As the sun shines bright and temperatures soar, August is a pivotal month in the garden. While it might be tempting to sit back, there are still a few gardening tasks to prepare your garden for autumn! Follow our August 2023 gardening task list to help guide you through the month ahead.

• Stop fertilizing your perennials and shrubs, especially in colder zones. Fertilizers promote new growth that may get damaged later in the season.
• Monitor your plants for any diseases. Trim the interior branches of your disease-prone perennials and shrubs to improve air circulation.
• Order your plants for fall planting!
• Check on your mulch and reapply as necessary. Mulch will prevent weeds and lock in moisture this time of year!
• Continue to prune out any diseased leaves or branches on your plants – with sanitized pruners.
• Don’t forget about your compost. Give it a good mix to aerate it, then sift out any finished material for your beds.
• Water your plants regularly. Plants in containers may need daily watering now.
• Don’t give up on weeding! Make sure they’re all out of the garden before setting any seed this fall.
• Lavender is blooming; try harvesting it to incorporate in recipes or dried floral bouquets.