Laidback Gardening: What to Do in August?

The cooler nights and shorter days of August fill me with nostalgia every year. It seems to me that the sky, especially in the evening, takes on a special hue. Perhaps it reminds me of my childhood, when we enjoyed the last days of vacation, knowing that the start of the new school year was approaching. The vacant lots where we often played would turn golden while new flowers bloomed. In my memories, these abandoned fields were almost deafening, filled with birdsongs and the hum of insects. This bittersweet feeling colors all my late summers.

Here are a few things to do in the garden in August, but please don’t overdo it! Instead, enjoy the spectacle that nature and our gardens offer us during this fleeting season.

Vegetable Garden

1. Prevent tomato fruit splitting: Keep the soil evenly moist to prevent it from drying out. This prevents tomato fruit splitting, often caused by humidity fluctuations.
2. Harvest vegetables regularly: Harvest fast-maturing vegetables such as beans and summer squash every 4 to 5 days. This stimulates new production and prevents them from becoming overripe.
3. Pick peppers: Pick them green for a mild flavor, or wait until they turn red for a sweeter taste.
4. Decomposing legume plants: After harvesting, leave pea and bean plants to decompose on site. They naturally enrich the soil with nitrogen for future crops.
5. Water the garden in the morning: Watering in the morning reduces evaporation and allows water to penetrate deeper to reach the plant roots.
6. Check your carrot and beet harvest: Remove a little soil from the base of the leaves to see if the root is ready. Harvest at the right time for best flavor.
7. Removing herb flowers: Removing herb flowers can stimulate a resurgence in leaf production and extend the harvesting period of fresh herbs.
8. Harvesting onions: Harvest onions when the leaves lie on the ground and turn yellowish. This indicates that the onions are ripe and ready for storage.
9. Sow in August for autumn harvest: Autumn is ideal for growing edible foliage and root crops such as spinach and radishes, thanks to its cool nights and sunny days.
10. Cutting back old raspberry canes: After harvesting, cut back canes with brown bark to leave space for young, vigorous canes, ensuring abundant fruit production the following season.

Ornamental

1. Stop deadheading annuals: You don’t have to regularly remove spent flowers to encourage new blooming. Choose plants that flower continuously. If they aren’t sterile, many flowers will produce seeds that will feed birds and add visual interest to your garden.
2. Pruning cedar hedges: Pruning cedars in mid-to-late August minimizes pre-winter regrowth, preventing snow from clinging to the twigs, while protecting bird nests and avoiding disrupting the June brood. Or plant a hedge that doesn’t need pruning!
3. Water and fertilize hanging baskets abundantly: Hanging baskets require more water and fertilizer than plants in the ground. Be sure to water them regularly and apply fertilizer for continuous flowering.
4. Remove green stems from variegated plants: If you see stems with entirely green leaves on a variegated plant, remove them immediately to preserve the unique, decorative coloration.
5. Apply mulch after weeding: Applying mulch after weeding prevents new weeds from germinating, maintains soil moisture and helps regulate soil temperature.

Lawns

1. Installing or overseeding a lawn: The best time to reseed or install a lawn is in late August and September, although it can also be done in spring. Lawns prefer cool autumn temperatures and increased rainfall. On the other hand, if you sow too late, young seedlings, which are not yet hardened, may suffer from the first frosts.
2. Grub nematodes: To treat grub infestations (larvae of common and European chafer beetles, as well as Japanese and rose beetles) in turf, use nematodes, small parasitic worms. These nematodes penetrate the young larvae and inject them with bacteria that are toxic to them. Apply them between mid-August and mid-September, when the grubs have just hatched and the soil is relatively warm, between 21 and 30°C.
3. Don’t water the lawn in August: if the soil is dry when bettle larvae hatch, and the grasses are in summer dormancy, most larvae will starve to death.

Parasites

1. Control wireworms: Bury a large cube of carrot, potato or sweet potato and dig it up after 48 hours to capture the worms. This natural method reduces the worm population without chemicals.
2. Pull out ragweed: This plant causes hay fever; pull it out before it flowers to avoid allergies. Early removal also prevents seeds from spreading.
3. Treat powdery mildew: Use a solution of baking soda and insecticidal soap to slow the progression of powdery mildew on leaves. This environmentally-friendly method is effective against this common fungal disease.
4. Disinfect tools after pruning: To prevent the spread of disease, disinfect your tools after each use. This prevents the transmission of pathogens and keeps your plants healthy.

Houseplants

1. Bringing in houseplants: In colder regions, you may need to bring in your houseplants as early as August. When the nights start to drop below 10°C (50?), that’s the time to do it. This prevents plants from suffering from the cold, and allows them to gradually acclimatize to the indoor environment before the arrival of cooler temperatures.