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August Organic Maintenance


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AUGUST

Plant*:

  • Plant portulaca, purslane, marigold, zinnia, copper canyon daisy, wild- flowers and ornamental grasses for immediate color. Many great types of salvia are available. Use spider lilies, fall crocus, fall amaryllis, mums and asters for later flowers.
  • Fall vegetable garden plants, especially the warm weather veggies.
  • Warm-season lawn grasses as needed - buffalo, Bermuda, St. Augustine and zoysia.
  • Horseherb, liriope, ophiopogon, Persian Ivy and other ground covers in shady areas where turf is struggling.
  • Wildflowers seed if you haven’t already.

Prune:
  • Declining flowering plants to encourage more blooms.
  • Dead and damaged wood from shrubs and trees. No flush cuts or pruning dressings or paints.

Fertilize:
  • Foliar feed all planting with Garrett Juice, compost tea or mycorrhizal products such as Garrett Juice Pro. Also drench the soil of any new or struggling plants.
  • If your soil is not yet healthy, apply dry molasses at a rate of ten pounds per thousand square feet. Do not fertilize wildflower areas.

Water:
  • Water deeply and as infrequently as possible. Your garden and landscape will usually need more water this month than any other.
  • Potted plants and hanging baskets need water daily. Lava sand added to the soil will greatly help hold moisture and reduce watering needs.
  • Be especially careful of azalea beds and other sensitive plants.

Pest Control:
  • INSECTS: Grubworms: Good soil culture is the best control. Apply molasses and beneficial nematodes and needed.
  • Chinch bugs: Dust natural diatomaceous earth or spray one of the orange oil-based pest control products or another of the plant oil products. Do not use pyrethrum products for this or any other pest.
  • Aphids: Garrett Juice and garlic tea. Water blast and release of ladybugs. Add molasses to water spray at two ounces per gallon of spray. Apply Sick Tree Treatment.
  • Fire ants: Dust natural diatomaceous earth or spray one of the orange oil-based pest control products or any other of the plant oil products. Apply beneficial nematodes. Broadcast orange or grapefruit peelings and pulp. Whole ground cornmeal also helps. The application of grits continues to pro- vide strong reports. Spinosad products are also effective.
  • Chewing insects: Dust natural diatomaceous earth or spray Garret Juice plus garlic pepper tea. Spray plant oil products such as needed. Add 2 ounces per gallon of orange oil or d-limonene for the hard to control insects.
  • Cabbage loopers and other caterpillars: Release trichogramma wasps and spray Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) at dusk with molasses added at one to two ounces per gallon of spray.
  • Mosquitoes: Spray or mist one of the plant oil products (not pyrethrum) and apply dry, minced garlic at ten to twenty pounds per thousand square feet.
  • Borers in peaches, plums, and other fruit trees: Use the Organic Fruit and Pecan Tree Program.
  • Borers: Apply d-limonene or orange oil to the affected parts of the trunks. Mix into of a 50/50 solution with water. Seal the holes with Tree Goop.
  • DISEASES: Spray hydrogen peroxide mixed into Garrett Juice.

Odd Jobs:
  • Mow weekly and leave clippings on the lawn.
  • Turn compost pile.
  • Spray weeds in walks, driveways, and terraces with vinegar. Use 10 percent or 100 grain with one ounce of orange oil, one tablespoon molasses and one tea- spoon of liquid soap per gallon. Carefully spot spray in beds and turf.
  • Don’t forget to feed and water the birds!

*Planting recommendations based on North Texas climate, which is zone 8. Check with your local nurseries and extension service for specific varieties and timing.

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