I tried really hard to work outside this past weekend but I couldn't stand it. I started sweating just walking toward the back flower bed where hydrangeas bent limp. The petunias look like they have been nuked. And don't get me started on the sad state of snail-bitten hostas.
Minnesota might have something to complain about in February, but August in Augusta requires truly hearty souls to make it through.
So toughen up, gardeners. It's a long time to fall -- sigh -- and there are chores for August.
Speaking of dead annuals, such as the petunias at our place, go ahead and take them out. You can replace them, but select mature plants, because nothing is going to take off in this heat. I'm thinking of moss roses.
If your annuals look healthy but lack blooms, cut them back, water and fertilize. In a few weeks you should see new blooms.
If you haven't mulched or if beds are looking mousy, it's time to do it again. Put down about 3 inches of mulch -- pine straw and bark are good choices -- but leave space around the trunk or base of all plants. Remember to water smart -- an inch a week -- and try not to water from overhead.
You can divide and move irises now. They want sun and shallow planting. Do mulch, and give them a dose of fertilizer. Be sure to trim the leaves down to 2 or 3 inches.
A patch of Asian lilies looked awful this year and I think it's because the soil's too acidic.
I'm going to add some lime and bone meal to see if that will give them a kick.
You can still plant a second set of summer vegetables. If you're sick of the vegetable garden, clear the bed of old, worn-out plants, amend soil with compost and plan out your fall garden. Go ahead and plant seeds now for fall vegetables.
It's time to treat for white flies again. They've already set up a colony in one area of my garden. You can make a trap for them with a yellow (they like yellow) plastic milk jug coated with oil.
If you need to treat plants with any chemical, do so early in morning or late in the day. The heat, combined with chemicals, will burn plants.
I have leaf miners for the first time this year. You can tell by the damage they do -- it looks like wavering lines through the foliage. It's advised to just cut off the plant and discard. It will sprout new growth.
Continue to spray or treat roses for insects and black spot and everything else that goes wrong with roses. Fertilize, too. You should get blooms again by next month or so.
To keep crape myrtles blooming, remove spent blooms.
It really is too hot for much work outside, so it's a good time to plan what you might like to do in the fall.
In your garden journal, note which plants did well, mature sizes, length of bloom time and any special needs or quirks.
Think of how to keep blooms throughout the season by planting plants together that bloom at different times. Remember that mass makes more of an impact than individual plants placed here and there.
Thank goodness we have crape myrtles and lantana. I don't know about your place, but that's just about the only thing blooming at ours, which means I have some studying to do -- inside where there's air conditioning.
As usual, thanks go to Sid Mullis, of the Richmond County Cooperative Extension Office, who wrote the best guide for us, Gardening Calendar, and Walter Reeves and Erica Glasener, who wrote Month-By-Month Gardening in Georgia.
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