Gardening Calendar - August Gardening Tips_03

 

 Gardening Calendar - August Gardening Tips_03: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4)

Hi folks welcome to “The Phil The Gardener Show”

In this episode we are going to continue to give you some more “To Do s”

Fertilizing Your Trees and Shrubs
You shouldn’t fertilize your trees and shrubs at this time. Like pruning, fertilizing acts as a stimulus and you should wait until autumn is really here. You can start fertilizing your shrubs and trees in late September or early October. At that time the soil temperature is still warm and the roots are still growing, but the weather is cool enough to not encourage massive top growth.

Mulching
If you’re mulching to cover your perennials don’t start yet. It can be great for protecting them from the freezes, but you need to wait until you have a couple of cold snaps. I know you say freezes Ha! it is still hot, but never you fear, the cold is coming.

In some parts of the country where young shrubs and young trees need the roots protected from the heat, you can put down what we call a top dressing or a bark mulch. This will protect the shallow roots from the sun and it helps to conserve moisture, keeps the weeds and grass from germinating also. A couple inches of bark mulch, or three to 4 inches of oak leaves, pine straw, pine bark, or leaf mold will help in your quest to grow healthy plants.

Japanese Beetles and White Grubs
The optimal time to control White Grubs and Japanese Beetles is late August or early September. Use a soil insecticide, while the slugs are still small and close to the surface. You can use diazinon, if you can get it in your part of the country. Diazinon must be watered in well. If Diazinon is not available check with your local garden shop or write to me and I’ll see what is available for you to use.

Plan for your bulbs.
Go ahead and add some compost or leaf mold into your soil of the beds now to prepare for planting bulbs in October.

Order your spring flowering bulbs for fall planting now.
You can order Dutch Iris, Daffodils, Narcissus, Amaryllis, Tulips, and Hyacinth.

Cool Season Vegetables
Plant some cool season vegetables like broccoli, brussels, sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, beet, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, radishes, and English peas.

Plant mums for September bloom and fall color.
Plant asters, Celosia, Marigolds, and Zinnia to replace any faded annuals you’ve got.
For planting flower seeds you could plant Calendula, Columbine, English Daisy, Forget-me-not, Pansies, Violets, and Sweet Williams.

Fertilize
Schedule a two week feeding for your mums with a complete fertilizer and make sure you water them thoroughly until the buds show color.
Check your acid loving plants like Azalea, Camellias, and Gardenias if they’re showing any signs of chlorosis, which would be a yellowing of the leaves. Giving them a treatment of iron chelate should help them to regain their color.

Lawn Care
Give your lawn about 1 inch of water a week and cut the grass a little higher at two and a half to three inches high. This helps to shade the roots and preserve moisture. If you can, use a mulching mower and spread the clippings on your lawn. If possible mow a little more frequently.

Now I have given you some more tips for your gardens, it’s your turn to git ‘er done!

http://www.philthegardener.com

Lawn Care Tip

 

 Lawn Care Tip 01 [1:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (29)

Some varieties of grass will grow so compactly that the roots will choke themselves out. The roots will grow so tightly together that they will not allow water to penetrate into the soil.

If water does not soak into the soil. It will just run off and the grass will die. With the roots being this tight together, they won’t allow air in to help maintain a healthy grass.

Stay tuned for a solution in the next episode.

http://www.philthegardener.com

Gardening Calendar - August Gardening Tips_02

 

 Garden Calendar | August Tips: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (17)

In the last episode, we talked about water conservation and watering your lawn. Your container plants and hanging baskets need to be checked everyday on hot days and every other day on moderate summer days.

Don’t just check the surface of the soil surface press your finger an inch or two into the soil and check the root zone to make sure there’s enough moisture.

Your plants need to be watered thoroughly but do not over water them.

In another episode we talked about dividing Agapanthus. You can use these same tips and methods to divide your day lilies.

If you’re starting fall perennials from seed, sow them directly into the soil in your garden. You can you start planting them in August or September.

August is a great time to plant your fall blooming crocus. This will give them an extra week or two of flowers after your main garden plants finish blooming for the year.

Prune your summer blooming shrubs, after they’ve finished flowering and remove any diseased or dead branches.

Your gardens appearance will really improve if you just take a few minutes and pinch off the old dead flowers from your Zinnias, Marigolds, and other annuals, this goes the same for your perennials.

If you can pinch the blooms off as soon as they die back it will encourage the plants to produce more flowers. Once they’ve gone to seed, flower production will drastically reduce or stop.

For your fall vegetable garden, now’s the time to get started planting. You can plant your seeds or starter plants directly into the garden.

Beets, carrots, green onions, lettuce, radishes, and spinach are some of the most popular vegetables to grow in your winter garden.

As you continue through August you need to be vigilant in watching for snails, slugs, and bugs.

Now I have given you some more garden tasks for August.

http://www.philthegardener.com