Last updated on July 31st, 2021
FOR ME, and maybe for you, too, August is a frantic month. There are cucumbers to pickle, tomatoes to sauce, and beans to freeze. Then there are annuals to propagate for winter bloom, and bulbs to order for springtime glory, and a window garden to design, and…well, kindly pour yourself a stiff drink before proceeding to the following list of chores:
Container Plantings. These will keep their looks until frost if you continue to feed and water them daily. I feed my Torennia (above) and other flowering container plants with a high-phosphorous, low-nitrogen formula (Jack’s Classic 10-30-20).
Note: Reader Becky, who lives in hot-hot Texas, recently asked if her basket plants should be fed during periods of high heat, when growth is slow. The answer is yes. Roots of potted plants can’t forage for food as they would in the open garden. Consequently we need to reward them with a little food every time we water.
Annuals. Take cuttings from impatiens, petunias, and wax begonias, and root them in pots of good soil. Brought indoors before frost, these colorful annuals will bloom all winter in your sunny window garden. My super-simple propagation procedure.
Make a Window Garden! For the decorative display and easy maintenance of houseplants, you can’t beat a window garden. It took me less than 30 minutes to outfit the ordinary window in my upstairs bath (pictured above) for the content containment of my flowering wintertime friends. Story and pictures.
Bulbs. It’s the early gardener who gets the best tulips, hyacinths, narcissi and other spring bulbs. Order now to avoid disappointment. I obtain most of my bulbs from this online source. The ancient ‘Van der Neer’ tulips that bloom each April my Serpentine Garden (pictured above) were obtained from this old-world bulb specialist.
Compost. Fork over the pile, and soak it well with a slow-running hose. If you wish to contain, not pile, your garden debris, consider these inexpensive composting bins.
Daylilies. Following a heavy rain, divide and transplant big clumps. I hope you have fragrant yellow ‘Hyperion’ (above) in your daylily collection.
Lawns. Let the weather, not the calendar, dictate your mowing routine. Do not mow at all during times of drought.
Perennial Seeds. If you are feeling energetic, sow next year’s crop of delphiniums, asters, hollyhocks and other perennials anytime now. Or, you can wait — as I do — and winter-sow these seeds during the less-busy months of January and February.
Roses. Continue to deadhead; fertilize one last time for autumn bloom. If blackspot is a problem, you’ll find an organic treatment in you refrigerator.
Vegetable Garden
Beans, Green. Better harvest and preserve these before they get old and woody. I freeze mine this way.
Beets. If you hurry, you can get another crop in for autumn harvest. Otherwise, dig up roots and freeze or can them. My beet-freezing technique.
Broccoli. Keep an eye on the green heads, and be sure to cut them before they go to flower. Want to freeze your crop? The directions are here.
Brussels Sprouts. Stake tall plants before they fall over. Begin to harvest the green, cabbage-like sprouts from the bottom of the stalk. Sprouts higher up will mature later. They will become even sweeter after being exposed to frost.
Cucumbers. Turn your large fruits into this delicious Cucumber and Mint Salad. Smaller cukes can become Super Easy Refrigerator Pickles.
Kale. Keep picking, and the plant will keep producing leaves until checked by hard frost. How I freeze kale (and other leafy greens) for winter use.
Onions. Harvest when green tops fall over. Be sure to cure the onions before you store them. How I harvest, cure and store onions.
Shallots. Harvest when the green tops show brown at the tips. Cure and store just as you would onions.
Peas. Sow your storage-crop early this month.
Potatoes. Although you can harvest these anytime after vines die back, I always wait until October. Why? Because my cellar isn’t cool enough to store the crop before then. Here’s my potato harvesting- and-storing guide.
Sweet (“Bell”) Peppers. Are yours falling over? Then do what I do, and stake them with a bamboo stick and a length of twine.
Tomatoes. I hope you’ll turn your first ripe fruits into this crowd-pleasing Classic Tomato Pie.
Zucchini. Too many to deal with? Freeze the squash. And be sure to try these Angelic Zucchini Fritters.
Are my monthly lists of home and garden chores of any use to you? You can let me know by leaving a comment. Your thoughts mean the world to me.
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Other posts you might enjoy:
Chive Pesto
Kevin’s Parsley-Basil-Sage Pesto
How I Freeze a Year’s Supply of Herbs
CityGirlCountryBloke says
Thanks for all the advice and links! I am a novice gardener and I’m dying to learn more!
Tracy says
You know, I love reading Margaret Roach’s blog (awaytogarden.com) and love her monthly “Garden Chores” post, too. And I love her site, I do, I do, I do, and read it daily. I learn a ton.
(But somehow, yours’ is just more fun…. Shhh.)
Sandy says
As always , love your posts! This is the first year I plan to save perennial seeds. I currently have delphinium and hollyhocks ready to go. Question: if I sow them now instead of winter sowing do I plant them in the ground in the fall. Or keep them indoors during the winter? Thanks!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Tracy – My monthly home and garden chores are probably the least popular (and certainly the least “liked”) articles on this site. But I write them anyway. So glad you mentioned the noun “fun.” (P.S. – I love Margaret, too!)
Hi Sandy – If you wish to have blooms next summer, sow your perennial and biennial seeds now. It doesn’t matter if the plants are direct-sown (in the ground) or container-sown. The seeds will sprout, and although the foliage will be killed off during winter, the roots will survive. New growth will appear in spring, followed by flowers.
Tip: If you direct-sow, indicate with a stick or stake where the plants are located. Otherwise in spring you might mistake them for weeds, and accidentally pull them up. (This has happened to me more than once!)
Helen says
I love this blog! It’s just right up my alley. I do wish I had half your energy, though. You seem so organized. I just can’t seem to keep it all together at once. I can maybe have two of the following looking good at the same time (especially when I entertain): me, my garden, the house or the food.
More timely, seasonal posts like this, please!
P.S. I think you might be better than Martha Stewart.
badger gardener says
Kevin, When you bring plants indoors do you ever have problems w/ little bugs about the size of fruit flies? I noticed my container of petunia cuttings has already been invaded by them and I don’t want to invite them to overwinter in my home.
A note to Helen, stick with Kevin’s blog and through the power of osmosis you will find yourself more organized in the garden and kitchen. That’s been my experience. I think the best thing is Kevin’s posts are so timely, arriving with some notice before a task needs done or with a recipe when something will soon be ready to harvest. Kevin’s a household name to my family now, as every time I cook something new or try something new in the garden my husband or kids will ask, “did you get that idea from Kevin?”
paula K says
Clicked on your link to “old world bulb specialist” to discover it’s the same site we love too. Sticking with daffodils because the deer destroy tulips. This site has the bulbs i remember as a child at my grandmother’s house. It’s as though a little piece of my nana has come to live here.
Any hints for avoiding the August “blahs”? there’s so many chores outside and here I sit looking at bulbs online and not venturing forth to accomplish anything!
Elfrieda Tullar says
Did you have a forum for questions ? If you did I can’t find it.
Elfrieda Tullar says
Oops – please ignore my question; I found the forum I was looking for.
Karen Vilandry says
I have a very mature and full hosta that I just divided in half. It looks like I could even divide again each half but I’m afraid to as it might be too much. What are your thoughts on this? Thank you.
Jan Evancho says
Another great issue, Kevin. Thanks for the list of chores and advice. Your blog always encourages me to be a better gardener! I’m looking forward to the next few months and all the tomato ideas they will surely inspire! Keep up the good work. Your enthusiasm is contagious.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Karen Vilandry – As long as you have roots with each section of your hosta, go ahead and divide (best to do this in spring). I once purchased a single, beautiful hosta for about $11. As soon as I brought the plant home, I divided it into 8 “new” hostas. What a bargain!
Karen Vilandry says
Thank you Kevin. Next question: I cannot get rid of crab grass and it taken over my lawn. I tried corn gluten for about 3 years, laid down before the forsythia petals dropped. The corn gluten comes with fertilizer which I feel may encourage the crab grass. I would hate to put down a chemical but Scott’s makes a crab grass preventor, it’s just very hard to find one that does not have a fertilizer in it. Every year, I lay down grass seed in the fall to try and crowd out any crab grass that may establish the following spring. What do you suggest?
Sonia Shapiro says
I take my tomato plants for walks. I spend my weekdays in the city and weekends in rural western Massachusetts. When I am in the city I get up from the desk two or three times a day to go outside and move my two “sungold” cherry tomato plants into the full sun. My friends tease me, but I’ve decided that if I put the pots on wheels I wouldn’t look at them as closely or enjoy them as much as I do when hugging them and lugging them.
Deb from Wisconsin, aka trillium says
I keep at the weeding, hoping that by eliminating as many as possible they won’t come up again next year.
Some pathways became quite heavy with weeds. Instead of laying newspaper and then topping with mulch, we laid cardboard down instead of the newspaper. Seems to be working well so far!
We also put rain barrels in this year and have enjoyed the financial savings. We didn’t anticipate the lack of pressure within them, and will continue to do some research to see if we can make some improvements in that area. They’re definitely worth it though!
Thanks for your great newsletter