Grow your own produce
If you're new to gardening or have not yet tried growing vegetables and greens, this is a great time to begin exploring the pleasures and benefits of growing your own produce.
Vegetables are divided into cool-season and warm-season crops. Warm-season crops need warmer soils and air temperatures for seeds to germinate, and plants to flourish and produce. Not surprisingly, cool-season crops want the temperate weather of spring and fall, and some even tolerate light frosts.
Early August is a good time to begin planting cool-season crops for fall harvest. Good sources of seeds include nurseries, Gurneys Seed (www.gurneys.com) and Park Seed (www.parkseed.com). Some seeds offered by Park Seed and others are USDA-certified organic seeds harvested from certified organically-grown plants.
Among the easiest cool-season crops to try are radishes, carrots, and all kinds of greens, including loose leaf lettuces, spinach, and arugula. Look for choices with the shortest time to maturity.
Radishes and carrot seeds can be planted now in loose soil and full sun. Lettuces and greens planted now should be grown in partial shade, or in sunny sites later in the month.
Other projects for your garden this month:
$CLASS=breakhead$Trees and Shrubs
• In heat and drought, provide extra water for newly planted trees and shrubs. Slowly soak the root zones so that water percolates down to between 8 and 12 inches. Create a saucer-shaped mulch ring over the roots to conserve moisture.
• Monitor trees and shrubs for insects and disease. Japanese beetle feeding should end by mid-month. Damage typically does not jeopardize plant health, making chemical controls generally unnecessary.
• Pruning is not advised this month, with the exception of shrubs that have just flowered, or to remove storm damage.
$CLASS=breakhead$Flowers
• Continue to deadhead spent flowers of annuals and perennials to encourage additional flowers. Allow some dried flowers to remain standing for fall and winter interest, including astilbe, coneflower, and tall sedum.
• Water container gardens as needed, as often as daily or twice daily when weather is hot, dry, or windy.
• Remove yellowing daylily leaves that are browned and spotted. All green leaves must remain on plants. Daylilies can be divided and replanted at the end of the month.
• Do not fertilize roses after the first week of the month.
$CLASS=breakhead$Edible Plants
• Monitor tomatoes for blossom end rot. Because they are so moisture-sensitive, they need even, constant moisture.
• Continue harvesting vegetables so the plants will continue producing.
• Harvest herbs regularly so plants avoid forming flowers. Snip new shoots to use fresh, dry entire sprigs, or freeze for future use. Herbs that taste better frozen include basil, chives, cilantro, fennel, and parsley.
• In hot weather, some lettuces and cabbages can bolt quickly and form seed stalks. These stocks turn leaves bitter, and should be removed as soon as they begin to grow.
$CLASS=breakhead$Lawn Care
• During drought or excessive heat, turf grass plants can go dormant. Grass blades will turn yellow, but the plant will remain alive with just one-half inch of water over several weeks. Grass will green up as soon as normal rainfall returns.
• Mid to late August is the best time to seed or sod bare spots or overseed thinning grass. Use a seed appropriate to the site. Cultivate the top few inches of soil and broadcast seed and starter fertilizer according to package instructions. Cover with loose straw to prevent bird damage. Keep soil moist until seed germinates.
• Try to dig out crab grass before it goes to seed. It's an annual and one of the first plants to show maroon fall color.
•If browned-out areas of turf show up this month, pull back the sod to count the number of grubs. If the number is larger than 10 to 12 per square foot, controls are warranted. One option is to apply a product containing imidacloprid in late June next year.
• Denise Corkery is a horticultural writer at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.