August
in the Garden
Give your border plants a blooming boost by adding a liquid plant food when you water. Always water your borders, beds and kitchen garden during the cool part of the day. Water deeply (for 30-60 minutes), and you won't have to water so often.
Keep an eye on any new plants in the garden and be sure to water them if the weather is dry. They need time to establish a good root system before they can fend for themselves in a dry spell. Some popular drought-resistant perennials are: day lily, Russian sage, plumbago, gaillardia, baby's breath, red valerian, and candytuft.
Hanging baskets and outdoor containers may need water every day during really hot weather and every two days during moderately hot weather.
Deadhead your bedding plants and border perennials to keep them blooming. Harvest seedpods and seed heads from any valuable plants and dry in a cool dark place. Leave some seed heads such as sunflowers, sedum, borage, primrose, and purple coneflower for the birds.
Divide spring-flowering perennials (do it in the cool of the day and water thoroughly when you replant them!) Plant your fall-blooming bulbs now.
Pick flowers for drying when they are at their prime and hang in bunches upside down in a warm, dry place.
If you have poinsettias or Christmas cactus outside, bring them in to prepare for Christmas flowering. (ten hours of light and 14 hours of darkness each day). Poinsettias need temperatures of 65-70°, and the cactus needs to be 50-60°.
Take cuttings of heathers from semi-ripe stems and place into pots of rooting compound.
Protect bedding plants and perennials from slugs using your preferred method of control.
Sow seeds of hardy biennials such as wallflower, foxglove. and sweet William. These will grow and develop to flower next year. If you didn't get it done in July, sow fall and winter vegetables now. If well mulched, most root crops can stay in the garden all winter--just dig them when needed. A thick layer or straw or some other mulch keeps the ground from freezing, making it easy to harvest fresh carrots in December!
Don't let the weeds get ahead of you! Dig out perennial weeds and remove the whole root and hoe annual weeds from between the plants.
Pick some fresh mint for your lemonade or ice tea and relax!
For more detailed information on gardening and lawn care in your area, contact:
http://www.yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu or your county extension office
Iowa Master Gardener Program (Call us with your questions 10am to noon and 1-4:30pm, M-F--515-294-3108 or contact us via e-mail: hortline@iastate.edu)
Your local garden center .
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