Late summer garden care

August is a great month to enjoy your garden. Here are a few tips on garden care:

• Continue to dead-head both perennials and annuals for additional bloom.
• Check in with your plants so you can see if they're droopy or if they have insects. Aim for an inch of water a week on the garden. You can determine how long to run your sprinklers so they deliver an inch of water this way: put a measuring cup at plant level and run the sprinkler for half an hour. Check to see how much water is in the cup. If it's less than an inch, continue to water until you get to an inch. That lets you know how much time your plants need.
• Make sure that newly planted trees, shrubs, and perennials get extra water for the first season or two.
• If you have bare spots in the lawn, August is a good month to seed. Rake up any thatch, loosen the soil to an inch or two, add some compost, and sprinkle seed. When you buy the seed, make sure it's for your sun/shade conditions. You can spread a little straw on top of the seed to protect it from birds, and keep it well watered.
• In the vegetable garden, plant short-season snap beans, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, carrots, mustard greens, spinach, and radishes for fall harvesting.
• Cool-season lettuces, mesclun mixes, and unusual greens that were planted in early spring can be planted again this month. If weather is unusually hot, plant these greens in partial shade.

Early fall garden care

• This is a good time to plant new trees, shrubs, and perennials. Plant evergreens by October 1st. For deciduous trees and shrubs, wait till the leaves have started to turn or fall, because it's easier to plant or transplant when they go into dormancy.
• Continue to water, weed, and monitor as usual.
• October is a good time to plant bulbs for next spring flowering. Plant a variety of bulbs for a long season of bloom - different kinds of daffodils, tulips, and the small bulbs like Squill and crocus. I buy bulbs in bulk and sell them in units of $100. This gives you bulbs that will bloom from early March through May. Let me know if you're interested.
• You can also get mums that bloom at different times, from early September through late October. That way, you get continuous bloom in your containers and garden. Let me know if you'd like me to fill containers for you with mums, peppers, kales and cabbages, and other annuals tolerant of cool weather.

If you're looking to improve, remodel, or restructure your garden and want some professional help, I'd love to work with you. Contact me by email at rinda.west @gmail.com
or by phone at 773-575-1205.