Dig It!: Ahhh August!!!
by Sage & Snow Garden Club
August 3, 2006
This is the best part of summer. Now we can sit back and relax with our iced tea and crumpets while we enjoy all the sights, sounds, and smells that we and our creator helped us make in our beautiful gardens. If you haven’t already prepared such a place to relax in your garden, you might want to. You might also want to take some leisurely walks or drives and investigate your neighbors' gardens.
Don't forget that County Fair flowers, floral arrangements, greenhouse plants, potted plants, miscellaneous plants, crops, and vegetable entries close at 11 am, Friday, August 4. See the 2006 Sublette County Fair book for information on entering or contact the Sage and Snow Garden Club at 367-2815 or sageandsnow@yahoo.com.
Here are a few tips for the August garden in and around Pinedale:
• Shear or pinch (“dead head”) flowers and fertilize to encourage new blooms.
• Stake tall plants so they will withstand wind and rain (yes, it will rain again).
• Sow perennial flowers to enjoy next spring. Cover the seeds with kitty litter to hold them in place through the winter weather. If you want a list of flowers that do well in this area, contact the Sage and Snow Garden Club or visit your neighbors' yards.
• Be prepared for some cold temperatures this month, but don't despair, as we can have some beautiful “Indian Summer” through the next couple of months.
• Herb flowers are beautiful and usually edible, too, but to keep herbs producing, cut before the flowers appear.
• Cut down (do not pull) the faded, yellow foliage from spring bulbs.
• If you want to have raised beds or even just wider beds next year, start planning now. Consider adding just one raised or wide bed on an experimental basis next year.
• When the main delphinium flower is spent, prune it back to get side-shoot flowers. After flowering has stopped, cut the plant back to about 18 inches of foliage. You will see a hollow stem where you cut the plant. Plug these stems with chewing gum to prevent water entry that will cause crown rot.
• If your spinach, lettuce or other leafy greens are going to seed, consider providing them some shade to keep them producing. It's also not too late to plant more leafy greens.
Keep on diggin'! We are rootin' for you. See you at the Fair.
|
