Mid-Atlantic
August, 2005
Regional Report
Make EASY Homemade Preserves
If heavy-duty canning with countless Mason jars and boiling kettles of water is not your thing, try freezer jam instead. It is sinfully easy to make and tastes wonderful during the long winter months. Check with your county extension for the most up-to-date recommendations for safely processing jams and jellies of all kinds.
Protect Melons
Left on bare soil, melons and large squash may fall prey to dampness and pests. Lift them up on a piece of wood or shingle or a thick pad of clean, dry straw. You also may want to enclose each ripening melon inside a temporary cage of chicken wire to keep hungry animals away.
Keep Tidying
August is the time to get a head start on fall clean up. Keep weeds pulled and bare areas mulched to limit their reappearance next year. Harvest all fruits and veggies and clean up any that fall to the ground; also remove plants past their prime. This helps prevent overwintering of any pests and diseases.
Treat for Lawn Grubs
If your lawn dies out in patches that can be peeled back like brown carpet, there is probably a grub problem. If you are finding more than a dozen grubs per square foot of soil, then you may want to treat the area with milky spore or beneficial nematodes. Read and carefully follow the label instructions.
Divide Perennials
Late August to mid September is a good time to plant, transplant, or divide crowded peonies (disturb peonies only if truly necessary), daylilies, Siberian iris, monarda, coreopsis, stachys, cranesbill, rudbeckia, echinacea, and yarrow. Water deeply the day before you dig them, replant and water thoroughly, then mulch.
