Mid-late August Garden To-Do List
Question for you: How many of your New Year’s Resolutions have you kept?
With the start of a new school year, August offers a second chance at establishing healthy routines and habits. Are you ready for a fresh start for your garden? Mid-August is a great time to assess what’s working, what it’s time to let go of, and what you hope to accomplish in the garden before the end of the year. You’ve got an entire growing season to find veggie victory, so let’s go!
💧 Watering
Keep an eye on soil moisture — hot days and late-season storms can both change your needs quickly. Pause irrigation after a soaking rain and water deeply in the mornings when needed.
🥕 Harvest
Do you have a harvesting schedule? With produce coming in fast and furious these days, it might be a good idea. As many people are getting back into the school routine, perhaps it’s time to put “Harvest and Eat from the Garden” on the calendar for a couple of nights a week? If you’re looking for ways to cook your summer crops, check out the Growing Guides for each veggie. They list recipes near the bottom of each page.
Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, okra, eggplant, melons, summer squash, zucchini — harvest often to keep plants producing.
Pick herbs and flowers regularly to encourage fresh growth.
Morning is best for greens and herbs; mid-morning or late afternoon for fruits and veggies.
Onions are ready when tops flop over. If they’re small, harvest and eat right away — they won’t store well.
🌱 Plant
Too hot for most new summer crops, but shady spots can handle quick greens like lettuce, arugula, Swiss chard, and kale toward the end of the month.
Start seeds for fall brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts — or be ready to buy transplants in early September.
Schedule your fall planting session with TKG if you want help getting it done.
🌿 Support
Keep weaving or tying tomatoes; stake peppers and eggplants.
Tall flowers like zinnias or dahlias may need extra support after rain.
Prune: This is the point in the season to get ruthless. If a summer plant isn’t performing well, it’s probably time to cut your losses and remove it entirely to make room for fall crops. The best way to do this is to just cut the stem at soil level and leave the roots underground to decompose. The exception would be if your plant had disease. If that’s the case, it’s best to pull out all the roots with the plant and dispose in the trash.
Keep pruning yellow or brown leaves off tomato plants. If they are getting really wild and overgrown, you can start to remove suckers and larger stems as well. Tomatoes (especially cherry varieties) in Middle Tennessee will probably keep growing for another couple of months, so it’s time to get creative with finding ways to keep them to a manageable size.
✂ Prune
Cut back basil flowers on plants you want for cooking; let one plant bloom for pollinators.
Remove yellow, brown, or damaged leaves from all plants.
Ruthlessly pull any unproductive summer crops to make space for fall. Leave roots in place unless plants were diseased.
If tomatoes are getting really wild and overgrown, you can start to remove suckers and larger stems as well. Tomatoes (especially cherry varieties) in Middle Tennessee will probably keep growing for another couple of months, so it’s time to get creative with finding ways to keep them to a manageable size.
Feed:
🌼 Feed
Fertilize long-season crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, melons) monthly with a balanced organic fertilizer like like TomatoTone or GardenTone .
Add 1-2 inches of compost to your beds before planting fall crops.
🐛 Pests & 🦠 Diseases
Still seeing hornworms, squash vine borers, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, flea beetles, and aphids — hand-pick, spray aphids off with water, and use soapy water jars for others.
Keep pruning diseased leaves from tomatoes; sometimes it’s just about extending the harvest as long as possible.
🛒 Planning & Shopping
Fall veggie starts are appearing in garden centers — plant now only if you can gamble on the weather. Otherwise, aim for early September.
Order garlic and fall-planted bulbs now before the best varieties sell out.
