Gardening This Weekend: August 8, 2024
When it’s “summertime hot” I try to shorten my weekly list of “gotta-do” things to the minimum. Here’s what made the cut this time around.
PLANT
• Fall foliage color from copper plants, Joseph’s coat, firebush (also has blooms), and purple fountaingrass.
• Fall annual flowers zinnias, marigolds, and celosias. You may have to look a little bit, but whenever possible buy potted transplants that are in bud but not yet in bloom
• Cole crops. Set out vigorous nursery transplants, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts in North Texas in next 10-15 days. Late August in South Texas.
• Dig and divide established daffodils, jonquils and narcissus before new root growth begins. If you’re going to be ordering more for planting this fall, start shopping now.
• New turfgrass as soon as you can so it can establish its root system before soils start turning colder in 8 or 10 weeks.
PRUNE
• Spent flower stalks, seedheads from annual and perennial plantings to keep landscape tidy. That does not, however, include crape myrtles. Do not feel like you have to remove seed heads from them.
• Pinch or prune flowers from coleus, basil, mint, caladiums, and other plants where flower buds and flowers stop production of new foliage.
• Salvia greggii and rose bushes by one-third to stimulate new growth. It’s on those new shoots that fall blooms will be produced. Note: Make yourself familiar with rose rosette virus (RRV) and remove all parts of all plants that are infected. See this information on my website.
FERTILIZE
• Bermuda turf with all-nitrogen lawn food in which as much as half of the nitrogen is in slow-release form.
• Do not fertilize St. Augustine for another 3-4 weeks to avoid late-season outbreak of gray leaf spot fungus.
• Water-soluble, high-nitrogen plant food to container plants including hanging baskets. Their soils are quite porous and they do not retain nutrients.
• Iron-deficient plants. Yellowed leaves with dark green veins, most pronounced on newest growth first. Treat with iron additive with sulfur soil acidifier.
ON THE LOOKOUT
• Almost last call for treating turf for control of nutsedge (“nutgrass”). Apply original Image product labeled for nutsedge or Sedgehammer. Their effectiveness is best while the weed is growing actively.
• Chinch bugs are a problem in St. Augustine again. Big areas first look dry, then dead and brown in spite of watering. The BB-sized insects will be visible at ground level if you part the grass with your fingers. Look for the black insects with white diamonds on their wings. You’ll find them in the interface of dying grass, not in the browned turf. They’ll always be in the sunniest part of the yard. Your nursery, farm store, or hardware store will have labeled insecticide.
• Gray leaf spot is common in St. Augustine and also zoysia during the hot weather. Afflicted areas have an overall yellowish appearance when viewed from a distance and you’ll be able to see the gray/brown lesions on the leaf blades when you look at them closely. Do not apply nitrogen until September to lessen its impact. The fungicide Azoxystrobin is the best consumer product for controlling existing outbreaks.