Much garden upkeep happens in the later part of summer

During the first week of August, plant short-season snap beans, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, carrots, mustard greens, spinach and radishes for fall harvesting.

Continue to harvest herbs by either snipping foliage, drying entire sprigs or plants, or freezing individual portions in ice-cube trays. Pinch off developing flowers to retain essential oils and flavor in the plants' foliage.

Continue to groom your perennials and annuals by removing yellowing foliage and spent flowers. Make note of perennials that have flopped and need staking so that a support system can be installed next spring before the plants actually need it. Gentle pruning back of more vigorous perennials can help keep your border from looking overgrown. Cutting leaves off at the base can reduce the size of the plants without having them look pruned.

You may want to let certain dried flowers on plants, such as astilbe and coneflower, remain standing for fall and winter interest. Goldfinches visit my coneflowers in fall and eat the seeds.

• Most gardens are on the dry side now so it may be a good idea to provide supplemental water to plants installed over the last three years with a focus on new plantings from this year and last year.

Older, more established trees and shrubs will most likely be just fine. Make sure the root balls of evergreen trees planted within the last year or two are thoroughly moistened when watering. Densely branched evergreen trees can shed water from rain or a sprinkler away from the root ball so it remains dry while the soil in the bed is moist. Apply water to the base of these trees.

My lawn is starting to go dormant, as I do not water it, so I can reduce mowing to once every two weeks during this hot and dry period.

• It is time to plan for and order spring-flowering bulbs for fall planting in your garden. Many gardeners have been purchasing plants this year so getting your bulb order in early will help ensure you get the varieties you want.

The soil in a bulb garden should be well drained. Any area in the garden that remains wet for long periods of time - or has standing water for any length of time - is unsuitable for bulbs. They prefer moisture in spring and fall and to bake in the summer. Most prefer full sun.

When planted beneath a high branching tree, bulbs will often flower before the tree leafs out and will have only light shade to contend with as they store energy for blooming the following year. Daffodils, ornamental onions, Siberian squill, snowdrops and winter aconite are recommended for areas where wildlife browses.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.