August horticulture tips

Here are your horticulture tips for August.

• Early August is a key time to plant many fall vegetables such as beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, squash, Swiss chard and turnips. The most important key to getting fall gardens off to a good start is cool soil temperatures. It can be very helpful to provide a few days of shade over an area to be planted. Also, be prepared to provide afternoon shade for a few weeks once the tender seedlings emerge.

• If you have mature tomato plants that just don’t look good, now is a good time to consider giving them a hard pruning (removing as much as one half the existing plant) and regrowing them for a fall tomato crop. Most tomato plants fail this time of year due to spider mites. So, watch the new growth carefully for mites and be proactive with control efforts.

• Monitor and adjust irrigation needs accordingly. Our weather is too variable to rely heavily on the “set it and forget it” irrigation controller scenario. Make ongoing adjustments to your irrigation system so the landscape is not getting more water than it needs to be healthy.

• The first opportunity for successful weed control begins late this month with the application of a fall pre-emergent. Remember, if you have an area that you are considering seeding this fall, avoid applying these products as they will inhibit new grass seedling growth.

• August-September is the best time of year to apply glyphosate herbicide when attempting to eradicate Bermuda grass from an area. The Bermuda begins storing winter energy reserves during this time and this activity helps the herbicide move through the plant a little better than at other times of the year. However, don’t expect 100% control of this pesky plant.

• Make plans now for September seeding of wildflower mixes and lawns for shady areas. The most successful shade tolerant lawns in our area are predominantly tall fescue with a small percentage of Kentucky bluegrass.

• Late August is a good time to dig, divide, and replant many perennials such as daylilies, iris, and peonies.