August Gardening To-Do List

August is the time you get to take advantage of all the things you did in April, May and June.

The peaches are getting ripe. In my case this year that means all twelve of them. Not like last year when I had to prop up the branches because they were so heavy with fruit.

The apples aer getting ripe. This year there are a lot of apples. Probably more than we can process. Last year we had only few to pick. Not sure why the vast differences year to year for these trees.

The vegetables are there for the picking. Lots of squash. Good tomatoes. Peppers are ho hum. Eggplant and cucumbers are both lagging so far but I expect them to come around by September. And potatoes are ready to pull up over the next several weeks.

So, for these dog days of summer, enjoy the bounty of prior garden efforts with your vegetables as the featured part of summertime meals.

Here are some things that will need to get done this month.

Keep Up With Harvest

The August garden delivers full baskets of sun-ripened goodness. Ideally, it’s good to do a daily or every-other-day check on your vegetable garden to ensure you’re picking produce at the best stage for use and/or storage. Summer squash tastes best when it’s small and flesh is tender; the same is true for cucumbers. Peppers change color as they ripen, becoming either hotter or sweeter the longer they’re on the plant. Gather and dispose of produce that’s damaged, diseased or overripe to avoid attracting insects and four-legged pests.

Plant Fall Crops

Look around your vegetable or flower garden for pockets where you can tuck in a fall crop of quick-yielding cool-season favorites like leaf lettuce, radishes or green onions. Although I have given up on onions. It’s also time to add kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage transplants. If you love greens, plant mustard greens, Swiss chard, spinach or arugula. Asian greens, such as daikon radish, bok choi or Napa cabbage also thrive in autumn growing conditions.

Start Preserving

In the heart of winter, nothing tastes as good as fresh-from-the-garden fare. Transform summer harvest into long-lasting deliciousness through canning. Focus on recipes that your family will enjoy. Easy things to try include pickles, hot sauce and jams. If you have a bumper tomato crop, consider canning salsa, spaghetti sauce, tomatoes or spicy tomato juice. And include your tree fruit such as peaches (if you get any), apples and appricots.

Protect Squash

To prevent rot on ripening winter squash and fall pumpkins, gently slide fruits onto a support, such as a piece of terra-cotta, styrofoam or wicker. The goal is to keep the ripening squash or pumpkin from sitting directly on wet soil. If hungry critters visit your garden, cover squash and pumpkins with netting.

Dry Herbs

Before the growing season winds down, gather herbs for air drying. If harvesting leaves, cut stems as long as you can. Air-dry them in a single layer in a basket left in a warm, dry room. It is suggested that bundle a few stems together with a rubber band and hang it upside down in a warm, dry spot. We don’t have room for that so, we remove the stems and crush the leaves and store in tightly covered glass jars for use throughout the winter

Remove Spent Veggies

When vegetable crops are finished, gently pull or cut them to get the dead plants out of the garden. Leave root systems behind to preserve beneficial soil organisms, including microbes, invertebrates and fungus.

Gather Fallen Fruit

It’s important to pick up fallen fruits and nuts. This applies to everything from apples and pears to persimmons and figs. It’s also true for crabapples, walnuts and even acorns. Fallen fruit attracts all kinds of pests, including wasps, deer, raccoons and crows.

Renew Mulch

Summer heat continues to build this month, so it’s a great idea to refresh mulch to help cool soil and slow water evaporation. Materials like grass clippings or straw break down quickly in warm regions and benefit from replenishing.

Don’t Mow So Much

With the August heat, it’s a good idea to let the grass grow longer. Taller grass helps shade soil, which reduces water evaporation and helps crowd out weeds. Taller grass also has deeper roots, which yields greater drought tolerance.

Divide Iris

Late summer is an ideal time to dig bearded iris for dividing. Bearded iris typically needs to be divided every three to five years. Cut leaves back to 6 inches, snipping into a fan shape. Dig the fleshy roots called rhizomes. Keep the new rhizomes and shoots on the edge of the central “parent” rhizome, which can be discarded since it won’t likely flower again. Before replanting rhizomes, mix superphosphate or bone meal fertilizer into the soil. Water well after planting and again every seven to 10 days until autumn rains begin.

Water Smart

To keep watering from becoming your full-time summer side hustle, avoid watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., the hottest part of the day. During this time, more water evaporates than actually soaks into soil. Double-check sprinkler heads to make sure plants — now fully leafed out — aren’t blocking or limiting water delivery. If necessary, trim offending plants so water goes where you need it.

Treat Roses With Care

Give plants a dose of rose fertilizer (follow label directions) and mulch well. Water weekly if drought persists. In colder growing zones, stop fertilizing roses this month. If you feed plants now, you risk encouraging new growth that will likely die when a killing frost arrives. In gardener’s terms, that new growth won’t be “hardened off,” able to withstand a freeze.

Continue Deadheading Remove spent blooms on annuals and perennials to encourage more flowers as summer shifts to fall. This process, known as deadheading, keeps plants from setting seed, which signals plants to stop forming more flower buds. Deadheading also helps reduce disease outbreaks, which often start on dead plant tissue.