Lawn

• If you see grub damage, apply a grub killer. Merit and Mach 2 are grub preventers and many not be effective on late in-star grubs. The grub killer must be watered in within 24 hours or effective-ness drops. It’s beginning to look a lot like crabgrass. Did you treat in early April? If not remember to do so next spring! It is fighting a losing battle now to try to control pesky crabgrass and foxtail. Water deeply (best time in early morning) and less often for deep roots and a healthy lawn.
• Keep mower blades high.
• Water bluegrass one to two times, per week, applying a total of about 1 ½ inches of water
• Water tall fescue one to two times, per week, applying a total of 1 inch of water
• Apply last application of fertilizer to zoysia by mid month
• Be on the look out for grubs and apply proper control methods
• Start planning for fall renovation projects such as aerating and seeding
• Check sharpness of mower blades and repair
• Mow turf as needed depending on summer growth
• Destroy unwanted zoysia and Bermuda
• Take a soil test to determine a fertility program

Landscape

• Time to stop fertilizing roses after August 1. They need to slow down growth and harden off for winter.
• Do not trim Viburnum, White Blooming Spirea, Mockorange, Forsythia, Dogwood, Ninebark, or Lilac after July 4 or you will lose the blooms for next spring. This time of year you must remember to water!
• Water! If rainfall is slight, let a slow-running hose soak trees and shrubs. Do not water at night; wet and cool temperatures invite fungus and bacterial diseases. Keep gardens mulched with a 2-4 inch layer.
• This is the month you will love your drip irrigation system that saves time & precious water.
• Take photos of your garden now at its peak! Start a garden journal to track successes and failure.

Photograph your water features

Vegetables and Fruits

• Fertilize strawberries beds now! This is the best time since they are producing the buds for next year’s fruit.
• Plant a fall garden now: beets, beans, carrots, radishes, and spinach. Plant hardy pansies, marigolds, mums, and ornamental cabbage for fall color!
• Water about 1 inch per week
• Plant a fall garden, beets, carrots, beans, and turnips for autumn harvest
• Harvest crops on a regular basis for season long production
• Ease fruit loads on branches by propping with wooden supports
• Net ripening fruit to protect from hungry birds
• Fertilize strawberry bed for added flower bud development
• Turn compost pile and add water when dry

Flowers

• Apply 1 to 1 ½ inches of water per week to gardens
• Divide irises and daylilies during this dormant period
• Make last application of fertilizer to roses by mid month
• Control black spot and other rose diseases
• Fertilize mums, hardy asters, and other fall blooming perennials
• Deadhead annuals to encourage late season blossoms
• Cut back and fertilize annuals to produce new growth and fall blooms
• Sow hollyhocks, poppies, and larkspur for spring blooms
• Prepare for fall bulb planting by making orders or researching varieties
• Take cuttings from geraniums and begonias for wintering indoors
• Remember to stop shearing mums, russian sage, sedum, and asters now!
• Time to trim back Salvia; by deadheading the blooms to the top of the green foliage it will re-bloom in early fall! Simply sheer back the dried blooms.

Liatris blooms in August

Trees and Shrubs

• Fertilize with acidic fertilizer one more time: Azaelas, Rhododendrons, Holly, Hydrangeas.
• Water young trees every 1 to 2 weeks by thoroughly soaking the root system
• Check mulch layers and add if needed
• Check young trees and shrubs for girdling wires, and ropes from planting
• Avoid fertilizing ornamentals now so they harden off before winter
• Hand remove bagworms

Pruning

• Prune and shape hedges
• Prune broken, dead or crossing limbs for healthier plants

Houseplants

• Water houseplants regularly and fertilize to promote growth
• Check plants for insects such as scales, aphids, and spider mites
• Wash plants to remove dust layers
• Make cuttings and repot plants before summer sun slips away

MAKE COMPOST

• All you need are three ingredients: 1) green stuff (grass clippings, veggie skins & tops you would normally throw away); 2) brown stuff (leaves, soil, dead foliage); and 3) water. As you pull out annuals and early vegetables, put them on the compost pile. Keep the pile moist as a wrung-out sponge, and turn often. Cover with a light sprinkling of soil to curb odor and add microscopic organisms and worms to the pile that will help in the decay process. Add the dark black decayed organic matter to your flower beds. Make 3 compost bins and actively use one for 4 months and then quit and let it set (continue to turn & wet but don’t add anything new). Start on the 2nd bin and use for 4 months, then use the 3rd bin for 4 months. By this time the first bin is ready to use and put on the garden or flower beds. Clean out the 1st bin and start over!
• Hint: Chop materials in small pieces when adding to the compost pile. They will deteriorate faster and your compost will not be so “chunky”.

This information is brought to you from Nadine Champlin, Designer, Grimms Gardens; and Johnson County K-State Research and Extension. http://www.johnson.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=143

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