Awegust

August 2018

Pickaway to Garden

Awegust

By Paul J. Hang

The name Awegust better describes the way I feel about the month of August. I am in awe. What has filled me with awe? It is the bounty of the month. Just a few short weeks ago I planted seeds which have become onions, lettuce, broccoli, beets, tomatoes, peppers, beans, cabbage and lettuce. Last fall I placed cloves of garlic in the ground that survived the winter and just a couple weeks ago I pulled and dug up heads of garlic with 8 cloves each. The return on seeds, cloves, tubers and bulbs makes the stock market returns look puny indeed.

I have studied botany on my own, and even though I have gathered some understanding of the processes at work; pollination, fertilization, photosynthesis etc., seeing the results still amazes me. I am pretty sure that the casual observer has no idea how all that bounty ends up on their grocery shelves. And this is not just true of vegetables, flowers, shrubs and trees have shown amazing growth. Daylilies have been particularly prolific and blooming for a long time. Trees have, in most instances, put on growth of 2 to 4 feet or more! Shrubs too are burgeoning like the before pictures in a Nutri-system ad.

Just because this growing cornucopia is going on doesn’t mean it must be over soon. What started in the spring will go into October. You can keep the show going on into and maybe through the winter by starting a fall garden. It’s not too late.

What’s coming in just few months can also be awesome or awful depending on your point of view.

Things to do in the garden:

August is Tree Check month. Trees are valuable assets to your property and to our community. Fall is the best time to plant trees. For advice on what trees to plant and where to plant them, go to www.arborday.org or contact our City Tree Commission.. To gain an appreciation of our oldest living things see www.treesintrouble.com.

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 those with hollow stems, also 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.

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 on an otherwise red, purple or yellow tomato. 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.

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.

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 plant problems check out bygl.osu.edu. Buckeye Yard and Garden Line (bygl) is a real education.