The Dallas County Master Gardener Association, Inc. (DCMGA), a division of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, has released its Garden Task List for August.
In addition to installing warm season turf grasses, planting flowering perennials and keeping young plants watered, the DCMGA’s list of tasks includes:
Planting
- Plant ground covers and tropical and warm season annuals.
- Plant snap beans, lima beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, eggplant, kohlrabi, okra, onion, parsley, Irish potatoes, squash and watermelon for the fall.
Pruning
- Prune out any dead or broken branches of woody ornamentals (trees and shrubs) but avoid major pruning until the dormant season.
- Pinch off spent crape myrtle seeds to encourage new blooms and prune basal shoots to keep plant in tree form. This is necessary all-season long.
- Remove spent flowers of some perennials to encourage new blooms.
Plant Care
- Watch for powdery mildew on cedar elms, crape myrtles and euonymus, and treat with fungicide, if necessary.
- Check pecan trees for aphids, shuck worms, webworms and foliage diseases.
- Be on alert for chinch bugs in St. Augustine lawns, which will appear near paved surfaces and other hot spots in the yard.
