If your garden seems a little wild and fickle right now, welcome to the club. Mine is almost on autopilot. The dog days of summer put me in the shade with a book and an iced tea. When it's hot and humid and the mosquitoes have decided I'm their all-you-can-eat buffet, I do the bare minimum, water and nothing more.
However, I did not leave my garden. I'm waiting for my moment. Good weather for gardening. Although the calendar says that summer won't end until the end of September, autumn has begun to appear. Cool nights and the rosy reds of the club hydrangea.
So while I drink a cold drink and pick tomatoes and basil, I look around the garden and plan what I'll do when the humidity drops. There's something to keep you busy at the end of August and into September. Here are some ideas for things to do when gardening is fun again.
Plant a second crop of lettuce, spinach, arugula or Asian greens. For more ideas for planting fall vegetables, check out this story.
Plant cover crops in unused beds. Cover crops (alfalfa, winter rye, alfalfa and others) reduce erosion and add nutrients to the soil after they are cut and returned to the soil.
They share bearded and Siberian lilies, peonies, oriental poppies, astilbes, daylilies. Do this at least four to six weeks before the ground freezes to give the roots time to establish.
deadhead Removing dead flowers and spent plants will help keep the garden tidy. Exceptions to dead bloom are flowering plants that provide winter interest, such as hydrangea, thistles and thistles, or seed heads that feed birds. These include echinacea, black-eyed Susanna, asters and ornamental grasses. Do not cut until spring.
Keep weeding. I know, late summer weeds are old. But the weeds you pull now won't be there next year. Focus on what you're going to do. After several years of weeding, I noticed a significant reduction in the number of weeds and weeds in my perennial beds.
Pamper your indoor plants. Perfect for your houseplants to spend the summer outside. Now is the time to feed and, if necessary, bond. When nighttime temperatures reach 50 degrees, start adjusting to living indoors. Bring them in overnight and leave them outside for a few days, reducing the amount of time they spend outside. Do not leave outside at night when the temperature reaches 45 degrees. Check for insects and diseases before going inside.
Do not cut trees and bushes now. Unless the branches or branches are broken, dead or damaged, do not prune any trees or shrubs at this time of year. Also, don't fertilize. You don't want the plants to produce new growth that will die from frost.
... But everything is fine with the transplant. Small trees, shrubs and perennials can be transplanted in late summer and early fall to harden off the plants six to eight weeks before frost. Make sure anything you move doesn't get in the way of the fall transplant. Most can, but some plants, such as dogwood and Japanese maple, don't need to be transplanted until spring.
Do a soil test. Late summer is a good time to test the soil, as there is plenty of time to make the recommended amendments while the garden is dormant. It will be applied in the winter and the soil will be ready for use in the spring.
the flat Order spring flowering bulbs. It's too early to plant, but decide which bulbs you need and where to put them. The same goes for garlic, which should be planted six to eight weeks before the first frost.
to have fun Enjoy warm days and cool nights. Cut some flowers to make bouquets. Hear crickets, cicadas and frogs. Note the angle of the sun, which now sets a little earlier each night. See how the bees go crazy among the flowers. Nature is taking advantage of these last days of summer, and so are we.
