“ The month of August is a officious calendar month in the vegetable garden . ” This must be about the fifth calendar month in a wrangle that “ The Monthly Tips and Tasks ” clause has begun with that prison term .   Perhaps you ’re beginning to believe that every month in the vegetable garden is a busybodied month .   Me , too .   Well , rent ’s begin with the scant version of the August to - do list : continue harvest vegetables , stay removing fagged bounce and summer crops , industrial plant fall harvest and cover crops , and , of course , retain weeding .

utter ofweeds , I am always amazed at how they proceed to pop up hebdomad after week and year after year . I am often asked : where do they total from and why so many ? They can be screw up in by the wind , washed in by surface water , and introduced by birds and other wildlife .   And the weed inventory can also be increase with the program of organic mater : compost and manure .   One of my biggest gardening surprise was the twenty-four hours I learned that the majority of weeds come from semen we gardeners plant ourselves . Whoa , hold on ! Gardeners industrial plant weeds ? You reckon , every time a weed is allowed to go to source , they replant themselves in our garden . Okay , by now you are thinking it ’s August , it ’s raging and I got sweaty justwalkingto the garden ! How are a few weeds live on to sow in the garden going to make a dispute ? Well , you are going to be surprised !

A garden protagonist once remarked , “ Certain weeds have master every survival accomplishment except learning to get in straight row ! And it ’s as if they are the home squad ; they always advance because they clobber last . ” One of the selection skills that weeds have in truth mastered is their ability to produce an abundant seed harvest . How abundant you ask ? Well , many common weeds have the power to produce thousands of seeds that are fix on the earth , and these seeds can stay fertilefor up to 40 years or moreafter they are add together to the Mary Jane “ source bank . ” A cum bank is merely the collection of weed seeds in thesoil . Let ’s search a little closer at that seed bank .

A unmarried weed plant life can producea great number of seeds .    Examples of single plants that bring forth a hefty number of seed include : reddish pigweed ( Amaranthus retroflexus — 117,000 seed per industrial plant ) , common purslane ( Portulaca oleracea — 52,000 seeds per plant ) , shepherd ’s purse ( Capsella bursa - pastoris — 38,000 ) , uncouth lambsquarters ( Chenopodiumalbum — 28,000 ) and yellowed foxtail ( Setaria glauca — 12,000 ) .

In addition to producing vast amount of seeds for germination , sess semen have a protective coating and have the ability to lay dormant in the soilup to 40 years or moreand still remain viable for germination .

This yearly assembling of germ , if present in the garden or seeded player banking concern ,   makes weed a tough adversary . It is estimated that the seed bankcan be eat by 80 - 90 percentwithin 2 - 3 year period of ascendence . However , the seed bank can be replenished with a undivided year of bad control . Did you ever enquire about the descent of   that honest-to-god horticulture proverb , “ One year of seeding makes seven twelvemonth of weed ” ? Think of that weed seed bank in the garden waiting to sprout ! So getting those weeds out of the garden before they raise seeds can make a big departure in reducing the act of weeds in years to come .

August is a modulation month;the vegetable garden is moving from previous spring and summertime crop to coolheaded weather or fall crops . The gardener who fails to implant a fall garden is often missing out on a remarkable growing season . Here in central Virginia , we can glean fresh produce well into the fall and often into other wintertime . No matter how ragged the summertime garden face , a fall garden offers us not only a 2d grow season , but also a second opportunity to plant those early natural spring crop that fail in the summer oestrus . August in central Virginia is fall planting season —   the meter to plan and plant a capitulation garden . well-timed planting is the key to a successful gloam garden .

The following planting chart was created by using theVirginia Cooperative Extension Publication No . 426 - 334 , “ hang Vegetable Gardening . ”

More Gardening Tips and Tasks For August :

During the hot dog mean solar day of August , one of the last things a vegetable gardener want to think about is planting more crop . But look in front to the fall garden , which offers its own gratification through its prolonged harvest of sweet vegetables , preservation in solid food costs and knowing that you are make full use of your gardening quad and time of year .

Thanks for joining us in The Garden Shed . We count forward to you stopping by next month .

Sources :

“ Weed Management on Organic Farms,”http://content.ces.ncsu.edu / weed - management - on - constitutional - farms , Center For Environmental Farming Systems , North Carolina Statehttp://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/2113.html

“ Why So Many Weeds ? The Weed Seed Bank , ” Colorado State University Publication 2113,http://www.ext.colostate.edu / ptlk/2113.html

“ August Monthly Tip Sheets – August Vegetables,”http://offices.ext.vt.edu / albemarle / programs / anr / tip - sheets/8 - 14 - vegetables.pdf(Relf , Diane , Extension Specialist , Environmental Horticulture , Virginia Cooperative Extension - Albemarle County / Charlottesville )

“ decrease Vegetable horticulture , ” Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication 426 - 334,http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426 - 334/426 - 334.html