Garden calendar: August

1. This is the month to enjoy the fruits of your labor in the garden. You get to harvest ripe vegetables, including tomatoes, zucchini, beans, cucumbers, and potatoes.

'sweet success' cucumber ready to be picked

2. Fertilize strawberries after harvesting for good fruit production next spring.

3. Feed, water, deadhead annuals. Continue to deadhead (remove spent flowers) on roses, Shasta daisies, coneflowers, cosmos and other plants. Lavender that has finished blooming can be cut back by about one-third.

4. Don’t forget to deep water trees and plants in containers during stretches of hot weather. August is typically a dry month with little rainfall. Plants in containers tend to dry out faster and need more water, so keep careful watch over them.