August lawn and gardening tips:

-Watch for heat stress on plants. Yellow and brown leaves are a sure sign your plants need more moisture around their roots.

 

- Take the time to enjoy your garden. Sit back, relax and watch Mother Nature at work.

Water trees that are suffering from the heat with a hose or drip bag at the base. A Gator bag holds 20 gallons of water and slowly releases it to your tree.

 

-Replace faded summer annuals with cold tolerant substitutes like pansies, kale and mums. They’ll survive a light frost and keep your planters bright and colorful.

 

-Plant evergreens during August and September. This gives them plenty of time to establish roots well before our upcoming winter.

 

-The weather can be hot and dry this month. You may be tempted to let things go because you tire of taking care of them. But do not give up. Maintain a regular watering routine. When the plants' wilt, apply a measured inch of water. This amount will moisten the soil about 6 inches deep, plenty of water for annuals for about a week on heavy soils, about half that long on the sand. Do not water again until the soil dries out.

 

-If it does not rain for a week to 10 days, apply 1 inch of water to the garden. Water early in the day so that the plants dry before dark. If possible, use soakers or leaky pipes to keep the foliage dry.

 

-House Plants: Apply fertilizer by the end of the month. Days will become shorter, and growth will slow down. Plants that are not growing do not need fertilizer.

 

-House Plants: Carry a pair of clippers or a sharp knife as you work with your plants. Clip off any overly long shoots to maintain the neat shape of the plants.

 

-Lawn: as the temperatures moderate, the grass will resume growth. Mow as needed to keep the grass at the correct height.

 

-Lawn: Apply fertilizer at the end of the month. Use a high-nitrogen fertilizer at the regular rate, applying 1 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn. If no lawn repairs were needed, use a weed-and-feed product to eliminate broadleaf weeds.

 

-Lawn Weeds: Fall is the best time to treat broadleaf weeds. They are in active growth and easily eliminated.

 

-Perennials: August can be hot and dry. Water the plants when they wilt. Apply a measured 1 inch of water. Mulch to keep the soil from drying. Keep in mind, mulches can make slug and earwig problems worse.

Perennials: August is the worst month for insects. They are in greater numbers and full-sized by now. Numbers build up fast in the warm weather. Examine the garden closely every day and treat problems immediately. Control aphids, mites, thrips and whiteflies with insecticidal soap. Cover the lower surfaces of the leaves. Use Sevin to control earwigs and June bugs (adult white grubs).

 

-Do not use Sevin on bee balm, butterfly bush or other plants grown to attract beneficial insects.

 

-Be cautious fertilizing this late in the season. Perennial plants need to slow down for fall. Unless the plants are obviously deficient with yellowing foliage, do not apply fertilizer.

 

-Perennials: As flowers fade, remove them. As the foliage begins to fade, cut it back too.

 

-Many of the late-flowering perennials are wonderful cut flowers. Cut a handful for the dining room table and another for a friend. As gardeners, we sometimes take for granted the beauty that we see every day.

 

-Roses need constant tending: Remove diseased or damaged twigs each time you are in the garden. Notice how the plants are growing. Make sure no suckers are starting from the rootstocks. These shoots will have more than 5 leaflets on each leaf. The leaflets are smaller and have deeper saw teeth.

 

-Shrubs: August can be very dry. If it is, water the shrubs every couple of weeks. Set a slowly running hose under the plants and soak them until the water begins to run off.

 

-Do not fertilize shrubs now. Wait until after the first frost so that the plants are not delayed in becoming dormant for the winter. New growth forced now will not have the time to harden off.

 

-August is not a good time to plant shrubs. There are potted plants at the nurseries and garden center, but the weather is too hot for them to get a good start. If you have no choice, plant now, but give the plants plenty of water, and syringe them a couple of times a day to cool them off.

 

-Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are ripening now. At first, there are just a few, enough for topping breakfast cereal in the morning or maybe ice cream in the evening. Pick them before the birds do. Try to avoid the temptation to pick a few and eat them every time you tour the garden. Take a pan, and pick some for the family too.

 

-Hedges can be sheared one more time this year. Do not remove all the new green growth. The plants need some leaves. If the plants are getting too big each year, consider cutting them back a little farther in the early spring so there is room for them to grow. If the plants are cut back to the same place every time, a knot develops that point. Cut these knots off each spring, and cut a little farther out each time you shear during the season.

 

 

Trees: Do not fertilize trees until they have lost their leaves in fall.

 

-Summer pruning of apple and peach trees is especially helpful in keeping dwarf trees at the desired size. Summer pruning does not stimulate vigorous growth the way winter pruning does.

 

-Do not plant trees now. In a few weeks, the fall planting season will be here, and there will be good selections of newly dug trees from which to select. Check out our Plant Catalog to pick your favorites.

 

 

NOTE:  Any of our sales associates here at Breezy Hill Nursery would be happy to answer your questions about planting and caring for your tree.  Call us at (262) 537-2111.

If you have gardening questions please call or stop by our garden center.

You might also enjoy this post about trees.