Well, garden friends, the month of August has come to an end, and autumn is just around the bend. I imagine you can sense fall coming as you step out into the morning air.
August can be a hectic time in the garden. It’s a month that involves a lot of chores and plant maintenance. It’s easy to get stressed and anxious, with a strong desire to just move on ahead into the next season. However, there is absolutely one task you must not neglect—harvesting. Tend to the plants that are currently blooming and harvest them before doing anything else. This is the best way to ensure your investment of time, money and energy pays off.
Let me share with you a few other chores we perform here at the farm throughout August. Hopefully, this review will provide a guide for what you should be doing if you haven’t already.
- We cleared out plants—vegetables, annuals, perennials and anything that has seen better days, we cleared them out. Instead of putting time and energy into these spent plants, we started planning our autumn garden and making plans for the next growing season.
- We took notes. We walked through our gardens noting which perennials had not been productive, looked overcrowded or seemed to need a different location.
- We collected seeds to save. Saving seeds from your garden is a great way to save money and ensure that you don’t lose heirloom flowers that may have been handed down from an earlier generation.
- We continued to deadhead to promote continuous blooming of colorful flowers.
- We continued to weed.
- And we took time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Consistency is the key. Be consistent in your daily and weekly chores. Here at the farm, we set aside a specific time for each particular duty, like weeding, trimming and mending the soil. Doing these chores on a regular basis helps ensure a healthy and fruitful growing season.
Happy Gardening!
Pamela Anthony
Beehind Thyme Farm & Garden