Gardeners Checklist: Here Is What to Do the Week of Aug. 11

By Ron Kujawski

* Squash the squash bugs. This is the time of year when squash bugs are most abundant. The bugs feed on cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and summer and winter squash; that’s not good. Meanwhile, crows feed on the squash bugs; that’s good. However, when crows peck at squash bugs sitting on cucumbers, melons, and squash, they also poke holes in the fruit; that’s not good.

* Pinch off the blossoms and shoot tips of pumpkins, melons, and winter squash. Any fruit that sets from this point on is not likely to have enough time to develop to maturity before the fall frost. By removing new flowers, the plants will divert nutrients to existing fruit on the plants and hasten their development. As a possible side benefit, pinching off shoot tips on the vines is said to deter squash bugs since they prefer to deposit their eggs on new growth. 

* Do not prune tomato plants as a means of speeding up ripening. Removing stems and leaves to expose the fruit to sunlight will not hasten ripening. Furthermore, sudden exposure of fruit to bright sunlight can cause sunscald, a condition characterized by the appearance of a white blotch or blister on the fruit. This will eventually cause the fruit to rot. Leaves are a tomato’s sunscreen.

* Begin planning fall bulb plantings. Include dwarf and so-called minor bulbs on your shopping list. These are great for planting in rock gardens, as edging plants in borders or along walkways, or in niches such as between the buttressing roots of trees or next to a fence post.

* Take some time to meditate. The best way to meditate is on your hands and knees between plants in flower borders or astride rows of vegetables. While meditating, pull up weeds, especially those with developing seed heads. There is a meditation session scheduled in my vegetable garden this weekend for anyone who would like to attend.

*

A few weeks ago, I suggested being patient with brown lawns since the eventual arrival of rain would restore lawns to their normal green state. That seems to be the case after the recent heavy showers. Yet, there are patches on some lawns where grass has not responded. Is the grass dead? Probe into the crowns of a sample of grass plants; if there is no visible green tissue, it’s dead. As another test, take a lawn rake and rake it through the brown grass. If all the grass comes out, the roots are dead, and so is the grass. Now what? If the patches are small, rake out all the dead grass, turn over the soil with a garden fork, work in some screened compost, scatter grass seed, and rake it in lightly. Water the seeded area and cover lightly with straw. If the area of dead grass is quite large, sell your house and move into an apartment. Just kidding. Follow the same steps as for small patches, but use a power tiller to turn over the soil.  This is a good time of year to be renovating an existing lawn or constructing a new one.  

Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service. He serves on Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Advisory Committee. His book, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, is available here.