Gardening This Weekend: August 28, 2025
Here are the most time-sensitive goals for your gardening checklist this holiday weekend.
PLANT
• Fall-flowering bulbs as they show up in nurseries. Spider lilies, oxblood lilies, naked lady lilies, fall crocus (Sternbergias).
• Fall-flowering perennials from nursery pots: Mexican bush salvia, Mexican mint marigolds, Gregg’s mistflower, mums.
• Wildflower seeds. Buy quality seeds from a reputable source. Acid-scarified bluebonnet seeds give best germination rates. Plant in bare spaces, not in turf.
PRUNE
• Dead flower and seed stalks from perennials.
• Dead and damaged branches from shrubs and trees.
• Erratic growth from shrubs and groundcovers.
• Overgrown shoots on patio pots, especially tropicals that will be coming indoors for winter.
• Tall weeds that could soon be spreading seeds, also ragweed that may be in full bloom.
FERTILIZE
• High-nitrogen, water-soluble plant food for hanging baskets, patio pots, and newly planted annual color.
• High-quality lawn food with 30 to 40 percent of its nitrogen in slow-release form to St. Augustine or bermuda turf that has not been fed for 8 weeks or longer.
ON THE LOOKOUT
• Pre-emergent granules of Halts, Dimension, or Balan to prevent germination of winter grasses including annual bluegrass (Poa annua), rescuegrass, or ryegrass. The granules must be put down before temperatures drop and first rainfall or irrigation allows seed to sprout – prior to September 10.
• Stinging caterpillars, yellowjacket nests in shrubs as you prune and shape them.
• Lacebugs suck color out of leaves of many shrubs and trees. You’ll see specks of black excrement on backs of leaves. It’s probably too late for effective control, but next year apply Imidacloprid systemic insecticide 2-3 weeks earlier than date you first saw damage this year.
• Sticky residue on leaves of crape myrtles and shade trees is honeydew cast off by aphids, lacebugs, or scale insects. Systemic insecticide Imidacloprid is the best control, but it must be applied much earlier. In the case of crape myrtle bark scale, that means a soil drench in mid-May.