August
Week 1-
It is normal for Live Oaks,
Loquats and Magnolias to be dropping some leaves when it is hot & dry.
Feed clumping bamboos with
slow-release, 15-5-10 lawn food and water regularly during their summer
growing period.
Make sure your sprinkler
system does not water the street, sidewalks or driveways.
Fertilize summer-blooming
perennials lightly with 15-5-10. They will need water afterwards.
Finish transplanting Tomatoes,
Peppers and Eggplant for fall production.
Even cacti and succulents
in the landscape need to be watered if it is dry.
Try to work in the garden
between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM. Drink at least one glass of water (not
carbonated or caffeine- or alcohol-containing products) each hour while
working.
Week 2 -
Cut back Poinsettias and
pinch back the subsequent growth once.
Pinch shoot tips on Mums
and Asters.
It isn't just drought-stress,
chinch bugs could be damaging your turf.
Don't let your fall vegetable
transplants wilt; keep them watered and growing vigorously.
Use your oak leaf compost
as a mulch around shrubs or vegetables.
Build raised beds, in full
sun, of acidic materials (decayed granite, glauconite (green sand), red
sand and pine bark soil conditioners) for Strawberries.
Keep Chayote and Luffa vines
well-fed and healthy. They'll start blooming in a few weeks.
Week 3 -
Begin minimal pruning of
Hybrid Tea Roses. Feed with a slow-release fertilizer.
Finish sowing: Bush
Lima Beans, Sweet Corn, Cucumber and Winter Squash.
Order wildflower seeds and
sow as soon as they arrive.
Even if you see Pansies offered
for sale, please resist. They should not be planted until mid-October.
Transplant: Broccoli,
Cabbage, Cauliflower and Potato.
Languishing spring-blooming
perennials may be cut back and divided. Replant immediately and water
them deeply.
Remove fire-blight-affected
branches from Cotoneaster, India Hawthorn, Pear, Photinia and Pyracantha.
Sterilize pruners between each cut in a chlorine bleach & water solution.
Week 4 -
The optimal FALL
PLANTING SEASON starts in three weeks!
Sow: Cucumbers and
Summer Squash.
Finish summer pruning of
Oak-Wilt-susceptible Live Oaks and Red Oaks.
Remove some of the barren
branches from female hollies so berries will be more prominent when they
turn red.
Nurserymen are now returning
from their huge, annual trade show. Look for new products and plants
in the next few weeks.
Start sowing flowering winter
annuals, such as: Allysum, Calendula, Larkspur, Poppy and Stocks.
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