What Time Is it?

August 2018

Pickaway to Garden

What Time is it?

By Paul J. Hang

It’s not Howdy Doody time kids, that was a long time ago. Time flies whether you’re having fun or not. Can you believe it is already August? August is a time of butterflies, dragonflies, fruit flies, houseflies and time flies. Why is it that August always seems to remind me that time flies? We are half way between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox so summer is technically only half over. Another week or so of the Dog Days are left. School starting, days shortening, plants going to seed, tomatoes ripening, it all seems to come too soon, so fast. We were just planting out the garden worrying about some of our plants and now the answer has arrived. Some have survived, some thrived and some died.

It is time to think about a fall garden. Time to think about a winter cover crop. Time to order seeds for both. It is time to think about preserving some of your harvest. Canning, freezing, dehydrating, pickling, jelling are some of the ways that work. You Tube, especially those presented by university extension services, are the safest and most reliable sources of how to preserve food. Searching the web for sites ending in .edu also give science based information. Don’t waste your time with amateurs no matter how entertaining. Why stop at food? Flowers herbs, leaves can all be dried and preserved. Hurry, there’s not much time left.

I have heard it said that when you are young the days go fast and the years go slow. And, when you are old, the days go slow and the years go fast. I guess I am not old enough, even though in my later seventies, to vouch for that. To me the years and the days go fast and faster. The seasons seem to go by in a blur. I no sooner get used to one and here comes the next. I find it hard to believe, and a little sad, that the bird migration is in full swing in August. For some species it began back in July. What are they fleeing? We know, it’s just around the corner.

Things to do in the garden:

August is Tree Check month. Pay attention to your trees. They are valuable assets to your property and to our community. Fall is the best time to plant trees. Consider planting a shade tree. For advice on what trees to plant and where to plant them, go to www.arborday.org. To gain an appreciation of our oldest living things see www.treesintrouble.com.

Weed. Weed. Weed. Pull all that crabgrass before it goes to seed. Take heart though, the first good frost will kill it. Water if we don’t get at least an inch of rain each week. Water at the base of the plant and do it in the morning. Water trees and shrubs planted in the past two years or if they look distressed. Plant the seeds of green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage early in the month, beets, carrots, lettuces, spinach, radishes, turnips, kale, kohlrabi and snap peas mid-month, for a fall garden. Harvest vegetables and herbs in the morning for best results.

As plants die back clean up the debris so bad insects and disease don’t have a place to over- winter. This is particularly important for the vegetable garden. Some landscape plants, such as coneflowers and native ornamental grasses, you may want to leave alone for seeds for wintering birds and insects and for visual winter interest. Put the debris of healthy plants in the compost bin, diseased plants in the trash.

Want to have a new garden next year? Now is a good time to prepare the site. Cover the area with black plastic, thick cover of newspaper or cardboard weighted down or even old carpet. Anything that will block the sun will leave bare earth come spring. If you are in a hurry you can use an herbicide containing glyphosate.

Disbud and fertilize your dahlias for bigger blooms. Side dress (fertilize) peonies with a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 or 12-12-12. Order spring bulbs and plant biennials. Divide, transplant or give away perennials that are overgrown and plant new container grown ones. Add new mulch where needed.

By the end of the month consider disbudding your tomato plants. Remove the growing tips of each branch and pinch out all the blossoms that bloom. It takes six weeks from blossom to fruit. This practice will give bigger tomatoes and prevent all those marble size tomatoes that the frost gets and never reach the table. If you’re not sure about this, try it on some of your plants and compare to those that you leave alone. Experiment! Try this also with melons and winter squash.

Tomatoes not ripening? Be patient, the plants are still growing and putting down roots not just ripening the fruit that has already set. Consider picking tomatoes before they are completely ripe. They will ripen off the vine if they still show a blush of green. Totally ripe tomatoes still on the vine can burst with a glut of water from rain or the hose. They can be sampled by birds and mammals. Follow this advice and you will enjoy better tomatoes. Share the bounty!

This is a good time to look at plants at their full maturity. Assess their look, their height, their spread, their color and texture. Do you like where they are? If not, think about moving them as soon as they begin to go dormant. If they are annuals, make a note for next year to plant them in another spot in the garden. If all your perennials have stopped blooming plant some late blooming ones for next year such as black-eyed Susan, coreopsis, liatris and mallow. It is time to plant biennials and order bulbs for fall planting for blooms next year. Now is a good time to divide overgrown perennials and to plant container grown ones.

Monitor for pests. Think before you spray. Know your enemy. Use organic methods first. Remember, 97 percent of insects are either good or neutral for our gardens and landscape. If your coneflowers blossoms appear to be cut at the stem and dangling, cut them off and put them in the trash, not in the compost heap. This is caused by a beetle that has laid its egg in the stem ready to hatch next spring. Bad.

Need gardening advice? Call the Gardening Helpline at the OSU Extension Office 474-7534. Other resources are ohioline.osu.edu and, to read a weekly discussion of problems facing those of us who “grow things” check out bygl.osu.edu. Buckeye Yard and Garden Line (bygl) is a real education.