Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show; August to-do’s
There are still plenty of things to do in the garden as we wait for those mouthwatering tomatoes to really start producing and I can start roasting! But that’s another Garden Bite.
Now’s a good time to deadhead those flowers. I really went after my Blue Salvia. It was flopped open…
When you deadhead, you’ll cut the flower off, generally speaking, at the first set of healthy leaves. What happens is you stop the plant from putting its energy into creating seed and, instead, it flowers again as it works to reproduce itself with more seed.
I also cut some of the lowest stems to help the plant stand up better.
I deadheaded my Yarrow, my daisies and also removed the stalks from the spent daylilies, cut the stalks back as far down as you can. That way just the leaves, the ones that are still green, are hiding the cut.
Not every flowering plant needs to be deadheaded, for instance, I leave coneflowers alone. My coreopsis is really tedious to prune. You can sheer the whole plant or let it do it’s own thing. I pruned the rose hips from my Roses. First because they looked ragged, second, again, the energy of the plant will now go to those new buds. You can leave the rose hips on later in the season for critters.
It’s always time for bug check, and disease check. Take a stroll around your gardens, look for leaf damage, perhaps some storm damage, trim back dead foliage.
With the hot then wet weather your lawn is either crispy or growing like crazy. When you mow during the summer, keep the lawn at about 3 inches if possible. Some may think that’s too long but, trust me, your lawn will be much healthier.
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