Seasonal Tips for Gardening Zones August-September 2003

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ILLUSTRATION: DIANE A. RADER
Timely gardening tips for where you live.

Learn about current August and September seasonal tips for gardening zones in the U.S.

New England/Maritime Canada Gardening

Harvest time is here, the culmination of months of seedling care, mulching and watering. Pick apples and make raspberry, blueberry or blackberry applesauce with five parts apples to one part berries — a great way to improve the flavor of the mild early apples. Are hungry birds a problem in your fruit patch? Frighten them away with scare-eye balloons or metallic flashtape that shimmers in the wind. I cover bramble rows with a fine mesh net, placing stakes with T-shaped crosspieces every 6 feet to keep the mesh from getting entangled with the plants. Or try placing a fabric row cover over the top of an entire row of berries just as they ripen. The lightest weight offers a few degrees of added heat, which can be beneficial in the North in all but the hottest weather.

Mid-Atlantic Gardening

Every-other-day harvests and canning sessions make this a busy season. But don’t neglect strawberries and asparagus beds — keep them watered and weeded. Sift compost and cover it, or move it to the greenhouse to mellow over winter. Inventory garlic and perennial onion planting stock and order any varieties you will need — I recommend ‘Brown Tempest’ garlic and yellow potato onions for our area. Sow lettuce every five days, ideally near trees that provide afternoon shade.

  • Published on Aug 1, 2003
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