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Gardening

August Planting Tips for the Northwest

Along the Coast

Replace early summer veggies with fall crops of broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. You can also plant salad fixings, like lettuce, beets, spinach, and radishes.
Replace spent annuals with new ones. Give the garden a fresh look by trying something new. Choose larger plants to create a strong show from now until frost.

Throughout the Region
Buy fall bulbs as soon as you spot autumn crocus (Colchicum) atgarden centers. Plant this crocus as soon as you get it. Spring-flowering bulbs should go in the ground after Labor Day.
Late this month, lift and separate spring-flowering perennials and bulbs. Now through mid-September is the best time to establish a new lawn. Check with a local nursery to get the grass that’s adapted and ideal for your specific area.

Battle Pests

Check tomato plants for large green worms called tomato hornworms. If you spot worms covered with things that look like rice grains, leave them alone. Each “rice grain” is a cocoon of a predatory wasp, which feeds on pests (don’t worry — they don’t sting humans or other animals).

Yellow jackets and wasps are more active this time of year. Unless these insects are endangering an outdoor living area or your home’s structure, leave them alone. They consume problem insects.

Holes on leafy vegetables are likely the handiwork of caterpillars. SprayBacillus thuringiensis to combat them naturally.

Corn earworms may infest early corn. Check forming ears regularly and treat new silks as needed.

Don’t spray pesticides during the heat of the day — you risk injuring plants. Wait until evening, when temperatures are cooler. If rainfall has been scarce, water plants a few hours before spraying.

Pruning

Prune caneberries (such as boysenberries and raspberries) after harvest. For June-bearing plants, cut canes that fruited this year to the ground. For everbearing plants, prune canes that bore fruit this season by half. The remaining half of canes will bear fruit again next year.

Composting

Start a compost pile for garden and kitchen refuse. Don’t add diseased plants or weeds with ripening seeds unless your pile gets hot. Remember to water compost piles throughout summer to facilitate decomposition.

Learn how to make compost.

Herb Gardening

Harvest herbs early in the day, after dew has dried. Air-dry herbs on a screen or by hanging bundles upside down in a cool, dry spot. You can also dry herbs in a dehydrator. Store dried herbs in airtight containers.

Deadheading

Continue deadheading flowering annuals and perennials. This simple task is key to encouraging the formation of more flower buds.

Fertilizing

Stop applying fertilizer to perennials, shrubs, and trees — they’re starting to harden off now for winter and extra nutrients this time of year can make them less hardy.

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