you’ll be run off your feet! Canning, freezing, baking are the order of the day. Berries freeze wonderfully on wax papered cookie sheets before you put them in containers for storage.
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Continue to plant winter crops.
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Watch for aphids and spider mites. Monitor for blight on tomatoes and powdery mildew on zucchini and squash.
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Now is a good time to take many cuttings such as Eleagnus or Callicarpa or to surface layer plants like Rhodos or Evergreen
Huckleberry to start new ones ready for division in spring. Your local library should have some great learning resources on propagation.
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Take pictures and make note of any areas that you’d like to make changes. Plan now for landscape renos that you can start towards the end of September when the ground is moist.
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Enjoy your lovely summer colour; don’t forget to bring some inside.
Cheers,
Laurelle