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August is the last true month of summer. Although September can be warm and dry, too, it usually is less intense less often.
The hot, dry conditions of late June and July have had many effects on plants. The lawn is where it is most visible. Fortunately, our lawn grasses protect themselves by being dormant through this difficult weather. It is not dead, just very brown. If you have been watering or choose to start watering, keep it up until temperatures cool down and rain is more frequent. Never mow during the heat of the day to minimize water loss from the cut leaf blades. Water early in the day except on extremely hot days when a light sprinkling mid-day will actually help the grass cool off through evaporation of the water.
Drought also slows plant growth in general. It also reduces flower bud formation on trees and shrubs. It limits fruit development of vegetable crops like tomato, pepper, cucumber and squash. The heat causes flowers of tomatoes and peppers to “blast” so fruit production is limited for the remainder of the season.
Mulching flower and vegetable beds well early in the season really helps your plants handle heat and drought. Use straw or compost in vegetable gardens and shredded bark or wood chips in flowerbeds.
Throughout August and September you can continue to bring questions and plant problems to the UW-Extension Plant Doctor Clinics at Boerner Botanical Gardens weekly from May through September on Tuesdays from 2:00 until 6:00 p.m. There is a $4.00 charge to enter the gardens.
Visit the Wisconsin State Fair and the UW-Extension Master Gardeners in their “Model Backyard” exhibit in the DNR area. They will have lots of free literature and can help you find the answers to your gardening questions.
If you need to find out where you can share the bounty of your harvest with others in need, contact Second Harvest about the Harvest for the Hungry program. Call 414-931-7400 and they will help you find a location near your home to donate fresh produce.
Numbers in parenthesis after entries in this month's garden calendar are for the UW-Extension’s InfoSource educational message system. In the Milwaukee area call InfoSource at 414-290-2450 and follow directions to hear a recorded message. In other parts of the state, contact your county UW-Extension office for the local InfoSource number to use.
Donate your excess harvest to help the hungry in your community through the "Harvest for the Hungry" program. Produce can be taken to one of the sixteen local garden centers and nurseries that are serving as official drop-off sites. Or call Second Harvest Food Bank of Wisconsin for the location of a food pantry or meal serving agency near your home. In the Milwaukee area call 414-931-7400 or outside of Milwaukee call 1-800-236-1208.
Bluemel's Floral & Garden Center
Greenfield 414-282-4220
Flower Source Greenhouse & G.C.
Germantown 262-251-7673
Hawks Nursery
Wauwatosa 414-258-5525
Lied's Nursery Co., Inc.
Sussex 262-246-6901
Luxembourg Gardens
Franklin 414-425-5696
Mega Discount Nursery
Oak Creek 414-571-6565
Milaeger's, Inc.
2 locations in Racine
262-639-2040 262-886-2117
Minor's Garden Center
Milwaukee 414-354-488
Nature's Nook
New Berlin 262-786-3700
Franklin 414-761-8300
Prospect Hill Gardens
New Berlin 262-679-2207
Shady Lane Greenhouses
Menomonee Falls 262-251-1660
Town 'n Country Garden Cntr.
Racine 262-639-2373
Yerke Greenhouse
Mukwonago 262-363-8911
Caan Floral & Greenhouses
Sheboygan 920-452-1525
The last date to sow sweet corn for the year is August 1st.
For late crops of beets, bush beans, carrots, Chinese cabbage, cucumbers, kohlrabi, and onion sets, continue sowing seeds until August 15th. Peas and collards can be seeded again now, too.
Transplants can still be planted of broccoli, early cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale and onions. Exclude imported cabbage worms from late plantings of these cole crops by covering them with floating row cover. Be sure to seal the edges thoroughly with soil.
Aphids can continue to show up all season long. Dislodge with a strong blast of water or use insecticidal soap (not dishsoap) when first noticed.
Continue controlling stripped and spotted cucumber beetles which spread bacterial wilt to squashes, melons, and gourds. Weekly dusts or sprays of rotenone,
carbaryl, or methoxychlor are effective but only if insects are present. Apply late in the day after flowers close and bees are not
present. Remove infected, wilted plants immediately.
Colorado potato beetle adults are back for a second generation. Since these distinctive, globular, yellow and black striped insects are so easily seen they can either be removed by hand or sprayed. A specific strain of
B.t. called M-trak is effective against these beetles while they are still young. The insecticide carbaryl
(Sevin) can also be used.
After the last raspberry harvest for the year, prepare for next year while also avoiding diseases by pruning out old flowering canes leaving only 3-4 young canes per foot of row. Wait until spring to prune back shoot tips.
Watch for the appearance of fall webworm webs on limbs of trees and shrubs. Cut out the tents or spray while the larvae inside are still young using the biological insecticide B.t. (Bacillus thuringiensis) sold as Dipel, Thuricide, or Bactur.
Avoid pruning trees and shrubs since doing so this late in the season can stimulate new growth that will not harden off in time for the cold winter weather ahead. Delay pruning until the end of the dormant season early next spring. Late in the season when trees and shrubs are going dormant, wounds heal very slowly. Tender wound tissue can also be killed by freezing temperatures.
Harvest vegetables such as tomatoes and melons regularly and frequently to avoid
overripe fruit being present to attract picnic beetles.
Harvest onions and garlic as the tops dry and fall over. Braid garlic tops and hang in a cool, dry place. Cut onion tops back to 1" and dry thoroughly before storing. Use any damaged produce
immediately.
Fall bearing raspberries will begin ripening. Pick fruit as soon as ripe since overripe fruit attracts picnic beetles which will seriously damage fruit.
Make the second application of fertilizer on new plantings of June bearing strawberries. Apply 3 lbs. of 10-10-10 per 100 feet of row.
This is a good time to order and plant spring flowering bulbs for next year's early flower display. Plan for different flowering times to extend the season. As with most flowers, they are best displayed in masses of all one type and color rather than in mixtures which can be busy and garish.
From now until September 20th is the ideal time to seed or sod new lawns or to repair diseased or damaged areas of your yard. Prepare areas with an application of the herbicide glyphosate 10 days before seeding or
sodding. Rototill the area to a depth of 6-8". Work in extra organic matter and fertilizer. Level and rake smooth. Rake seeded areas lightly to bury seed about 1/8 inch. Tamp to assure good seed to soil contact. Cover newly seeded areas with a very light layer of straw to help retain moisture. Do not allow to dry out until all grass has emerged - about 15 days. Mow as soon as the new grass is 3 - 31/2 inches
tall.
Seeds can again be sown for a late crop of leaf lettuce, mustard greens, Swiss chard and spinach.
If you haven't already done so, divide irises now before their second flush of root growth which will occur during fall's cool, moist weather. Examine rhizomes for borer tunnels and soft rot. Destroy all infected plants. Replant by barely covering the small sections of rhizome each with a fan of leaves and some roots. Cut leaves back by 2/3's.
If you want flowering plants indoors this winter of fushia, wax begonia, impatiens, geraniums, and coleus, root cuttings now in vermiculite or perlite. Use rooting hormone powder on cut stem ends. Keep flats or pots in a calm, shady spot outdoors until mid-September.
In the flower garden, continue deadheading which will allow plants to use energy reserves for a final flower display. Remove all leaf litter and spent plants to prevent the spread of disease.
Prepare for a Labor Day fertilizer application to the lawn unless you will be doing a weed n' feed treatment later in September. Mid-September is the only time of year when weed and feed products are actually timed right for both the weed control and the fertilization. If you do three applications of fertilizer per year, they should be at Halloween, Memorial Day and Labor Day. Use a slow release product for the late season application.
Late season problems on deciduous plants should be of lesser concern than those that appeared earlier in the season since leaves will soon change color and drop anyway. Diseased leaves should be removed promptly to minimize pest problems next year.
