AUGUST GARDENING TIPS for Hot Climates

Arizona gardens often suffer from heat and neglect in August. However, as the next planting season approaches, it’s time to prepare the beds and plan for fall. I’ll show you the essential tasks to help your August garden vegetables, fruit, flowers, and landscape plants thrive. We will also cover which pests to expect and how often to water your garden, trees, and shrubs.

00:00 Introduction
00:44 Vegetable Garden Tasks
01:15 How to Prepare Beds for Planting
03:32 What to do With Summer Pepper, Eggplant & Tomato Plants
07:20 Pests & Wildlife This Month
09:24 Container Gardening Tasks
09:34 Flower Gardening Tasks
11:42 Fruit Trees in August
12:41 Herb Garden Tasks
12:56 Landscape Plants This Month
14:32 How Much to Water in August
16:38 Printable August Garden Task Checklist
17:03 Growing in the Garden Academy

Links from the Video:
Garden Task Printable and Blog Post: https://growinginthegarden.com/arizona-garden-in-august/
Planting Video: https://youtu.be/4s1TaiKCGvI
Planting Blogpost: https://growinginthegarden.com/what-to-plant-and-harvest-in-august-low-desert-of-arizona/
Gardening Calendars & Guides:
Free Planting Plan Downloads: https://growinginthegarden.com/download-square-foot-gardening-plans/
Soil Test Kit: https://amzn.to/4d6bDic
Slug & Snail Bait: https://amzn.to/3LULJCd
Flower Fertilizer: https://amzn.to/4dtivpQ
Growing in the Garden Academy: https://www.patreon.com/growinginthegarden

Using these links helps support Growing in the Garden and allows me to continue making videos. Thank you for your support!

GITG Amazon Shop: https://www.amazon.com/shop/growinginthegarden

Arizona Gardeners Are Hot T-Shirts: https://growinginthegarden.bigcartel.com/category/clothing

Arizona Planting Guides: https://growinginthegarden.bigcartel.com/category/planting-guides

Heirloom Roses use code GARDENAZ20 for 20% off roses through 2025 https://heirloomroses.com/discount/GARDENAZ20?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-roses?utm_source=instagram.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=GARDENAZ20

GreenStalk Vertical Planters: https://greenstalkgarden.com/?rstr=GITG10 Use code GITG10 to save

Seeds: Seeds Now https://www.seedsnow.com/?rfsn=275008.6345c

Botanical Interest seeds: https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=250954&u=2736599&m=28945&urllink=&afftrack=

I use the garden grids from Garden in Minutes in all of my raised beds. Use code Angela10 to save $10 off $100 or GITG5 to save 5 percent on any size order https://shrsl.com/3yanv

I use the metal raised beds from Garden in Mintues: https://shrsl.com/3yano Use code Angela10 to save $10 off $100 or GITG5 to save 5 percent on any size order

Growing in the Garden-Raised Bed Mix at Arizona Worm Farm: https://arizonawormfarm.com/

Harvest Right Freeze Dryer https://affiliates.harvestright.com/1238.html

Ollas: https://www.growoya.com/growing

it’s August and it is hot Gardens are struggling from heat and neglect but as the next gardening season approaches we have to help the garden get through this month and ready for fall in today’s video I’ll cut back the cover crops and show you how I prepare beds for planting and guide you through caring for your vegetables flowers fruit trees and Landscape plants we’ll talk about how off into water and which pests to expect this month I’m Angela from growing in the garden my garden is in Mesa Arizona I want to help you succeed even if you’re gardening in tough conditions if you’re wondering what to plant this month check out my calendars and guide or my what to plant in August video I’ll link to them here when you’re thinking about your vegetable garden this month make a plan for what you’re going to plant we don’t have enough room to grow everything that we want to eat think about the crops you’re most excited to grow and that you can’t wait to harvest from the garden make make a plan that includes all of those vegetables fruits flowers and herbs if you’re struggling a little bit I have planting plans on my website for each season for small medium and large Gardens I’ll link to them right here let’s get my garden beds ready to plant over time the soil level in your beds will go down as that organic matter is used up the soil level in this bed has gone down quite a bit and I spent some time digging out some roots from this tree out of this bed so we need to add some organic matter back into this bed I’ve got cover crops growing in other areas I’m going to chop those off and add them to this bed I’m going to put a nice layer of worm castings aim to add about a pound for every 40 square ft an easy way to do that is just put a light layer of worm castings over the whole bed and next I’m going to top it with compost aim for at least 1 in of compost more is not bad and finally if there’s still room in the bed I’ll top it with some raised bed mix because the level in this bed has gone down so much in this bed the soil level hasn’t gone down quite as much so I’m just adding a layer of worm castings and an inch of compost generally this is all I do to get my beds ready but if your garden has struggled or hasn’t grown well consider testing your soil then you can mend the soil with fertilizer as directed by the soil test if you’re not going to plant until September or October let your cover crop keep going or plant a quick growing cover crop like buckwheat in that bed cut back your cover crops 2 to 3 weeks before it’s time to plant that gives those crops time to break down in the bed even though it’s hot make an effort to spend time in your garden every day that way you can catch problems when they’re small and keep up with harvesting overripe crops and lots of garbage and debris in your garden are a breeding ground for pests and diseases keeping it cleaned up and harvested will help your garden be healthier if I was using these beans as a cover crop I’d make sure to get all of the beans picked so I wasn’t planting seeds along with the cover crop if something dies or has a lot of pest it’s best to cut your losses and get it out of your garden your pepper eggplants and Tom tomatoes are probably struggling but if you look close on the stem you might see some new growth if you want to reinvigorate those plants cut them back to that point amend with compost and worm castings and then you’re going to see a flush of new growth and you’ll get an excellent Harvest this fall you don’t have to cut them back if your plants are growing well and you’re happy with the size that’s fine but over time these plants can get large and overgrown and pepper branches especially are very brittle it’s nice to keep them a manageable size and you’re still going to get a really good harvest don’t worry your plants will grow back I cut these back a couple of weeks ago and I was pretty nervous because it was so hot look at all of this new growth I can see these leaves are a little bit yellow and so I’m going to come back in with some compost and worm castings give it some food or you can do a light dose of a fish Emulsion just to Green this up a little bit if if you’re growing tomatoes you have a couple of decisions to make take a look at your plant and see how it’s doing if it’s really struggling and has a lot of dieback and not looking good Easy Choice take that plant out and plant new ones it’s an excellent time to plant if though the plant looks pretty good and you want to keep it going look for that new growth and you can do the same thing prune that back a little bit add some castings and compost and you’ll see a flush of new growth and the best part is that older plant is going to have nice Deep Roots and it will just take off once you do that this is New Growth coming on this tomato plant I could cut it back to here and just let it go which I might do to see how it does but this plant is also really struggling so this one is a tough call it’s not always an easy decision on what to do if you’re growing cantaloupe water melon Armenian cucumbers they’ve probably been producing fruit they may just keep going for the next several weeks if you see that production start to go down that plant might be finishing up keep an eye on your plants and pull out those plants that are done but as we see temperatures come down plants that weren’t producing may also begin to put out fruit it’s a time of transition but hopefully you’ll see more fruit production this month I’ve harvested a lot of fruit off of this cantaloupe but I can see that it still has fruit forming so I’m leaving it in some of my beans have been producing but others have just been forming blossoms and then they fall off this month you should see these blossoms develop into beans finally and you’ll have lots of harvests so I’ve been harvesting okra and other beds but I planted a bunch in this bed and it’s going to keep growing and I’ll have lots of ochra this fall if you’ve got sweet potatoes growing let them grow hope hopefully they’re growing and taking over this is a big month for sweet potatoes they’re going to start bulking up and you’ll be harvesting later this fall hopefully your Roselle plants are getting large a large Plant means more fruit you probably won’t see blossoms for a few weeks but let them keep going and we’ll look forward to all that fruit if your indoor grown seedlings are outgrowing their pots but you’re not ready to plant them outside it’s important to pot them up into a larger container you want those roots to have plenty of room to grow so they can keep on growing once they get outside if you’ve got seedlings growing inside and they have several sets of true leaves it’s time to start fertilizing use a half dose of a seaweed and fish Emulsion and feed them every other time that you water let’s talk about the pest that we’ll see this month one pest that begins to show up is grasshoppers handpick them if you can and hope that the birds help you out spider mites like hot dry conditions keeping things sprayed down will help squash bugs three-line potato bugs tomato horn wors Leaf footed bugs the best defense for all of those yucky pests is handpicking and daily vigilance with that bucket of soapy water white flies look like a cloud coming off the leaf when it’s Disturbed they can get out of control if left unchecked if you have an area with a lot of white flies you might want to treat with soapy water I use a teaspoon of dawn in a spray bottle and spray every day and then rinse that area off so that the soap doesn’t burn the leaves do that daily and hopefully that infestation won’t get out of control the soap’s going to kill them on contact so it’s okay to spray them off do it first thing in the morning or later in the evening so the sun doesn’t damage the leaves you might see bird damage on your melon and sunflower leaves although it damages the leaves the plant usually survives consider putting out a bird bath for thirsty Birds if you keep planting seeds and nothing comes up you might have roly poy eating the seedlings they especially love beans and melons the best thing I found is to sprinkle a small amount of this snail bait at the time of planting it’s iron phosphate they eat it it slows them down and they eventually die it’s non-toxic to worms and it may even help your flowers bloom you might see milkweed bugs or other seed bugs on seed pods they’re harmless and best left alone that buzz every night during August is the cicas if you look around you’ll probably see their empty exoskeletons in different places of your yard you don’t need to treat them they’re seasonal and don’t cause much damage if you’re planting in containers this month fill them back up with raised bed mix keep your small containers put away it’s not time to bring them out yet keep your summer blooming flowers like zenas and gumina Tonia deadheaded that will encourage more blooms growing lots of zenas for cut flowers this year and these are still looking good but not quite ready to harvest yet if you’re going to plant a wildflower Garden this October Now’s the Time to order the seeds if you’ve got flowers growing in containers it’s a good idea to give them a light dose a fertilizer this month that will encourage more [Music] blooms save seeds from your favorite flowers this month let them dry completely on the plant when they’re brown and dry you’ll know they’re ready and the seeds have formed on the inside if you haven’t already it’s time to to order ranunculus and anemone corns when they come store them inside in a cool spot you’ll plant them out in October and you’ll thank me next spring when sunflowers finish up don’t pull them out you’re going to pull out so much soil and dirt and everything instead cut them off at the base and those roots will reabsorb back into the soil chop up those sunflowers and add them to your compost bin they will heat it right up evaluate your roses they might look a little Haggard this month but if plants are severely stressed and sunburned think about moving them to a shadier location this fall plants won’t look their best because when it’s so hot it’s hard for them to take up all of the nutrients in the soil so keep your roses lightly deadheaded you don’t want to cut it clear back because that’s going to encourage more growth a lot of times I’ll just come in and pop off these blooms so that way the rose doesn’t think it has to make seeds you get those blooms off that helps the rose that’s struggling make plans for fall planting if you want to add more roses to your garden choose heat tolerant varieties that will do well here in Arizona help your fruit trees make it over the finish line and survive Summer Don’t prune anything this month keep fallen or rotten or Su damaged fruit picked up so that they don’t encourage insects and disease monitor your trees for signs of water water stress if the leaves are curled up and they look thirsty give them a drink it’s important that they get enough water when it’s so hot apply the last round of citrus fertilizer to your trees between August and September this can be an organic Citrus fertilizer or you can do my favorite method of worm castings compost and mulch water well before and after you fertilize split fruit on Citrus tomatoes pomegranates is a watering issue do your best to provide regular deep watering remove any split fruit because that’s going to Harbor insects and encourage disease perennial herbs might look a little Haggard this month Harvest as needed but hold off giving them a big pruning until later this fall Harvest and use basil this is a great month for Basil keep it harvested and that will prevent it from flowering let’s talk about our landscapes August is an excellent time to plant desert Hardy trees and Cactus their Roots will get established quickly in the warm soil it’s not a good time to plant anything else wait most plants will do much better if you wait until fall to plant if you have summer blooming shrubs like bird of paradise Oleanders or Texas sage you can give them a light pruning after flowering to encourage another flush of blooms don’t top your trees it’s so damaging for plants instead remove inner branches to open up the canopy and that will make them safer in a windstorm if a limb does break during a storm prune it back to a main branch with a clean cut that clean cut will heal over much better than a broken limb take a look around your yard and evaluate your plants if they’re really struggling there’s probably a reason either they’re not getting enough water they’re getting too much sun or they’re not suited for growing in a desert climate make a plan to move or replace struggling plants with something better suited to that area some plants like Cyprus trees are especially susceptible to spidermites they love hot dry weather spray them down with the hose once a week and that helps prevent big infestations those summer rains that we love also bring weeds pull them quickly before they set seed hopefully we get a nice soaking rain if we get at least half an inch you can Skip One watering think about ways that you can Channel store or redirect the rain water that comes into your yard install gutters swailes and burms to keep that moisture in your yard and help your plants this spring I added rainwater storage gutters and channels and BMS to my own yard I connected that storage tank to my Sprinkler Supply and I can water my garden with that rainwater I love watching the rain fill up those BMS and my storage tank a soil probe or a really long screwdriver is an excellent tool to figure out how much you’re Watering your garden when you put it in the soil it will only go as deep as there is moisture in the soil when it gets to dry soil it stops aim to water your trees 3 ft deep your landscape plants 2 ft deep and annual plants about a foot this is a good way to make sure you’re watering deep enough the summer heat and dry soils build up the salt level in the soils as the summer progresses City Water Supplies also become saltier this presents a problem for your plants once this month water twice as deep to flush those salts out of the root zones of your plants so how often should you water during August right now I’m running my watering grids every 2 days towards the end of the month that will switch to every 3 days high water use trees and shrubs like citrus I’m watering once every 7 to 10 days desert adapted trees and shrubs I’m watering once every 7 to 21 days depending on the size of the plant I’m filling up the O in my containers every other day and by the end end of the month that will switch to every 3 days use these times as guidelines but the best way to tell if you need to water is to check the soil I know this was a lot to take in you don’t have to do everything use the tips that apply to you to help your garden be better if you want more information and detail head to my website where I also have a printable checklist with a lot of these tasks on it so you know exactly what to do do you have more tips for gardening and August I would love to hear them let me know in the comments if you would like to learn more consider joining growing in the garden Academy I teach a live online course every month about seasonal topics and members have access to recordings of all past classes Academy members also receive my garden journal what I’m planting harvesting and doing in my garden delivered to their inbox every two weeks I hope to see you there