| Missouri Environment and Garden | Volume 9, No. 8 |
| News for Missouri’s Gardens, Yards and Resources | August 2003 |
Gardening Calendar for August
During weeks 1 and 2:
- Feed mums, asters and other fall-blooming perennials for the last time.
- Roses should receive no further nitrogen fertilizer after August 15.
- Prune to shape hedges for the last time this season.
- Apply insecticides now for grub control on lawns being damaged by their activity.
- Divide and reset oriental poppies after flowering as the foliage dies.
- Zoysia lawns can receive their final fertilizer application now.
During weeks 2 and 3:
- Spray peach and other stone fruits now to protect against peach tree borers.
- Fall-bearing red raspberries are ripening now.
- Sprays will be necessary to protect late peaches from oriental fruit moth damage.
- Watch Scotch and Austrian pines now for Zimmerman pine moth damage. Yellowing or browning of branch tips and presence of pitch tubes near leaf whorls are indicative. Prune and destroy infected parts.
- Pinch the growing tips of gourds once adequate fruit set is achieved. This directs energy into ripening fruits, rather than vine production.
- Monitor plants for spider mite activity. Hose these pests off with a forceful spray of water.
- Second generation pine needle scale crawlers may be present on Mugo pine now.