MARK CULLEN: Gardener’s To-Do List for the Middle of August

By Mark Cullen

We are on the continental divide of the gardening season. On your right is the last 4 months that you invested and the flowers and fruit that your garden has produced to date. On your left is another 4 months [or so, depending on where you live]. This is when apples ripen and tomatoes are harvested. To many of us, the best is yet to come.

Here is what you need to know:

1. Divide German iris in August.  This is the best time of year for it.  Cut the leaves on an acute angle to prevent water from sitting on the cut portion of the leaf.  This helps reduce the chance of disease.  Spread the divisions around the sunny parts of your yard or give them away.

2. Sow grass seed and lay sod. From Mid-August until early October - this is the best time of year to do this.  Seed the thin spots in your lawn.  Spread 3cm of triple mix over the area, then the Golfgreen grass seed, rake smooth, step on the works to firm it in place and water well.

3. If you are receiving some rain and night temperatures are cooling down, this is a great time to apply Golfgreen lawn fertilizer, if you have not done it in 8 to 10 weeks.

4. Remove the spent blossoms of July flowering perennials and roses, daylilies, early flowering hostas, veronica and the like. My blue veronica produces another set of blossoms when I cut it down this time of year.

5. If you are in the habit of fertilizing your winter hardy shrubs and roses monthly [with, say, Green Earth Rose, Annual and Perennial Food] then right now is the last application that you will make for this year. Feeding later in the summer/early fall can promote growth that will not have time to harden off before winter.

6. Take lots of pictures! My late father Len used to say that the garden peaks in the first two weeks of August. Enjoy! And use some of your best pictures as wall paper on your computer. Come winter you will be glad that you did.

7. Hang out a hummingbird feeder: they are returning from the far north, will stop and forage in your garden for a few weeks as they accumulate fat under their wings for the long flight south this fall.

8. Stake your dahlias.  Without support, tall blooms can be damaged by wind and heavy rain.

9. Harvest as your garden matures. The more you harvest, the more it will produce.

Mark Cullen appears on Canada AM every Wednesday morning at 8:40.  He is spokesperson for Home Hardware Lawn and Garden.  Sign up for his free monthly newsletter at www.markcullen.com.