August Ideas, Tips & Guides

Although August is the height of the summer, and it’s worthwhile taking time to stop and smell the roses, the vegetable gardener also has to be aware that autumn is just around the corner. That doesn’t have to be a depressing thought! It just means you need to harvest any crops that won’t survive the first frosts, and that you may want to preserve some so that you can have a homegrown taste of summer during the winter months. You should have some new crops on the way to look forward to, and be thinking about potting up herbs to bring under cover for the winter.

Here we see an assassin bug that has caught and is feeding on a lady beetle. Normally, both of these insects are good guys, though when assassin bugs get hungry, they will eat just about anything they can catch.

My forest garden in August is a busy and abundant space. Those of you who have your own gardens will likely understand that this is a busy time of the year but also, excitingly, a time when much of your hard work will be paying off in the form of several fruit harvests.

Zack Snipes

“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.”

August is an interesting and busy time in a vegetable garden, as many readers will no doubt be well aware. Most of your attention is likely to be on harvesting and tending the summer crops.

As the golden warmth of summer winds down, many believe it’s time to hang up their gardening gloves. Whether you’re a city dweller with limited terrace space or just someone looking to optimize their garden yield, here’s a list of Vegetables You Can Plant in August and Harvest in September!

Unparalleled in their August marvellousness at Perch Hill are of course tomatoes. The smell of the stems and leaves that lingers after pinching is almost as good as the taste of the fruit. We grow groves of tomatoes in the greenhouse here, and these are sometimes supplemented with the hardier and more reliable ones growing in a sunny spot in the garden. And we plant lots of basil in amongst and through our tomato jungle. 

Zack Snipes

“If you look the right way, you can see the whole world is a garden.” ~Frances Hodgson Burnett~

All the latest garden news and the best UK garden events to look out for in August.

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For the specialist there are a dozen different varieties to investigate and grow. Potentially the basis of a fine collection. See more detail and a list of species here

Economists agree this could be a good year for growth

Shrubs rule the roost in August and apart from some Hebe there is not much other than green and a bit of leaf colour. Roll on the second flush of roses.

As part of your Premium access, you can send your gardening questions to our horticultural experts each month. They will then answer a selection of the questions they receive, and share the advice at the end of the month.

Late summer and fall perennial flower selections for South Carolina gardens.

Crape Myrtles Part 2: Crape myrtles have showy summer flowers, colorful fall leaves, and interesting bark. There are many cultivars available that range from dwarf to tree form.

Crape Myrtles Part 1: Crape myrtles have showy summer flowers, colorful fall leaves, and interesting bark. There are many cultivars available that range from dwarf to tree form.

Meet some of the Clemson Horticulture Agents and their fur babies!

“A late summer garden has a tranquility found no other time of year.” ~William F. Longgood

An Early August Stroll around Crooked Trail Farm Garden

The quiet beauty of foliage textures and shades of green: Part 2

“Though she be but little, she is fierce.” ~William Shakespeare~

Rob Last reports, “Generally speaking, we are in the changeover period from spring to fall crops, with some fumigants being applied to next year’s strawberry plantings. If fumigants are used, make sure soil moisture is good and beds are firm to maximize efficacy. One thing we have observed in blackberries and blueberries in the area is the emergence of bark scale. Bark scale is a new pest to South Carolina and has previously been noted in ornamentals. However, reports for Asia, where the pest is native, indicate the bark scales can survive on Rubus species.

Zack Snipes reports, “It’s hot and humid in the Lowcountry. Fall tomato and watermelons are in the ground and enjoyed a week of mostly dry weather. Okra and sunchokes, aka Jerusalem artichokes, are loving this heat. Except for those crops, there aren’t too many crops in the ground right now.  I am seeing lots of summer cover crops. I love the idea of using a mixed species of cover crop. One reason is that it spreads out the risk that one of the species in the mix won’t germinate or be eaten by deer. So by using multiple species, you can almost guarantee that something will be there covering the soil. Multi-species mixes also provide different benefits to the farm. Cowpeas may fix nitrogen while sorghum X Sudan hybrids may be a deer deterrent and shade out weeds.”

Zack Snipes reports, “Summer crops like okra are still coming in and looking good. We’ve had a lot of rain, and some fields are soggy. More rain is coming. Some growers have started planting peppers and tomatoes. Remember to get out in the fields and destroy spring crop residue. Nematodes and other pests can really thrive on that old residue.”

The quiet beauty of foliage textures and shades of green: Part 1

Zack Snipes reports, “For the most part, it has been hot and dry in the Lowcountry. Things are relatively quiet. I have seen and heard reports of high whitefly numbers in various crops (melons, tomato, and blackberry). We had severe disease outbreaks a few years ago due to a few whitefly-vectored viruses. The two prominent viruses I have seen vectored by whitefly are Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus and Cucurbit Leaf Crumple Virus: See article from 2019 outbreak. If growers have not already planted their fall melons and tomatoes, it would be a good idea to investigate varieties that have resistance to tomato and melon whitefly vectored viruses. I have also seen very high numbers of melonworms as of late.

Life in The Garden

Zack Snipes reports, “We are in our lull period of production right now for the most part. Okra is coming in very strong in high volumes. It’s getting difficult to pick it all. Fall watermelons and pumpkins are starting to run. Make sure to stick to a tight spray plan for fall melons as downy mildew, powdery mildew, viruses, whiteflies, cuke beetles, melonworms, and pickleworms can quickly devastate a crop. You can find a weekly spray guide in the Disease section of the SE Vegetable Crop Handbook. Some growers are preparing the ground for strawberries as it won’t be much longer before we’re planting. A few growers in the Coastal counties have switched to using 2 rows of drip tape on their berries. Sometimes I see sections of the field that don’t look as great as other sections. Oftentimes I will find the drip tape has migrated to one side of the bed, causing stunted growth on the other side. This can be solved by adding another line of drip in the bed. Just some food for thought as you are preparing your fields.”

A Visit to the Mounts Botanical Garden in Palm Beach County, Florida~Part 1

Justin Ballew reports, “We had a few rain events last week, and temperatures were a little cooler. Fall planted crops are growing really well right now, but due to the recent moisture, we need to pay close attention to our disease management programs. In pecans, I’m not seeing many additional nuts dropping. Hopefully, we won’t lose any more between now and harvest. Scab is still being managed well, but we are seeing some signs of black aphids. The treatment threshold for black aphids from now to harvest is 15% of terminals (check all the leaflets on a terminal bud) have one adult aphid and nymph cluster present.”

Justin Ballew reports, “It has gotten dry again in the Midlands. Scattered areas received some good rain over the weekend, but others missed it and remain badly in need. Over the past two weeks, I’ve heard of several heat-related issues, including poor seed germination, okra blooms aborting, and peas not filling out properly. If it stays hot, monitor irrigation schedules carefully and make sure plants are getting enough water. Unfortunately, that’s about all we can do until it cools off some. We’ve had a few fall crops planted in the past couple of weeks, including tomatoes and eggplant. Right now, we’re still harvesting some sweet corn, beans, tomatoes, and squash.”

Zack Snipes reports, “Wet, wet, wet, with a side of rain for us on the coast. The fields are saturated, and it’s almost impossible to spray or get into the fields to work them right now. I have seen growers trying to bed up right now in very mucky soils. If you can all but help it, do not work the soil when it is wet and saturated. You will cause issues for yourself down the road. I had a few calls last week about downy mildew on cucurbits. I am not surprised by the amount of moisture hanging around. Other than that, it has been pretty quiet. I guess everyone has been curling up with their favorite edition of the SE Vegetable Crop Handbook, catching up on the newest management practices going into the fall.”

What Is Blooming at the South Carolina Botanical Gardens. Come for a Stroll!