Northern California August Garden To-Do List

In the edible garden

Harvest your H.M.S. Bounty . Summer vegetables are at their best now . August is a time of abundance in the veg garden , with bountiful crops of summertime squash rackets , peppers , edible bean , and tomato ripening daily if your fountain cookery are paying off and if your watering practices have remained ordered . All veggie taste best if eaten on the day they ’re picked . Learn how to take each perfectly mature veggie for optimal savour by developing your own personal gustatory perception test . Harvest all of your summertime veggies frequently to ensure continued production . Learn when to harvest coarse veggies here .

see out for pestis and diseases . Monitor forpowdery mildewamong cuke and squashes , including pumpkins , and continue to mark off for plague or fungal problem in the tomato while . bear on to weed and supervise for aphids , slug , and snails .

seeded player evenfall and winter veg . Toward the middle of the month , start seeding onion , broccoli , kale , leeks , cauliflower , chard , Brussels spud , and winter lettuces indoors for planting out in the vegetable garden in later September once infinite has come available . Be sure to clean up well after harvest home completely drop crops . sum rich , organic compost and a full organic plant food in preparation for your wintertime garden . Learn more about prepping your veggie garden for fall here .

pay up attention to fruit tree . Continue with a deep watering docket for your fruit trees , and be especially persevering during hotter magical spell . Prop up any overladen subdivision to forestall branch breakage , and reap advanced fruit before any crows or blue jays beat you to it . Remove injured or damage branch , and clean up any downed fruit to avert louse infestations and foreclose potential fungal problem .

In the ornamental garden

Fertilize annuals . Your summertime - flowering window boxes , hanging baskets , and terrace containers can use more fertiliser now to encourage uninterrupted blooms all the way through declination . utilise a blooming formula such as 0 - 10 - 10 .

Divide whiskery irises . August is a swell time to divide your now semi - abeyant , jolly crowded bearded irises . cautiously dig up the whole clump of rootstock , keeping as many of the source as possible . Cut away and discard the honest-to-goodness , leafless mall portion , keep the intelligent last sections of the rhizomes with leaves attached . Plant these with the top just below the surface in rich , amended soil , and water the division in well . Learn more about dividing these and other iris here .

Pick flowers for arrangements . In the cutting garden , continue to find fault colorful summer knickers such as coreopsis ( Coreopsisspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , zinnias ( Zinnia eleganscvs . , one-year ) , sunflowers ( Helianthusspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) , dahlias ( Dahliaspp . and cvs . , Zones 7–11 ) , cockscomb ( Celosia argenteacvs . , annual ) , and cosmos ( Cosmosspp . and cvs . , yearly ) for beautiful summer bouquet . Check that the irrigation is adequate for the hot summertime days , and side - dress your veer garden with organic compost for a alimental boost . Continue to hit any spent blooms or seedpods to guarantee product of bracing new buds and blooms all the way through September .

Keep your plants level-headed . watch over for sens , slugs , snails , and fungal problem , and treat them accordingly .

— Fionuala Campion is the proprietor and manager of Cottage Gardens of Petaluma in Petaluma , California .

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Southern California August Garden To-Do List

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