August Gardening Duties for Low Desert Arizona Gardens

Arizona gardens sometimes endure from heat and neglect in August. Nonetheless, as the next planting season approaches, it’s time to prepare the beds and plan for fall. This textual content covers the vital duties to help your August yard greens, fruit, flowers, and panorama vegetation thrive. We are going to even cowl which pests to rely on and the best way sometimes to water your yard, bushes, and shrubs.

For particulars about what to plant and harvest throughout the low desert all through August, please see my planting guides or this weblog submit, “What to Plant and Harvest in August: Low Desert of Arizona.” Low desert consists of elevations below 3500 ft throughout the Southwest, such as a result of the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas.

Click on on on the title to leap to that half and research additional about what to do all through August:

Vegetable Gardening

Plan Your Fall Yard

• Be taught “The fitting option to start a yard in 8 simple steps” to get started in your yard in case you’re a first-timer or are looking for only a few concepts.
• Make a plan for fall and winter planting. We usually don’t have enough room to develop each little factor we want. Think about what’s most important to have current from the yard. Incorporate completely completely different greens, herbs, fruits, and flowers into your yard plan.
• In the event you want to develop garlic, purchase garlic within the occasion you haven’t already. Retailer it throughout the fridge until it is time to plant in October.
• In the event you want to plant potatoes subsequent month, purchase pure potatoes and begin chitting them. Learn how proper right here.

Put collectively Beds For Fall Planting

• To arrange beds for fall planting, add compost, spent cowl crops, worm castings, and completely different pure matter to the soil. Pure matter decomposes and have to be replenished.
• In case your yard has struggled or has not grown properly, take into consideration testing your soil. Then, amend the soil as directed by the soil verify.That’s the soil testing gear I benefit from.
• In case you aren’t going to plant until September or October, plant a cover crop like buckwheat or cowpeas to cowl the soil.
• Scale back cowl crops 2-3 weeks sooner than you intend to plant. Scale back off at soil stage. Pull once more the mulch and go away vegetation on the soil or cowl with compost. Be taught additional about one of the simplest ways to develop cowl crops proper right here.

Yard Duties All through August

• Take away spentsummer-heat-loving greens and greens earlier their prime.  
• Scale back peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes tothe most recent leaves. This rejuvenates the vegetation for an outstanding fall crop. After slicing once more, prime vegetation with worm castings and compost.
• Take away particles spherical vegetation to discourage pests. 
• Take away spent artichoke heads to save the seeds.
• Harvest any remaining I’itoi onions.
• Pot up any indoor-grown seedlings which is likely to be outgrowing their containers if it isn’t time to plant them outdoor. 
• Fertilize indoor-grown seedlings every completely different watering.

My August Yard Journals

Twice a month, I ship my personal yard journal to members of “Rising throughout the Yard Academy.” From the first seedling to the ultimate harvest, you presumably can observe my gardening adventures in Arizona’s distinctive low desert. As a member, you even have entry to the earlier three years of yard journals and month-to-month programs.

Be a part of me, and let’s make your yard thrive beneath the desert photo voltaic!

Low Desert Arizona in August: Pests & Wildlife to Watch Out For This Month

The proper safety in opposition to pests is healthful vegetation. This can be troublesome on account of the heat is annoying for vegetation. Spend time throughout the yard on daily basis and catch points after they’re small.

• Grasshoppers current as a lot as feed on new progress. Handpick. Hopefully, the birds allow you to out, too.
• Spider mites could also be problematic this month. Be taught this submit for remedy decisions.
• Squash and Jap Bordered Plant Bugs.This textual content shares prevention and remedy decisions.
• Whiteflies thrive in August yard conditions. They appear like clouds coming off the underside of leaves when a plant is disturbed. Use a soapy water reply of 1 Tablespoon Dawn to a minimum of one gallon of water on the undersides of leaves daily to take care of infestations down.
• Corn borer larvae set off skeletonized patches on corn leaves. Cope with with Bt or a drop of mineral oil on prime of each tassel.
• Chook hurt on melon and sunflower leaves. Although they hurt the leaves, the plant usually survives. Take into consideration putting out a rooster tub for thirsty birds.
• Chrysanthemum lace bugs on sunflowers. Be taught this submit for remedy decisions.
• Bagrada bugs, tomato hornworms, three-lined potato bugs, and leaf-footed bugs are widespread this month. Hand-pick all ranges and drop into soapy water.
• If rollie-pollies are consuming seedlings (they love beans!), sprinkle a small amount of this slug and snail bait when you plant. Be taught additional on this weblog submit.
• Milkweed and completely different seed bugs are widespread on seed pods and biggest left untreated; they usually don’t set off hurt.
• Leaf miners on cantaloupe or completely different melons. Take away damaged leaves.
• The joys of cicadas fills the air, and their exoskeletons could also be found all through the yard. Damage is minimal; they’re seasonal, and there is not any should take care of for them.

Useful bugs and completely different wildlife you may even see all through August:

Lovebirds and finches on sunflowers, bees, assassin bugs, wasps, hummingbirds, praying mantids, lizards, and butterflies like Swallowtails and Gulf Fritillary.

Container Gardening Duties

• Switch containers to areas of your yard that get hold of afternoon shade naturally.
• Group containers and develop baggage shut collectively for an insulating affect.
• Refresh large containers with additional raised mattress mix in case you might be planting in them. Pure matter decomposes and have to be replenished. I like this soil mix for raised beds and containers.
• Protect these small containers put away for at least one different month.

Arizona August Yard Duties: Flower Gardening

• Protect summer time season bloomers like zinnia, vinca, cosmos, and gaillardia deadheaded to encourage additional blooms.
• Don’t reduce one thing once more severely; it more than likely gained’t get properly.
• Plan your wildflower yard for fall. Be taught additional proper right here.
• Fertilize container-grown flowers this month.
• Save seeds from summer time season flowers like sunflowers, marigolds, tithonia, zinnias, and four-o-clocks. Uncover methods to avoid wasting seeds proper right here.
• For individuals who haven’t already, order fall-planted bulbs like ranunculus, prechilled tulip bulbs, and anemones. Retailer ranunculus and anemone corms in a cool closet until it’s time to plant.
• To remove spent sunflowers, don’t pull them up! Scale back them off merely above soil stage, and the roots will decay in its place of pulling a giant soil ball with them.

Arizona Annual Flowers Planting Calendar helps you research when to plant flowers in Arizona and when to start seeds indoors.

Caring for Roses All through August in Arizona

• Take into account your roses. They might look haggard, however when vegetation are severely burned or struggling, take into consideration shifting them to a shadier location throughout the fall.
• Roses are typically chlorotic, because it’s troublesome for them to entry soil nutritional vitamins when it is so scorching. As a result of the soil cools, the plant will begin to take up the nutritional vitamins.
• Protect roses calmly deadheaded (I reduce off barely under the bloom). Do not fertilize or prune this month.
• Take away roses immediately from confused vegetation. Blooming gives additional stress.
• Make plans for fall planting.Selecting the right varieties helps assure your roses survive the summer time season heat. Roses paying homage to Memorial Day, Iceberg, and Julia Teen are fantastic selections as they’re acknowledged for his or her resilience and expertise to withstand extreme temperatures. Together with additional roses to your yard? I get my roses from Heirloom Roses. Use Code GARDENAZ24 for 20% off any rose order by way of December 31, 2024.

Fruit and Fruit Bushes

• Protect fruit picked on fruit bushes. Clear up rotten, break up, sun-damaged, or fallen fruit.
• Don’t prune this month.
• Apply the ultimate spherical of citrus fertilizer to citrus between August and September. Water properly the day sooner than you fertilize and as soon as extra after fertilizing.
• Lemons and key limes begin to ripen this month. Harvest as needed. They might proceed to ripen over the next various months. The flavour is biggest correct after deciding on. Lemons could also be saved throughout the fridge for a number of weeks, however it’s biggest to depart lemons on the tree until needed. Be taught this textual content for citrus rising concepts. 
• Watch pomegranate bushes for leaf-footed bugs.
• Broaden the basins spherical bushes to extend 1 foot previous the drip line as needed.
• Root strawberry runners to make new vegetation.
• Break up fruit (tomatoes, pomegranates, citrus) is a watering concern. Take away break up fruit and do your biggest to supply frequent deep watering for vegetation.

Herb Gardening

• Perennial herbs might look considerably spent. Proceed to reap as needed, nevertheless wait until September to supply them an excellent trim and decide in case you want to replant. Be taught additional about rising perennial herbs on this text.
• Harvest and use basil. Decreasing once more basil sometimes encourages new progress and retains it from flowering and going to seed. This textual content shares one of the simplest ways to develop basil. 

The Arizona Herb Planting Datahelps you research when to plant over 30 completely completely different herbs in Arizona and whether or not or to not plant seeds or transplants.

Panorama Plant Duties in August

• August is an environment friendly time to plant hardy desert bushes and cacti. Their roots get established biggest in warmth soil.
• Wait to plant shrubs and perennials. It’s too scorching. They might arrange quite a bit higher within the occasion you plant them throughout the fall.
• To encourage additional blooms, deadhead and calmly prune summer time season flowering vegetation and perennials paying homage to oleanders, birds of paradise, Texas sage, and lantanas.
• If cactus are leaning, this implies a difficulty with the idea system. This can be attributable to an extreme quantity of or too little water. Crops might fall over. Contact an knowledgeable for assist if the saguaro is over 8 ft tall.
• Do not prime bushes. It’s damaging to the plant. Thinning limbs to open up the duvet is okay.
• If a limb breaks all through a summer time season storm, prune once more to a vital division and make a transparent reduce. Clear cuts will heal greater.
• Take into account severely confused or unhealthy vegetation. Typical causes for not rising properly won’t be adequate water, an extreme quantity of photo voltaic (or shade), or the plant should not be suited to a desert native climate. Make a plan to maneuver or substitute struggling vegetation throughout the fall.
• Hose off vegetation weak to spider mites about as quickly as per week.
• Pull weeds that emerge after summer time season rains. Do not enable them to set seed.

Arizona Yard in August Watering Pointers

• Hopefully, we’re going to get good soaking rain. For individuals who get hold of .5″ rain, you presumably can probably skip one watering.
• Think about strategies to reap or channel rainfall and direct it in your property.Be taught this submit to review additional about using rainwater harvesting and swales and berms to assemble and use rainwater.
• Use a soil probe to look at watering depths. Aim to water bushes to 3 ft, panorama vegetation to 2 ft, and annual vegetation to 1 foot.
• The summer time season heat and dry soils assemble up salt ranges throughout the soil. Native water gives moreover develop into saltier later within the summertime. Water twice as deep as quickly as this month to flush salts from vegetation’ root zones.
• For individuals who haven’t already, look at the irrigation system and timer. Run the system, inspecting all drips and sprinklers for leaks and proper watering. 

Watering Containers All through August

With scorching temperatures, monitoring containers fastidiously and watering sometimes is crucial. You may need to water on day by day foundation. For individuals who’re undecided, use a moisture meter to look at soil moisture ranges

If containers dry out an extreme quantity of, the soil might develop into hydrophobic. When watering, look at the soil to ensure water is absorbed and by no means repelled by hydrophobic soil. I usually water my containers every 2-3 days in August and refill the ollas each time I water. Together with ollas to containers helps with watering via the summer time season. I benefit from ollas from Growoya.

Watering Annuals and Yard Beds All through August

All through scorching local weather, annual greens, herbs, and flowers need additional frequent watering. Water to a depth of about 8-12 inches every 2-3 days, allowing the very best of the soil to dry out sooner than watering as soon as extra. 

I usually water my raised beds every 2-3 days in August.I benefit from the yard grids from Yard in Minutes to water my raised beds. (Use code Angela10 to keep away from losing $10 off $100 or GITG5 to keep away from losing 5 p.c on any measurement order.)

Tree and Vine Watering Pointers: ¹, ²

Monitor your fruit bushes for indicators of water stress. Leaf curling is often the first noticeable sign. Moist the soil from the tree trunk to solely earlier the tree’s drip line.

• Established citrus bushes must be watered as quickly as every 7-14 days to a 2-3 ft depth.
• Water annual fruit and extreme water use vines every 2-5 days to a depth of 8-12″.
• Water established fruit bushes every 7-10 days to a depth of 18-24″.
• Grape vines need deep watering every 5 days. 
• Water annual fruit and extreme water use vines every 2-5 days to a depth of 8-12″.
• Desert-adapted bushes, shrubs & vines every 7-21 days (water to a depth of 24-36″ bushes / 18-24″ shrubs / 8-12″ vines).
• Extreme water use bushes every 7-10 days (water to a depth of 18-24″).
• Extreme water use shrubs every 5-7 days (water to a depth of 8-12″).

Sources:

1 – For additional information on watering practices, go to: “Affiliation of Municipal Water Prospects Authority. (2023). Landscaping with Trend throughout the Arizona Desert.” https://www.amwua.org/landscaping-with-style.

2 – https://extension.arizona.edu/web sites/extension.arizona.edu/recordsdata/pubs/az1151-2021percent20percent282percent29.pdf

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