This summer, after another exceptionally hot July, I have found myself increasingly impressed by the plants that simply take heat and drought in their stride and don't need supplemental watering. I've always had a soft spot for silver-leaved plants such as santolina and lamb's ear, which seem to relish the conditions that leave other perennials struggling.

Of course, there is no such thing as a plant you can put in the ground and literally never water. Every shrub and perennial will need some care while establishing, particularly during its first and even second year. But after a few growing seasons, there are many species that can survive perfectly happily on rainfall alone, even during prolonged dry spells.

So, if you are looking to create a more resilient plot, it is worth exploring these low-maintenance backyard ideas that pair beautifully with the plants below. And if you want to capture a Mediterranean feel, start with something like a tough Spanish lavender (live plants are available via Amazon). Here are seven of my favourite plants you never need to water once established.

1. Lamb's ear

Native to Turkey, Armenia and Iran, lamb's ear is a drought-tolerant perennial that is hardy from US hardiness zones 4 to 8 and thrives in full sun.

I grew plenty of it while working as a gardener in Italy, where it lined gravel paths and softened the edges of borders beneath olive trees and silver shrubs. Once established, I never watered it, even during the hottest weeks of summer.

You can find lamb's ear starter plants at Amazon.

Lamb's ear dislikes rich, damp soils, instead thriving in poor soil and free-draining earth, where many other perennials struggle. If you are looking for one of the toughest plants you never need to water once established, this is difficult to beat.

2. Lavender

If there is one plant that sums up a Mediterranean summer, it is lavender. Most lavender varieties are well adapted to hot, dry climates, although hardiness varies depending on the species.

You can find live lavender plants at Walmart.

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is generally hardy from US zones 5 to 9, while Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is better suited to warmer regions, typically zones 8 plus.

Whatever type you choose, lavender performs best in full sun and free-draining soil. In fact, overwatering is often a bigger problem than underwatering. Once established, it is perfectly happy growing in gravelly ground with very little intervention.

3. Santolina

Santolina, or cotton lavender, deserves far more attention than it receives. This evergreen silver plant has evolved to thrive in hot, dry conditions, producing aromatic silver foliage that looks fresh even after weeks without rain.

Find santolina plants via Amazon.

Santolina chamaecyparissus is hardy down to US hardiness zones 6, performing best in full sun and sharply drained soil, whether planted in gravel gardens, borders or edging pathways. Once established, it is exceptionally drought tolerant and rarely requires supplemental watering.

One tip: a light trim after flowering helps maintain its neat, rounded shape and prevents plants becoming woody.

4. Russian Sage

Russian sage is a hardy perennial that produces airy clouds of lavender-blue flowers above silvery stems from midsummer well into fall, creating one of the coolest colour combinations for a sun-baked border.

Hardy down to US zones 4, Russian sage, or Salvia yangii, thrives in full sun and free-draining soil. The silver foliage helps reflect intense sunlight and reduce moisture loss, allowing plants to sail through long dry spells with minimal watering.

You can find Russian sage at Plant Addicts.

Its soft lilac flowers pair beautifully with other silver-leaved plants, such as lamb's ear or artemisia or santolina, while lemon-yellow blooms, including geums and black-eyed Susans, create a striking contrast in my experience.

5. Buddleia

This summer has completely changed my opinion of buddleias. For years, I thought of them as railway plants, but during the heatwaves of this summer, they have simply carried on flowering. Few plants seem better equipped for drought.

One note of caution: Buddleja davidii is considered invasive in parts of the Pacific Northwest, including Oregon and Washington, so always check local guidance before planting.

Compact cultivars such as 'Blue Chip' or 'Miss Molly' are good options, and tend to be better behaved choices for smaller backyards while retaining the same drought tolerance and long flowering season.

Try the 'Black Knight' buddleja, for a dark, moody option, available now via Fast Growing Trees.

6. California Poppy

You will often find California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) self-seeding into gravel gardens, roadside verges, cracks in paving and dry, sandy banks, where they thrive on sunshine and surprisingly little water.

California poppy seeds can be bought via Walmart.

Scatter seed directly where you want plants to grow and, once established, let nature take over. They often return year after year with cheerful orange, yellow or cream blooms.

For more heatwave inspiration, check out our guide to the shrubs that thrive on neglect, and fill your borders with resilient flowering plants that don't mind a bit of drought.

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Most gardeners routinely add compost to flower borders and vegetable gardens in spring and fall. But don’t overlook August. It is an opportune time to add compost to your beds and borders, and your fall garden will benefit from the additional nutrients.

If you put down compost in August, your garden thrives in several ways. Compost helps the soil retain water during the heat of late summer, protects the soil and plant roots from baking temperatures, and replenishes nutrients that heavy feeders have used up before this point of the season.

You can use homemade compost or purchase bags, such as this organic compost from The Home Depot, to add as a top-dressing layer around plants in flower beds, vegetable gardens, raised beds, or containers. Trust me, your plants will thank you if you add this to your late summer gardening checklist.

Why You Should Put Down Compost in August

If you put down compost in August, it helps your garden recover from the rigors of summer and puts it in better shape for fall.

For gardeners planning to add new plants to their flower beds or borders in early fall, compost boosts nutrients and improves overall soil health by increasing the activity of beneficial microorganisms.

While lots of gardeners don’t put down compost in August, they are missing out on the fact that organic matter breaks down quicker in the hot summer temperatures than when added to the soil in spring or fall.

‘You get to see the benefits compost offers a little quicker than if you apply it when the weather’s cooler,’ claims Justin Hancock, horticulturist at Costa Farms.

The experienced gardener hails compost as ‘as close to a miracle cure for your soil as you can get’ for its ability to boost various soil types if you put it down in summer.

‘It helps sandy soils to hold moisture and nutrients better, helps clay soils drain better, and increases microorganism activity in the soil – allowing beneficial fungi, worms, etc. to thrive and enrich your soil,’ he explains.

Putting down compost in August helps reinvigorate tired soil and replenish lost nutrients. If you have grown hungry crops like tomatoes, peppers, squash, or potatoes, compost can put valuable nutrients back into your soil in preparation for fall crops.

It is not just a quick fix, though you do get immediate results, as the benefits of putting down compost in August can be felt for many months to come.

‘August is the perfect time to add a fresh layer of nutrients for the fall garden,’ says Nikki Bruner from My Perfect Plants. ‘Not only does it add new nutrients, but it can help contain weed growth, retain moisture, and help boost the soil for next spring too.’

The Best Way to Put Down Compost in August

When you put down compost in August, the best approach is to add it as a mulching layer on the soil surface. Add a 1-2 inch layer of compost around the base of existing plants, spreading it thinly over the surface with a sturdy garden rake (available at Walmart), or 2-3 inches deep over recently cleared areas of the yard.

It is important to avoid disturbing plants already in your beds or borders in late summer – that is why it is better to top dress with compost rather than dig it into the soil.

‘Try not to dig around or disturb roots when there are still hot days on the horizon,’ warns Marian Keith, horticulturist at Newfields. ‘If you're adding compost to established garden areas, top dress with about an inch and don't be tempted to get too heavy-handed.

‘Keep your coverage from piling up at the base of plant stems and avoid the temptation to stir up or otherwise disturb the soil.’

It is a mulching mistake to pile the soil against stems or over the plant crown. Always leave a gap of an inch or two around the plants to eliminate any risk of rotting. It is recommended to water the compost after applying it to the soil.

Siobhan Shaw, co-founder of Growing to Give, warns about using unfinished or hot compost for the task. ‘Finished compost is excellent to apply in August as a top dressing,’ she says. ‘Hot compost can damage plants, tie up nitrogen, burn roots, introduce weeds, and attract pests. I would not put this around actively growing plants’.

A good test for whether homemade compost is ready is that it smells earthy and neutral, is fully decomposed with no recognizable signs of plant material, and is at an ambient temperature rather than warm. As temperature is a good indicator, a compost thermometer (from Amazon) can be a welcome investment.

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August can offer an opportune time to give many plants a late-summer boost so they can flower and fruit strongly into fall.

Anything still blooming or producing fruits, such as roses, dahlias, or tomatoes, is among the most important plants to fertilize in August. As are plants growing in containers that need regular nutrient top-ups to keep performing at their best.

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Meet the Experts

Shrubs are quite literally the backbone of a low-maintenance backyard. And easy-going shrubs that look after themselves in late summer are exactly what we all need when the weather's there to be appreciated. So pull up a recliner and let's go through a handful of my favorites. All will bring color, structure, a long season of interest and, crucially, zero demands at this time of year.

From pretty, late-flowering specimens to architectural shade lovers and glossy-foliaged evergreens that will look fabulous all year round, I've selected seven brilliant shrubs that will set your backyard care regime to autopilot. Many are perfect for containers too, whether that's on the patio, flanking the front door or creating focal points within your outdoor space.

Plant-and-forget shrubs that thrive on neglect will change the way you garden. To read more, Taylor's 50 Best Shrubs from Amazon is a reliable and informative book full of foolproof options.

1. Mexican orange blossom (Choisya ternata)

One of my all-time favorite shrubs is Choisya ternata, or Mexican orange blossom. In mid spring it's awash with deliciously scented star-shaped white flowers. And sometimes you get a second flowering later in the year, without any special treatment, just because it's generous that way.

The foliage of choisya is an easy delight too – elegant palmate leaves that release a fresh, floral scent when brushed. And because it's an evergreen you can enjoy them all year round.

How to grow choisya? Well, it's happy in sun or shade (although best out of full sun), and it's one of the best shrubs for a container.

A couple placed either side of a semi-shaded doorway – these glossy white fiberstone planters from Wayfair would really set off choisya's spring flowers – will bring structure, perfume and interest through all 12 months of the year.

Choisya doesn't even really need pruning – it's not a fast grower, so maybe if it's getting too big for its space (it can reach around 8ft/2.5m, but after quite a few years). Choisya really is the perfect low-maintenance shrub.

USDA Zones: 7-10

2. Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica)

Despite the name, this upright evergreen is unrelated to bamboo. In fact, with its glossy, red, elongated leaves it looks more like a cross between Photinia 'Red Robin' and a mahonia, but more compact. Either way, it's a handsome plant, and a huge favorite with landscapers and garden designers, who are wise to its easygoing charms.

It needs a fair bit of sunlight to produce the fiery-colored foliage it's known for, so plant it in a west or south-facing spot, following the guidelines for how to plant all shrubs. It looks great all year round, producing delicate sprays of tiny white flowers in midsummer, the foliage taking on rich red/purple tones from spring into summer.

It's one of the best shrubs for fall berries too, producing green berries that turn bright red in fall, just as the foliage shifts once more to fiery red and bronze. And there's no real pruning requirements either.

Heavenly bamboo can reach around 6ft (2m), although there are plenty of cultivars to choose from (take a look at the nandina collection at Fast Growing Trees). They come in varying sizes, including dwarf Gulf Stream, part of the evergreen shrubs collection at My Perfect Plants, 'which grows to around 4ft (1.2m) and is ideal for patio containers.

USDA Zones: 7-10

3. Wiegela

An absolute beauty of a shrub, easy-to-grow weigela comes in many different forms, with large clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers in white, yellow, pale pink, raspberry or rich red. It begins to bloom in late spring, often with a second flush later in the season.

Depending on the species and cultivar, it'll grow to anything from 3-12ft (1-4m) tall, so there's one for any spot in the backyard, whether that's a small container or towards the back of a border. As always if planting in containers, it's a good idea to fork in some slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote, from Lowes.

If you're asking yourself how to grow wiegela, it's a native of eastern Asia, and tolerant of all kinds of soils (although it can't handle anything waterlogged), in either full sun or light shade. And yes, you can grow wiegela in pots too.

I particularly love the variegated versions (find all kinds in Nature Hills' Weigela collection), where each deep green leaf is outlined in cream – a really pretty pairing with its pale pink flowers.

Plant weigela and you'll also be helping out your local wildlife as the flowers are a huge magnet for bees and other pollinators.

USDA Zones: 4-8

4. Japanese aralia (Fatsia japonica)

Garden designer adore this shady stalwart, and for good reason. Fatsia is a magnificent evergreen shrub, with huge, glossy palmate, or hand-shaped, leaves that bring an undeniably exotic vibe. It's widely recognised as one of the best shrubs for shade, and also copes well with heavy soil.

Although fatsias are mainly grown for their dramatic foliage, in fall they can put on a surprisingly good show of creamy flowers (great for late-season pollinators), which are followed by black berries.

Some varieties will grow as tall as 13ft (4m), but fatsia is not a fast grower and you can prune it back easily in late spring if needed. And really that's all the maintenance it needs.

In a large urn it brings incredible presence and structure to a shady entrance or patio – perhaps this classic Lucca pot in Terracotta from Target. Or pair it in borders with shade-tolerant clump-forming bamboos and grasses for a lush, exotic feel.

Try the variegated cultivar 'Tsumugi-shibori' or 'Spider's Web' (from Plant Addicts), which looks like it's been dusted with sugar. It lights up a shady border with style.

USDA Zones: 7-10

5. Abelia

If you're after an easy-to-care-for late-summer flowering shrub that's happy in moist soils, colorful all year round, evergreen, scented and loved by pollinators, abelia is the one.

I think abelia is hugely underrated. It has all of these things and more. Glossy leaves, great clusters of funnel-shaped flowers in pretty shades of pink, and heaps of different varieties to choose from, many of which are tried and tested cultivars.

Try long-flowering pale pink Abelia x grandiflora, which will fill your yard with sweet perfume from June to October, or super-colorful Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' from Plant Addicts, with its dramatic color-shifting foliage.

Here's how to grow abelia. Depending on the variety, abelias tend to grow to around 8ft (2m) and prefer a sunny, slightly sheltered spot (although it tolerates shade fairly well) away from cold winds, in well-drained soil (so dig in some soil conditioner such as Worm Castings from Home Depot) if yours is heavy clay. You can give it a little trim to keep its shape in fall, but apart from that, let it be.

USDA Zones: 6-9 (depending on cultivar)

6. Sweet box (Sarcococca confusa)

Tough but absolutely beautiful, sweet box is a dense, arching evergreen shrub that flowers in late winter, its deep green stems decked with delicate star-shaped beads and heady with the most intense perfume that carries on the breeze.

Sarcococca is another of the best shrubs for shade, so grow it towards the back of a north- or east-facing border (it copes magnificently with dry shade once established) or in containers somewhere you'll appreciate that lovely winter scent.

Sweet box will grow to around 8ft (2m) tall and needs little to no pruning, just a little reshaping and removing of anything dead or damaged in early spring, after flowering, although cultivars like Sweet & Lo from Nature Hills are much more compact.

This really is one of the most useful shrubs I know, and I rely on its glossy dark green structure for the areas of deepest shade in my yard.

USDA Zones: 6b-9b

7. Chaste tree (Vitex agnus castus)

This large deciduous shrub is relatively new to me. But it's high on my list of plants to grow, after seeing it mentioned by the gardeners at legendary Great Dixter House & Gardens in Sussex, UK. Here they wax lyrical about its easygoing drought-tolerant beauty in late summer.

At Great Dixter, they grow this Mediterranean native in full sun in sharp, well-drained soil, pruning it back hard in early spring. The result is a glorious show of lavender-blue buddleia-like flowers that are at their peak from August into fall.

Like Shoal Creek chaste tree from Fast Growing Trees, all have foliage that is beautifully aromatic too. A real show-stopper of a shrub that copes extremely well with drought, simple to look after, and perfect if you're after inspiration on how to create a Mediterranean garden. It'll reach an eventual height of 8ft (2m).

USDA Zones: 7-9

It's easy to get caught up in all the jobs there are to do in the yard. But a garden is for enjoyment and relaxation, and foolproof shrubs like these will make it that much simpler to take some time to relish the color, foliage and wildlife your outdoor space brings.

I hope you've been inspired to embrace the easy wins and plant a few low-maintenance shrubs – I promise, it's the perfect antidote to a busy life.

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As summers grow hotter and rainfall becomes less predictable, American gardeners are rethinking what a colorful landscape looks like. Rather than replacing tired annual bedding plants every few months and relying on frequent irrigation to keep them looking fresh, many are choosing plants that can deliver months of flowers while using significantly less water.

That shift is helping fuel renewed interest in lantana. Long valued in the South and Southwest, the flowering plant is now being embraced across the U.S. for its ability to thrive through intense heat, produce blooms when many annuals fade, and attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds all the while. For gardeners looking to create a resilient landscape without sacrificing color, lantana is proving to be a practical alternative.

The growing popularity of lantana also reflects a broader change in how gardeners approach planting. Rather than designing solely for appearance, many are choosing plants that can withstand prolonged heat, periods of drought, and increasingly restrictive watering schedules. In that respect, lantana (like Burpee's Landmark Series lantana) has become one of the standout performers.

Why Lantana Is Replacing Bedding Plants

Although lantana has been available for decades (you can even order lantana plants from Amazon), landscape designers say its recent rise has less to do with changing tastes than changing conditions.

‘Honestly, I don't think this is really about lantana,’ says Tucker Tremblay, founder and principal designer of Joyner Concepts in Central Texas. ‘Lantana is simply one of the plants that happened to be ready when the climate forced everyone's hand towards perennial and deciduous color.

Tucker says the questions he hears from clients today are very different from those he encountered earlier in his career.

‘When I started in this industry, big seasonal color rotations were expected almost everywhere,’ he explains.

‘Commercial properties, HOAs, entries – you changed them out a few times a year and nobody questioned the water use. Now the question I get from clients is completely different: 'What can I plant that still works in August?''

The answer, increasingly, is drought-tolerant plants that can not only tolerate prolonged heat but can do so while continuing to perform and requiring less maintenance.

Lantana Blooms Through Summer

Lantana checks many of the boxes gardeners are looking to check. Once established, it requires relatively little supplemental irrigation, flourishes in full sun, and continues flowering through long stretches of hot weather when many traditional bedding plants begin to decline.

‘I don't think it's a trend,’ said horticultural consultant Tom Foley. ‘It's part of the reality. We have low water use needs, no matter where you are in the country.’

Tom, who now gardens in Arizona after moving from Southern California, sees lantana used extensively in landscapes because of its exceptional durability.

‘Depending on the species and variety, lantana blooms here almost year-round,’ he said. ‘And it's low water use, which is most important.’

Tom also notes many varieties spread to form attractive flowering ground cover plants, making them particularly useful on sunny slopes where erosion control is also a consideration.

For homeowners growing lantana as an annual in colder regions, the payoff is still impressive. Plants typically flower continuously from late spring until frost, providing months of color from a single planting instead of requiring multiple seasonal replacements, Tom notes.

Tom adds, lantana also ‘plays well with others’ when planted in a combination container. And since containers tend to dry more quickly than in-ground plantings, a water-wise plant such as lantana is a great choice for pots and baskets.

Pair lantana with a substantial outdoor planter such as the Veradek Demi Round Planter from Wayfair.

Ideal For Water Restrictions

In some parts of the country, particularly the Southwest, drought isn't simply influencing plant selection – it's dictating it.

‘I don't think people outside Texas fully understand how much water restrictions now drive our design decisions,’ Tucker explains. ‘We've been through several straight years of drought, and watering restrictions are simply part of life. Many Central Texas municipalities now limit irrigation to once a week during drought conditions, and during the worst of it there have been periods where irrigation was nearly shut down altogether.’

For landscape professionals responsible for maintaining commercial properties and residential communities, that leaves little room for plants that require constant attention.

‘Lantana survives those restrictions,’ Tucker says. ‘It's a workhorse. It'll handle a once-a-week irrigation schedule – or even a missed week entirely – and keep blooming.’

For home gardeners, those same qualities translate into less watering, fewer plant replacements, and lower maintenance throughout the growing season.

‘Lantana is one of the better returns on investment you can plant,’ Tucker says. ‘It blooms for months instead of weeks. It handles heat better than almost anything else that flowers. Once established, it needs very little supplemental irrigation. And maybe its best attribute, it bounces back quickly after a rough stretch.’

A simple drip irrigation kit or soaker hose such as the Rain Bird Drip Irrigation Plant Watering Kit from Ace Hardware can help establish new lantana plants while using far less water than overhead sprinklers.

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A Pollinator Magnet

Long bloom periods don't just benefit gardeners – they also provide a reliable food source for pollinators.

‘This is one of lantana's real strengths, and it's not subtle,’ Tucker notes. ‘There's almost always some pollinator visiting it. Butterflies and bees especially. Hummingbirds visit many of the varieties, too.’

Tom agrees, saying, 'Bees, definitely a little bit, but I see hummingbirds and butterflies on the lantanas a lot.'

For gardeners who don't have space for a dedicated pollinator garden, lantana offers an easy way to support beneficial insects while maintaining an ornamental landscape.

‘You plant lantana because it looks good and handles the heat, and the pollinators will follow,’ Tucker points out.

Pair lantana with a pollinator-friendly seed mix such as this Hummingbird & Butterfly Pollinator Mix from True Leaf Market to provide nectar from spring through fall and create an even more wildlife-friendly garden.

Is Lantana Right for Every Garden?

Despite its many advantages, lantana isn't a perfect choice everywhere.

Older forms of Lantana camara have become invasive plants in parts of the Southeast, particularly Florida, where they can spread into natural areas. Fortunately, many modern cultivars have been bred to produce few or no viable seeds, making them a safer option for home landscapes.

Gardeners should always check local recommendations and, where available, choose sterile or non-invasive selections recommended by their local extension service.

Climate also affects how the plant performs. In frost-free regions, lantana may behave as a long-lived shrub that blooms for much of the year. In colder climates, it is most often grown as an annual or a tender perennial, delivering continuous flowers until freezing temperatures arrive.

Both experts agree that lantana represents something bigger than a single plant trend.

‘It's probably the biggest change I've seen in plant palettes during my career,’ Tucker says of the move toward climate-resilient gardens.

Still, he doesn't believe gardeners should eliminate seasonal bedding plants altogether. ‘The goal isn't replacing every annual with lantana,’ he explained. ‘The goal is being more intentional about where annual color still makes sense and where a long-term performer is the smarter choice.’

As gardeners continue adapting to hotter summers and more frequent water restrictions, that mindset may ultimately prove to be the bigger gardening trend.

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Blueberries are an all-round super crop. Not only are they super-easy to grow, but they are also a tasty superfood, packed with vitamins and antioxidants. August is a key time in the blueberry season, and a few important jobs will keep your plants healthy and preserve your harvests.

When you grow blueberries, August is prime picking season, so get out and harvest regularly, being sure to place your fruits carefully into a basket or this garden hod from Burpee. This way, you get the fruit at its best and avoid losing many of your berries to birds. If birds are an issue, as they often are, it is wise to net the plants this month to protect your harvest.

Another important thing this month is watering; you need to water plants during hot spells so they don’t dry out. And there are preferable ways to go about it. Here we look at what to do with a blueberry bush in August, plus a few tasks not to do.

Harvest Blueberries Often

This is the fun part – picking. I have a happy blueberry bush in a large container in my garden. It has taken a few years to get to this stage, but it is covered in fruit at the moment. When you have a bush like this, regular harvesting is crucial.

The blueberry harvesting season will vary depending on your climate and the type of plant. But, in general, July to September are the prime picking months. During this time, check every few days, as blueberries across the bush will ripen at different times. If you don’t get to the fruit quickly, a bird will likely come and steal it.

To test if a blueberry is ripe, check the color. It should be completely purple-blue. If any pink or red blush remains near the stem, it is not ready. A ripe blueberry should easily detach from the bush; if you feel resistance, leave the fruit for another few days.

You can get a berry picker like this on Amazon to comb over blueberry bushes and harvest ripe fruit with ease.

Net Fruits Against Birds

I mentioned that my blueberry bush is covered in fruit. Unfortunately, it is not only me who revels in that sight. I have seen local birds coming down and stealing fruit from the bush – sometimes brazenly in front of me. If you also have this issue, it may be time to net the plant to keep the fruit to yourself.

Nets are the easiest way to protect soft fruit in your yard from birds. You can get large fruit cages to install over your fruit bushes permanently, and these are large enough for you to access for maintenance and picking – like this crop cage at Wayfair.

However, protection doesn’t always need to be so fortress-like. You can simply install bird-proof netting over the plants once they become an issue, using material like this bird netting at Amazon.

For the best protection, I have always found it is best to use posts or hoops around the bush and put the netting over these. Otherwise, clever birds can just reach through the netting and get to the fruits if you just place it on the plant – and that kind of defeats the object.

Be sure to secure the nets to the ground with landscape staples (available at Lowe’s), bricks or stones. This prevents birds from getting under the netting and getting stuck.

Water Deeply in Dry Spells

Blueberry plants have shallow roots. To get a blueberry bush to fruit to its full potential, you need to water plants during hot, dry spells in summer. This is especially true when you grow blueberries in pots, as the soil can dry out very quickly as temperatures rise.

Established blueberries need extra watering while the berries are forming and ripening. Check plants every few days during hot spells and water the garden when the top few inches of soil feel dry. You can check the levels with your fingers or a soil moisture meter (you can get a soil moisture meter at Amazon for instant results about when to water plants).

When you water, water deeply in the morning. This ensures the roots are soaked, and the moisture isn’t lost to evaporation at the surface during the hottest parts of the day.

Topping up any mulching materials around your blueberry bushes will help to retain moisture in the soil. The best types of mulch for blueberries are acidic, such as pine bark or pine needles. You can get a bag of pine bark mulch at Lowe’s.

Where you can, water blueberries with rainwater. Natural rainwater from a rain barrel is better for blueberries than tap water, as it is naturally acidic.

Fertilize Blueberries in Pots

Anytime you grow berries in containers, they need more fertilizer than bushes growing in the ground. Early to mid-August can be a good time to fertilize blueberries in pots for a boost of nutrients to finish ripening the last of the crop.

The best fertilizers for blueberries are special ericaceous feeds. This month, use a liquid fertilizer like this TPS blueberry fertilizer on Amazon. Mix the product at the recommended rate with water and use it to feed plants.

What you don’t want to do this month is give blueberries any high-nitrogen fertilizers. Doing this would be a fertilizing mistake, because it would encourage a late flush of new foliage and stems rather than ripen the remaining fruit.

This soft, new growth runs the risk of being damaged when the temperatures drop, leaving the bush more susceptible to pests and diseases.

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Another no-no for the month is pruning a blueberry bush. You should prune in late winter or early spring, as this is the perfect time to establish a good mix of productive branches on the bush and set it up for a bumper summer crop.

If you see dead or damaged stems this month, yes, they can be cut out with clean, sharp pruning tools to keep the bush healthy. But any major trimming could see you miss out on fruit and would also encourage a late flush of new growth that can be damaged by frost.

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Most people are very busy during the summer. Family activities, holidays, and social functions all demand our attention, and sometimes the garden is the unfortunate one left behind. Even if you are only gardening for 15 minutes a day in summer, you can keep your outdoor space looking good.

To help you put together an achievable summer gardening checklist for when you are short of time, I consulted some experts. They picked their top summer jobs for a homeowner who can commit to gardening for 15 minutes a day in their busy lives. These focused jobs can keep a garden looking pleasant and full of blooms without exhaustive effort.

It is all about figuring out the high-priority tasks for each 15-minute block. Abandon any dreams of clearing the whole garden, but focus on what needs to be done each day. Key jobs like weeding, watering (you can get a soil moisture meter from Amazon), deadheading, feeding, supporting plants, propagating and more can all be done in small windows.

Stop Weeds From Seeding

It may never be the most glamorous or enjoyable task (though I do know some gardeners who love spending time getting rid of weeds), but weeding is always essential in summer.

The adage goes ‘one year of seeds, seven years of weeds’, and it is true that letting weeds set seed creates a snowball effect of issues. To stop future you having to deal with even more weeds, set aside some 15-minute blocks for this task.

‘Pulling weeds before they produce seeds can help prevent thousands of weed seeds from landing in your garden,’ says Justin Hancock, Horticulturist for Costa Farms. ‘And the younger a weed is, the smaller the root system and the easier it is to pull. So even if you just pull a couple of weeds every day, it can make a difference.’

Smaller weeds can be removed quickly with a garden hoe, but older or tap-rooted weeds need a more thorough approach. You need to use a type of weeder that guarantees you remove the entire plant and its roots to prevent it from resprouting. This can be a fork or a hand weeding tool like this at Walmart to lever weeds out of the soil.

As you are only gardening for 15 minutes a day, set realistic goals for weeding. Your borders or raised beds may be weedy, but remain focused on weeding quickly. ‘I would not worry about making every bed spotless, but I would absolutely pull anything that is about to seed,’ adds Alex Wright, the Founder of YardCalc.

Water to Keep Plants Alive

There is no escaping that if you are gardening for 15 minutes a day in summer, much of that time may be taken up by watering plants in hot weather. However, be selective about what you focus on, as some plants need more watering in a heatwave than others.

‘Focus on keeping plants, especially this year's additions, alive,’ recommends Marian Keith, Horticulturist at Newfields in Indianapolis, Indiana. Also, seedlings and plants growing in pots in container gardens need to be at the top of your watering hit-list.

Water deeply to deliver the moisture to the roots. You should ideally water the garden in the morning, so plants have time to hydrate before temperatures rise. You can water in the evening, but take extra care to water the base of the plant, not the foliage.

Alex Wright advocates for proactive planning. He recommends using watering tools or a timer, so this time-consuming task doesn’t take up your 15 minutes of gardening time.

‘Drip irrigation or even a basic hose timer changes the whole equation,’ he says. ‘Watering is super important, especially for containers, raised beds, and new plantings, but it is also one of the easiest garden jobs to automate.

‘If you only have a few minutes a week, I would rather use that time on the things a timer cannot do.’

You can get an automatic timer at Garden in Minutes that has a simple dial for set-up and two outlets – perfect for attaching to drip irrigation, soaker hoses, sprinklers, or just a garden hose.

Deadhead to Extend the Show

Flower beds and container displays may start to look past their best as the first blooms go over. If you can commit time to deadheading flowers during summer, you can extend your display of blooms and keep the garden full of color.

Christina Stembel, founder and CEO of Farmgirl Flowers, admits she often has 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening to garden. She picks tasks according to what needs most attention each day.

‘One day it's deadheading because the blooms are literally dead and failing to remove them will probably prevent a second flush. The next day it's weeding because the weeds are gobbling up all the resources,’ says Christina.

‘Right now, my 15 minutes in the morning is usually spent deadheading to keep our flowers flowering through August and into September.’

Removing the old flowers tidies borders and stops plants putting energy into producing seeds. That energy goes back into developing buds and opening new flowers. If you can find time to deadhead flowers in August, your garden will keep putting on a glorious show for longer.

A pair of pruning snips (such as these Japanese pruning snips on Amazon) or shears is a perfect tool for deadheading. You can snap some blooms off between your fingers and thumb, but you must be careful not to damage any stems or unopened flowers.

Fertilize Plants in Containers

Summer can be taxing for any plants in pots. The warm temperatures mean the limited moisture in the soil disappears quickly, and nutrients quickly leach from the containers. It can leave plants starved and looking past their best in summer.

‘When I have 15 minutes to spare, I turn my attention to my potted plants,’ says Tenielle Jordison, garden content editor at Homes & Gardens. ‘They can start to look a little tired after such a hot summer, so I give them some extra nourishment.’

It shouldn’t take long to rejuvenate container plants and help to keep annual flowers blooming for longer in pots.

‘If the potting mix is hard and compacted, I first gently loosen it with a hand fork. Then, a balanced all-purpose liquid fertilizer (like this TPS one on Amazon) gives my plants a quick boost,’ adds Tenielle.

‘A layer of compost or potting mix can also be helpful, replenishing nutrients and topping up soil that has depleted over time, whether from watering or decomposition.’

You can get a bag of organic potting mix at Burpee to top up containers and give them a late summer boost.

Check For Disease

There can be many potential diseases around in the summer. Warm, humid weather, along with garden watering mistakes like soaking the foliage, leads to common diseases such as powdery mildew, rust, leaf spot, blight, and more, which trouble both ornamental and edible plants.

When it comes to diseases or summer garden pests, it is best to act fast and nip problems in the bud to stop them from spreading. As you are out gardening for 15 minutes a day, keep your eyes peeled for fungal coatings on leaves, yellowing foliage, or other markings.

‘Just like with weeds, diseases are easier to deal with if you catch them early,’ says Justin Hancock. ‘Removing an affected leaf at the start of an infection can help stop that infection from spreading further. And it keeps your garden looking better.’

Always clean your pruning tools with sanitizing sprays or wipes (available at Walmart) after removing any diseased leaves, to prevent spreading the issue to other plants.

Alternatively, you can get a ready-to-use copper fungicide at Amazon that gardeners can use to treat many diseases, including mildews, blight, black spot, and more.

Check Plants Are Supported

Christina Stembel adds that another of her regular 15-minute jobs is ‘adding more supports to the dahlias so they don't topple over from the weight of the heads’. While out in the yard, gardeners should also take time to check their plant supports to ensure they are fully protected from wind damage or buckling under the weight of flowers or fruit.

Top-heavy flowers like dahlias, delphiniums, peonies, or phlox, or weighty fruit-bearing crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, or eggplant all need strong supports. Dry soil will contract in the summer and can loosen stakes like bamboo canes or wooden posts. Check that your plant supports are firm in the ground, and push them deeper as required.

These plants can also need new plant ties to keep them supported by the posts. Add any new ties as needed to stop stems snapping and ruining potential flowers or crops. Always use soft plant ties, such as these Velcro garden ties at The Home Depot, and never use wire or hard plastic as they can rub and even snap the stems.

Do Some Quick Propagation to Plug Gaps

Extreme summer heat can take its toll around the garden. If your garden has experienced losses, don’t just rue lost plants. There are new ones you can replace them with.

That list includes heat-tolerant perennials you can plant in August, like coneflowers or black-eyed Susan, to fill gaps and enjoy a fall display. And there are fast-growing flowers to sow in August, like calendula or sweet alyssum, that have time to give you late-season blooms.

Sedum ranks among the former, a low-maintenance perennial you can add for late-summer and fall blooms that will attract pollinators.

Rachel Bull, Head of Gardens at Homes & Gardens, suggests a quick and easy way to grow sedums without needing to head to the garden center and spend money on new plants.

'I've lost quite a few annuals to the heatwave this year, so I've been filling gaps in my containers with a super quick propagation trick,’ she reveals.

‘I snip short, single stems off a lovely trailing sedum, which I love for its blue-grey foliage and tolerance of full sun. I immediately pop them into gaps and sprinkle with water, and within a week I can see new growth.

‘It is the easiest and most reliable plant I have ever multiplied, and it's ideal for right now, when the temperatures are still high.'

You can also take plant cuttings of sedums and start them in pots, rather than place them in the garden. If you only have 15 minutes in the garden, getting new plants for free seems like a very effective use of your time.

What to Shop

If you prefer low-maintenance backyard ideas to intensive gardening, our guide to ‘the 10 minute garden’ might be perfect for you. It features inspirational ideas for a glorious garden that needs just 10 minutes of maintenance a week.

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As we edge towards the end of the growing season, many plants are slowing down and reaching the end of their lifecycle. Both annuals and perennials produce an abundance of seed during this time, and there's often more than enough for you to collect, save, and grow free plants next year.

Collecting seeds and growing your own plants is not only highly satisfying and cost-effective, but it can also help you reduce any associated packaging waste and emissions when buying seed. You can stock up on paper envelopes from Amazon to store them correctly over winter until it's time to plant in spring. These are also great for gifting to family and friends to start their own garden.

Here, our experts share their tips for harvesting popular seeds in August and how to safely store them.

1. Cosmos

Easy to grow and hugely popular, cosmos are perfect for brightening up a border or adding to a container. With cosmos varieties available in soft pastel shades and vibrant hues, these annual flowers are a versatile and dependable favorite.

As with the others mentioned, waiting until the morning dew has dried or after a few rain-free days will help ensure those you collect are dry. Collect the seed heads by snipping them off with some precision snips, such as these Felco F322 pruning snips, available from Amazon, when they are brown and dry to the touch.

Leave the seedheads to dry further on a sunny windowsill or in a greenhouse on paper towel before storing them somewhere cool, dry, and dark over the winter.

Mintee Kalra, Founder of Mintee Kalra Studio, also suggests: 'Don't collect seed from every flower. Be selective. Save seed from the healthiest, longest-blooming plants with the strongest form. You're quietly shaping the future of your garden.'

2. Calendula

Blooming from spring until the fall, calendulas are ideal not only for your garden but, being edible flowers, are perfect to jazz up a salad with. Additionally, Calendula officinalis is an excellent companion plant for your beans and tomatoes.

To collect calendula seeds in August, leave some flowers to fade and form seedheads. Once the petals have dropped and the seedheads turned from green to gray-brown, snip them off. However, to reduce any chances of mold, Mintee advises, 'Harvest only once the seed heads have fully matured and dried on the plant.'

Once completely dry, you can gently separate the curved seeds for storage.

When it comes to choosing storage vessels, Amy Martin, landscape designer and the founder of Plant and Bloom Design Studio, advises, 'storing them in a breathable container, never plastic. Small paper envelopes are my favorite; they label easily and stack neatly until it's time to sow next season.'

Once placed in a labeled envelope, you can organize them in a box, such as this Pethiy moisture-proof seed storage box, available to purchase from Walmart.

3. Zinnia

Another flower seed to collect in August is zinnia. Adored for their pops of subtle or vivid color and enticing shapes and sizes, zinnia varieties are wide-ranging.

To keep these annuals flowering as long as possible, regular deadheading is required. However, to allow the seedheads to form and dry out before winter arrives, you may want to leave some blooms to go to seed in late summer.

In warmer parts, zinnias can self-seed, but to make sure you have a free supply of zinnia plants next year, you need to collect some as well.

To harvest zinnia seeds, once the petals are long gone and the seedheads are dry and crispy, remove the entire seedhead and separate the arrow-shaped seeds to store.

To ensure high germination rates, Mintee suggests, ‘Store seeds somewhere cool, dry, and dark in paper envelopes or packets, which allow any remaining moisture to dissipate. Heat, humidity, and light are the quickest ways to reduce seed viability.’

If you have never collected flower seeds before, a seed-collecting kit that provides everything you need to harvest and store seeds can be a great place to start. Orionstar seed storage organizer kit, is available to purchase from Amazon.

4. Sunflowers

Grown to brighten up the garden and as a cut flower, sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are not only easy to grow but easy to collect seed from.

Depending on the sunflower variety and time of sowing, sunflowers may not be ready to harvest their seed from until early fall. However, earlier varieties, especially when grown in hot, dry areas, may well be ready for collection.

As an important food source, you will want to leave some seeds for the birds, but sunflowers can produce hundreds of seeds, so there are enough to go around.

To collect sunflower seeds, cut off the brown, dry, faded flower head and place it on a tray or sheet. Rub and, if necessary, gently pull away the seeds. To ensure they are free of moisture, place the seeds on a paper towel for 2-3 days before placing them in an envelope.

Labeling your seed envelopes is essential for clear organization. But Mintee further recommends, 'Label more than just the plant name. I like to include the collection date and one observation about the parent plant: 'longest flowering,' 'best color,' or 'most vigorous.' Over time, those notes become a quiet record of the garden you're cultivating.'

5. Nigella

Prized for its delicate and whimsical flowers, nigella, or Love-in-a-Mist as it is affectionately known, is one to sow in the fall and is a lot tougher and hardier than it looks. Additionally, as a self-seeding annual, it tends to naturally come back year after year.

Once its intricate blooms fade, nigella develops balloon-like seed pods that turn brown and rattle when they are ready to be collected.

To avoid losing the tiny seeds, cut off a stem holding several seed pods with a pair of pruners, such as these Okatsune 103 bypass pruners available from Amazon, and place them in a paper bag upside down. Shake gently and the seeds will fall out of the pods and collect at the bottom of the bag.

6. Sweet Pea

One of my favorite flower seeds to collect in August is the sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus). A stalwart of cottage gardens and cut flower gardens, their beautiful and scented flowers are equally at home scrambling up an obelisk as they are in a vase indoors.

Producing a profusion of flowers over the summer, you will want to deadhead sweet peas regularly to stop them setting seed. However, come late summer when they begin to wind down, you can let some flowers form pods so you can collect sweet pea seeds for next year.

Once the seed pods are brown and brittle, you can cut them off and bring them inside to dry out further. After they have completely dried, you can collect the round, black seed by splitting the pods open and storing them in a glass jar.

Whether you gift the seeds to a friend or sow them and pass young plants on to a neighbor, sweet peas are always gratefully received.

Airtight glass jars are available to purchase from Walmart.

What to Shop

Having collected your flower seeds this August, you may be wondering how long you can store the seeds for. The answer depends on the type, as some seeds should be sown within a year, and others seem to last indefinitely. However, annual flower seeds tend to remain viable for 1-2 years before their germination rates begin to decrease. But there are exceptions, and if stored correctly, they can last longer.

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Coneflowers steal the show during August. Clustered together, in full bloom, they make a dazzling sight with their long petals, in delicious shades of dusky pink, vanilla and soft white shining in contrast against the raised dark centers.

Magnets for bees, butterflies and other pollinators, these sun loving perennials are easy to care for and their appeal lasts long after the petals fade. Not only do their striking seedheads add texture and seasonal interest when left intact on the upright stems but they are packed with nutritious seeds that are highly prized by garden finches, bluejays and cardinals throughout fall and winter.

Knowing how to grow coneflowers (echinacea) - is pretty straightforward but there are some care tasks that should be tackled during August. Equip yourself with sturdy pair of Felco Pruning Snips from Amazon and read more about when to remove and leave fading flowers, damaged stems and other late summer coneflower issues.

Stop Feeding Coneflowers For Healthier Plants

August is the time to stop fertilizing coneflowers, in fact these short-lived perennials should rarely need feeding if the growing conditions are right.

'Native plants adapted to the local region don't need fertilization, especially when grown in healthy soil,' says Head of Native Plant Habitat Strategy at the National Wildlife Federation, Mary Phillips. 'Excess fertilizer can actually encourage lush, weak foliage growth at the expense of blooms. Instead, focus on building healthy soil with organic matter such as compost and leave natural plant material in place where possible.'

Consider the best coneflowers varieties for your plot; there are plenty of irresistible offerings at Burpee, including Butterfly Kisses Echinacea Purpurea.

Work well rotted organic compost such as this R&M compost from Amazon into the soil around the base of the plant or learn how to make compost using your own garden and kitchen waste.

Manage deadheading coneflowers for a smooth transition into fall

Each raised and slightly bristly coneflower centre harbors a surprising number of seeds, presenting the wildlife loving gardener with a tricky dilemma. When is it best to stop deadheading blooms - pausing the formation of future blooms - and leave the seedheads to die back naturally?

'By late summer, it's a good time to start shifting the mindset from maintaining the garden to creating wildlife,' says Mary. 'Rather than cutting coneflowers back as soon as flowers fade, allow the stalks and seedheads to remain standing through fall and winter. They provide food for birds, structure for the garden, and places for insects to shelter and overwinter.'

Can't bear to bid the vibrant blooms goodbye? then selective deadheading can prove a handy compromise, as Mary explains. 'Gardeners who want to extend lowering can selectively deadhead some blooms while leaving others to mature into seedheads.'

Coneflower is one of the best plants for attracting American Goldfinches into your yard. Provide a natural feast for the eyes and seed-eating birds by weaving 'Ruby Star' Coneflower from Nature Hills through a mixed bed of ornamental grasses or fill planters with attention grabbing varieties such as native 'Green Twister' coneflower and the sweeping petals of 'Pale Purple' Coneflower, both from Plant Addicts.

Only Remove Dead Or Diseased Stems

There's no need to routinely cut back coneflower stems at the end the summer. Robbing the plant of late blooms, valuable seedheads and the opportunity to replenish its energy reserves before winter dormancy, experts now advise to leave the plant to die back naturally.

That said, there are exceptions. 'It is important to cut back any diseased or dead steams in Fall or even in Winter dormancy,' says plant expert Katie Sunderlage. 'This will help protect the plant against any future infestation or fungal issues the following Spring when the new growth emerges. When cutting back the dead stems, prune to about 1-2 inches above the ground using a clean pruners.'

Hand shears such as these Fiskars Bypass Pruning Shears from Walmart will do the job, but remember to limit the spread of any fungal spores by disposing of infected plant material in the household garbage rather than the compost heap.

Stake Coneflower As And When Needed

August is the last month where coneflowers are actively growing, so it pays to let them harvest all the energy they can, to strengthen root systems ready for the dormant season and following spring, when growth resumes.

Although fairly robust plants, occasional summer storms can take their toll and damage stems and foliage. Provide support to help aid stem recovery, as landscape architect Stacilyn Feldman explains.

'If staking is needed, utilize 3-5 stakes around the mass with loose twine. Don’t try to stake each stem, rather stake it in a bunch to retain the strength of the massing,'

While regular bamboo canes such as these from Walmart will do the job, they look very visible. Instead opt for an elegant metal peony support like this from Amazon or rustic spiral plant supports from Agriframes.

Save Some Seeds To Grow On

Coneflowers are prolific seed producers and late summer is the perfect time to harvest them. Whether you are looking to gather and raise your own plants from seed or pass seeds on to friends, it's time to get gathering and discover the seed harvesting mistakes to avoid.

Look for fading blooms with dark, plump and firm central cones, and snip them off with 4-5in (20-22.5cm) stem intact. Place stems upside down in a paper bag, with ends of the stem protruding, secure the bag around the stems with a length of twine a hang in a warm, dry yet well ventilated spot for 1 to 2 weeks.

Once dry, the seeds will fall from the seedhead into the bag. Use these garden tweezers from Walmart to remove the chaff and stems. Store seed until needed in these brown kraft bags with window, from Amazon.

What to Shop

Keep these eye-catching perennials in good shape for next year by learning how to winterize coneflowers in 5 steps.

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I love growing herbs on my patio, where I can enjoy their delicious fragrance every time I head out into the yard. Not to mention, many of them are super low-maintenance – I simply pot them up, position them somewhere sunny, and water during hot spells.

While growing some herbs is a bit more demanding and often requires frequent harvesting with herb scissors (which are available at Amazon), some Mediterranean herbs are less effort to keep in shape. I grow both rosemary and thyme, which look beautiful even when I forget to water and haven't pruned in a while.

One of the main reasons these are herbs that thrive on neglect is they prefer their soil to fully dry in between watering and don't demand fertilizer. Here, I talk through five of the best herbs to grow if you want lots of flavor for minimal effort.

1. Rosemary

Rosemary is the number one choice of low-effort herb to grow. Native to the Mediterranean, it thrives in full sun, is drought-tolerant, doesn't need feeding, and doesn't require frequent pruning to maintain its neat, upright shape.

Growing rosemary is easy, with varieties like 'Arp' (which you can find at Plant Addicts) being hardy across zones 6-10. The one thing to note is that not all types of rosemary are frost-tolerant, so you may need to overwinter rosemary to ensure it makes it through to next spring.

Rosemary can be grown as bigger fragrant shrub, or you can grow rosemary in a pot. Whatever the case, giving it an occasional trim to maintain its shape will reward you with aromatic sprigs to cook with.

You can also pick up rosemary starter plants at Walmart, or shop rosemary seeds from Burpee to grow it from scratch.

2. Thyme

Just like rosemary, thyme (USDA zones 5-9) is a drought-tolerant Mediterranean herb that loves full sun, infrequent watering, and doesn't demand fertile soil.

For the best flavor, give thyme 6-8 hours of direct sun, which will trigger the production of essential oils. You can let its soil dry out in between watering, with too much water causing root rot.

As for its growing medium, thyme does well in poorer, sandy soil over fertile, moisture-retentive compost.

I grow 'Silver Queen' thyme which beautifully spills over the edge of its pot. You can find thyme plants at Walmart or use these Amazon thyme seeds to grow a new plant.

3. Oregano

Oregano is one of the best herbs for getting a big harvest for little effort. It loves direct sun and poor soil, it's drought-tolerant, and its beautiful flowers attract pollinators.

It's best not to fertilize oregano, as this can encourage soft new growth over essential oil production. Likewise, you should harvest oregano to keep it growing by taking cuttings above leaf nodes. This will help maintain its bushy shape.

It's best to give oregano well-draining soil, as it doesn't enjoy soggy conditions. Bear in mind it can spread fast, so a container with a drainage hole is ideal (like these terracotta pots on Amazon).

Oregano grows across USDA zones 4-10, and you can order oregano plants from Amazon.

4. Chives

Not only do chives bring a fresh, delicate flavor to cooking, they also produce pretty blooms to add color to your herb garden. As alliums, this herb produces purple or pink pom-pom flowers in spring and summer.

As for growing chives (USDA 3-9), these perennial herbs are highly undemanding.

They prefer consistently moist soil, but are very forgiving if you forget to water them thanks to the water storage in their bulbs and leaves. Likewise, they can grow in both full sun and partial shade, and return reliably after dying back in winter.

When harvesting chives, use gardening snips (like these Fiskars ones from Amazon) to cut at the base of the plant, rather than the tips. This will encourage fresh growth for a continual harvest.

Find chive seeds at Burpee.

5. Lemon Balm

Lemon balm is on the list of herbs that thrive on neglect because it's super forgiving. As a member of the mint family, it's hardy across USDA zones 3-9, copes well with short period of drought (though it prefers consistent moisture), and is highly resistant to pests and diseases.

Even if you do forget to water lemon balm, it will bounce back quickly. Pruning lemon balm will give it vigor again – just give it a chop if it's leggy and it will soon put out fresh new growth.

It's easy to harvest lemon balm, too. Pick the young leaves to add into teas, desserts, and salads.

It's important to note it does spread rapidly like other types of mint, so it's often best to grow lemon balm in a pot.

Find a lemon balm plant at Plant Addicts, or grow it with these lemon balm seeds from Botanical Interests.

What to Shop

No matter which herbs you add to your garden, make sure to read up on herb gardening mistakes to avoid. This includes not harvesting to encourage more growth and overcrowding your plants.

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Sunflowers are a mainstay of my cutting garden. I grow lots of different varieties, and usually none of them require vey much attention from me at this time of year. This summer, however, is hitting a little differently.

This August, I am giving them a little more care and attention than I usually would, owing to the intense heatwaves and lack of rain we've experienced. The conditions mean my sunflower patch needs more TLC to stay healthy and blooming into fall.

The key, really, is to keep watering and redirecting the energy into new flower buds, and for that I need to keep my trusty Fiskars snips (which you can find at Target) to hand at all times. Here are the steps I'm taking to prolong my sunflower display for as long as possible.

Water Deeply

Hydration is king in the garden right now, and while this is not always possible for larger trees and your lawn, if you can direct water resources to your annual flowers they will thank you.

When watering plants in hot weather, it's always a good idea to do it in the morning, and water as deeply as you can.

Sunflowers need a lot of water, and especially those growing in containers, which will dry out more quickly than flowers in beds. Water at the base, rather than over the foliage, to direct all the moisture to those thirsty roots.

To make the job easier, I love my expandable Flexi Hose, from Amazon, which is quick to set up and move around the yard, and also very easy to store.

If you're not sure how much water your sunflowers need, a great value moisture meter (we love this one from Target) will tell you what you need to know.

If you're struggling with water resources, there are lots of ways to reuse household water in the garden in times of drought.

Keep Cutting and Deadheading

Don’t be afraid to cut sunflowers while they’re still looking fresh. Removing blooms for arrangements can encourage branching varieties to produce more flowers, while also giving you gorgeous indoor displays.

You also need to keep an eye on those flower heads that are spent, and can be snipped off. Deadheading your sunflowers will take all the energy away from the seedhead and back into the plant so that it can produce new flowers.

To make the job easy and prevent any strain on your hands or wrists, I always opt for a really good quality, clean pair of pruning snips. As a gardener and florist, I own several pairs, but am getting a lot of use from the Haus & Garten snips, available from Amazon, at the moment. I also love the red handles as they are impossible to lose in the yard!

Stake Very Tall Stems

Despite the seemingly-constant heat and dry weather, heavy rain and storms can materialize in August, and when they do it's a good idea to be prepared.

You can stake your tallest sunflowers to prevent them from falling and snapping in strong winds or heavy rain, which will come as a shock after a protracted dry spell.

Try to do this before they become too top heavy, and attach stems with the right plant ties to secure them.

An ideal type of stake would be bamboo, or these metal stake supports, from Amazon, which are very simple to add.

Leave A Few Seedheads For The Birds

American goldfinches, chickadees and other garden birds can make a sunflower patch a late-summer wildlife hotspot.

If you can, leave a few heads on your plants rather than clearing. These will develop into nutritious food for your garden birds, which will give them a boost before winter.

If birds are particularly enthusiastic, you can protect individual heads with fine mesh cover, such as these from Walmart, until the seeds are ripe, then remove it and let the birds enjoy them. Leaving the sturdy stems standing also provides useful structure in the garden as summer starts to fade.

What to Shop

Don’t over-fertilize sunflowers in August. If your plants are healthy and flowering well, there’s usually little benefit in giving them a late-season boost. Too much nitrogen can encourage leafy growth at the expense of flowers, while also creating softer, more vulnerable growth. Instead, focus on consistent watering and deadheading to help extend the display.

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In August, hummingbirds get very busy in the garden. If you have hummingbird feeders expect plenty of hungry birds to gather in your yard as they stock up on essential nourishment for the gruelling migration journey that lies ahead. You can play a key role in supporting them as they prepare and encourage repeat visits during this important period.

No matter how large or small your backyard, following these simple wildlife garden ideas will create a welcoming haven for hummingbirds. With any luck many of your visitors will be returning birds, as these enchanting creatures are known to remember the gardens they've found food in previously.

Making sure your garden is planted with plenty of late-season nectar-giving flowers is key to attracting hummingbird activity in August, as it providing feeders to supplement their diet (red glass ones, such as this beautiful hummingbird feeder from Amazon, are ideal) together with plenty of fresh drinking water to help them cope with the heat. Follow these five expert tips and you may be lucky enough to still have hummingbirds in your yard as late as Halloween.

5 Ways To Help Hummingbirds In August

As summer starts to wind down find out how to attract hummingbirds to your garden in August. There's a hummingbird migration map you can follow too that includes info on spottings in your local area, and don't forget hummingbirds are overwintering on the Gulf Coast in greater numbers than in the past due to milder winters.

'April through September are the hummingbird months in the Northern Hemisphere, with May through August being the peak months of activity,' says Robert S Mulvihill, ornithologist at the National Avery.

'As females feed their young almost strictly on small insects, not on nectar, it's not uncommon for people to notice a big drop in the number of visits to their feeders in late June. But, after the young fledge and begin to become independent in July, the feeder activity will pick up again, and it will continue all the way through the fall migration, from August through September.'

The best hummingbird garden isn’t necessarily the largest one, and the following observations apply particularly in August. 'In my experience, consistency is what matters most,' says Siobhan Shaw, co-founder of Growing to Give.

'This means planting flowers that attract hummingbirds, and offering clean nectar, water, shelter, and a pesticide-free environment. Once hummingbirds discover a garden that reliably provides those things, they have every reason to return.'

You can find hummingbird nectar that is ready to use from Walmart, no diluting or mixing needed, and it has added minerals to help keep these beautiful creatures healthy.

1. Keep Natural Supplies Of Nectar Coming

Hummingbirds are attracted to yards that have food sources and a good mix of sun and shade, and they need a safe perch to sit on in between their meals, so a small tree or shrub near your feeders is always a good idea. It's also important to leave perennials blooming for longer, especially the ones hummingbirds love.

'Hummingbirds are attracted by the presence of reliable nectar sources, whether feeders, patches of red or orange garden flowers, and hummingbird-adapted wildflowers like cardinal flower and scarlet bee balm,' says Robert. Hummingbirds also love royal catchfly, the perfect native plant to provide them with a late-season source of nectar. Native honeysuckles are another good choice for hummingbirds in August.

To sustain their supercharged metabolisms, hummingbirds must eat once every 10 to 15 minutes and visit between 1,000 and 2,000 flowers per day, according to the National Audobon Society.

'So, make sure your outdoor space has lots of flowers of the type hummingbirds prefer,' says Robert. 'This is pretty much any red or orange flower having a long corolla tube, and lacking any structures that butterflies or bees could easily use as a perch.'

Another idea is these flowers to plant in August for hummingbirds that will help them on their journey south.

2. Put Feeders Back Up (If You Already Took Them Down)

If hummingbirds stopped visiting your yard in early summer you may have taken their feeders down, assuming there was no point keeping them up as the hummingbirds hadn't chosen your yard to nest in. Alternatively you may have taken them down because the young hummingbirds have moved out.

August is an important month to put the feeders back up. Migration lies ahead for hummingbirds so they need to build up their strength. The aim is to increase their body fat for the journey so they need a good supply of nectar. In addition newly fledged juveniles need to feed, and early migrants will be passing through too. So keep feeders up until October, as it's possible to get hummingbirds in your yard until late fall.

It's important to know where to place a hummingbird feeder too, even if you think you've got it nailed. It's a good idea to add several more feeders as migration gets closer, especially if you notice a dominant bird monopolizing a feeder.

'Hummingbird behavior can be aggressively territorial as birds fight over feeders,' says August Abbot, a certified avian specialist and founder of The Broken Birds Sanctuary. 'To keep the peace and make room add multiple feeders generously spaced apart and at different heights. Spacing feeders 8 or more feet apart gives birds their own feeding stations and reduces fighting.'

Keep feeders out of relentless direct heat (and avoid these other hummingbird feeder mistakes too), adds August. 'If a feeder gets too much sun, hang a sunshade over it to block the harsh mid-day heat or move it to a shadier location.'

3. Refill Feeders Regularly And Keep Them Clean

Prepare for hot August weather by making sure you refill feeders regularly, especially if you don't have a regular supply of nectar offered by red and orange flowers in the garden.

'Be sure that you fill and refill your hummingbird feeder frequently with a 4:1 solution of water to table sugar (not honey or brown sugar) that does not have red dye added. The red parts on commercial hummingbird feeders are more than enough to attract the birds, and red dyes can be harmful to them,' says Robert.

You can make up a supply of sugar water and keep it in your refrigerator for up to a week. Be sure to change the water in your feeders regularly, and clean them well between every refilling, at least every 2-3 days to prevent harmful bacteria and mold from developing. If it's very hot change the water every other day.

'Many people mix sugar and water over heat, with some thinking it needs to boil,' says August. 'Actually, it's as simple as stirring the sugar into hot water until it dissolves, which usually takes just a minute or two.'

Resist the urge to make the solution sweeter as this will make the hummingbirds thirstier, and August is such a dry month anyway. Instead try hanging a piece of fruit in a mesh bag to attract fruit flies, as insects are a major part of a hummingbird's diet too. Find out how to clean hummingbird feeders to keep these garden visitors happy.

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4. Set Up A Mister Or Other Cooling Treat

'Water matters enormously, particularly if you live in the desert,' says Siobhan. 'Hummingbirds don’t simply use water the way larger birds do. I’ve watched them fly through a fine spray from a hose, hovering in the mist and getting their feathers wet. A gentle mister or moving water source can provide both drinking and bathing opportunities while also helping birds cope with intense heat.'

We fully recommend the Mademax solar bird bath fountain, available from Amazon. It's quick and easy to set up and turns a bird bath into an oasis for hummingbirds.

Try this Garden Hose Misting Nozzle from Amazon, which has an adjustable water spray pattern that includes delicate misting for cooling down hot birds.

Another idea is to offer shallow bird baths to bathe in as it's a great way to help hummingbirds beat the heat. When watering flowers as temperatures rise, especially if there isn’t normal rainfall, sprinkle water onto shrubs too as hummingbirds in August will enjoy sitting on the cool leaves to escape the heat.

Hummingbirds are attracted to yards that have food sources and a good mix of sun and shade, and they need a safe perch to sit on in between their meals, so a small tree or shrub near your feeders is also a good idea.

Always make sure there is a supply of fresh drinking water available too. 'Another essential need for hummingbirds is a clean water source,' says August. 'Yes, sometimes they just need a good old-fashioned drink of water or even a little bath or shower. Having a water feature or modest fountain within sight of your hummingbird feeder fulfils this need beautifully, especially during prolonged summer heat.'

5. Resist The Urge To Start Pruning The Garden

'I recommend that gardeners and landscapers resist the urge to do major pruning in August simply because summer is winding down,' says Siobhan. 'Hummingbirds may still be using shrubs and trees for shelter, and maintaining layers of vegetation gives them places to rest between feeding flights.'

Another important consideration for hummingbird migration in August is not to remove late-season flowers either. 'In our Arizona garden, penstemon, bottlebrush and salvia provide important nectar sources, and I like to keep them flowering for as long as possible,' says Siobhan.

These heat-tolerant plants can be especially valuable for hummingbirds in August, when the weather is brutally hot and natural nectar sources may be harder to find. 'I also encourage gardeners to plant for a succession of blooms so hummingbirds have something available as the seasons change.'

Discover more tips on how to care for hummingbirds in August in The Hummingbird Bible by Rowan T Wiedemann, available here from Amazon.

One final tip on how to care for hummingbirds in August: the amount of pests and predators in the garden escalates in high summer. Bees numbers rise in August and September, and they will of course be attracted to the nectar in the feeders.

Find out how to keep out ants, as well as preying mantis and spiders – all will be attracted to the feeders. Keep a close eye on them. Use easy to clean, low maintenance, ant and bee proof feeders. If racoons are a problem in your area bring the feeders in at night.

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Cosmos are at their best in August, filling flower beds and containers with a froth of daisy-like blooms in shades of white, pink, and crimson. If you grew cosmos from seed this year, August is the month when a little attention can keep plants flowering generously well into early fall.

If you want to grow cosmos, you’ll find they are relatively low-maintenance and easy to care for through the summer. There are also plenty of types of cosmos to choose from, offering different flower colors and forms for borders, containers, and cutting gardens.

Rather than fussing over them, concentrate on regular deadheading, watering when necessary, and giving tall plants a little support. These simple August tasks can help keep your plants healthy and flowering for weeks to come.

1. Keep Deadheading Cosmos

One of the most useful jobs to do with cosmos in August is deadheading – and yes, deadheading is one of those simple garden tasks that can make a noticeable difference. Once a flower has faded, snip it off just above a healthy set of leaves or a developing flower bud. A pair of fine garden snips makes this quick and precise.

For a budget-friendly option, the Felco F322 Pruning Snips are designed for precise trimming and are available from Amazon.

Deadheading prevents the plant from putting too much energy into producing seed and encourages it to keep making new flowers. It also keeps plants looking fresh, particularly in flower beds where faded blooms can quickly become noticeable. If you want cosmos to self-seed, however, you don’t need to remove every spent flower. Leave a few seedheads to mature toward the end of summer, particularly if you like the idea of cosmos returning in unexpected places next year.

Another option is the Corona ErgoCUT Dead Header, available from Lowe’s and specifically designed for removing spent flowers.

2. Water During Dry Spells

Established cosmos are reasonably tolerant of dry conditions, but container-grown plants need more regular attention. If you're learning how to water plants in a heatwave, check pots frequently during hot or dry August weather and water thoroughly when the potting mix feels dry. A watering wand, such as the Melnor 8-Pattern Soft Touch Watering Wand from The Home Depot, makes it easy to direct water around the roots without disturbing the plant.

Water at the base rather than over the foliage, ideally in the morning or evening. Cosmos are fairly drought-tolerant once established, but still benefit from a thorough drink during prolonged heat. For smaller containers, the Chapin 2-Gallon Tru-Stream Watering Can from The Home Depot is a practical option. Avoid keeping the potting mix soggy, as cosmos prefer well-drained conditions.

There’s usually no need to feed cosmos growing in the ground if they’re flowering well. Too much high-nitrogen fertilizer can encourage leafy growth at the expense of flowers, so focus on consistent watering during extended dry spells.

3. Support Tall Plants

By August, some cosmos can become impressively tall, particularly if they’re growing in fertile soil. Heavy rain and summer winds can cause them to flop, so check plants regularly and add support before they fall over. The Luster Leaf Link-Ups Grow-Through Round Grid Plant Support from Target is a discreet option that helps keep stems upright, while Bamboo Plant Stakes from Amazon are useful for taller plants that need a little extra support.

Simple stakes, discreet plant supports, or twine can all do the job. Place supports around plants while they’re still upright, rather than trying to lift stems after they’ve collapsed. If you’re growing cosmos in a more informal, cottage-garden-style planting, a little flopping isn’t necessarily a problem. Letting stems lean into neighboring plants can create a relaxed effect, provided they aren’t smothering other flowers.

4. Cut Cosmos for the House

August is an excellent time to cut cosmos for a vase. I like to pick mine in the morning, when the stems are well hydrated and the petals have just opened. I remove the lower leaves and place the stems straight into water, then keep the vase somewhere cool and out of strong sunlight. I also change the water regularly to keep the flowers looking fresh.

For a simple arrangement, a Threshold Tall Glass Vase from Target works well for showing off long cosmos stems, while Floralife Flower Food, available on Amazon, can help extend vase life. I find that regular cutting encourages the plants to produce even more flowering stems, so I don’t hesitate to bring plenty indoors. A generous handful of cosmos makes a pretty late-summer arrangement, either on its own or mixed with other garden flowers.

5. Let Some Seedheads Develop

If you want to grow cosmos again next year, I like to leave a few flowers on the plant to go to seed toward the end of the season. Once the seedheads have dried and turned brown, collect the seeds on a dry day and store them somewhere cool and dry. I find these Glass Mason Jars from Amazon work well for keeping saved seeds dry and labeled until spring.

You can also leave a few seedheads in place and let them shed their seeds naturally. Cosmos can self-seed readily in suitable conditions, although young plants may not appear exactly where you expect them. Keep in mind that some cultivated varieties may not come true from saved seed, so the resulting plants can sometimes differ from the parent.

What Not to Do With Cosmos in August

There’s no need to cut back healthy cosmos simply because they’ve become tall. If your plants are flowering well, leave them be, apart from regular deadheading and a little support for wayward stems. August is also not the time to overfeed them. Cosmos are naturally vigorous, and overly rich soil can encourage lush foliage without giving you more blooms.

Instead, keep your August care simple: deadhead spent flowers, water during prolonged dry spells, support tall stems, and cut blooms regularly for the vase. With these few jobs taken care of, your cosmos can keep flowering well into fall, often until the first frost.

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Relentless summer heat and drought can really take it out of roses. It can leave you with wilted, drooping blooms and scorched foliage. But, with a little TLC you can nurture your roses back to good health and revive them once again.

Growing roses requires some particular care when hot temperatures arrive in summer. Although some types like Knock Out Roses (which you can find at Plant Addicts) are much more tolerant, many roses don't do well in prolonged dry, hot conditions. If yours look tired after a long summer, focus on watering, mulching, and providing some afternoon shade – soon, they'll bounce back.

The most important thing is to not to stress your rose further by making some common mistakes, especially around pruning and fertilizing. Here, we talk through how to successfully revive roses after a heatwave.

1. Water Deeply

When a heatwave hits, soil dries out quickly. For roses which prefer consistent moisture, this can cause dehydration.

'Stressed roses can be encouraged back to healthy growth by thoroughly hydrating them,' says Drew Swainston, Gardens Content Editor at Homes & Gardens.

'It's important to soak the root ball by giving roses a deep watering – providing just a slight sprinkling of water simply won’t suffice. You should ideally give them at least five liters of water each time after a heatwave, and continue to water deeply every few days until the temperatures return to normal,' Drew advises.

'Where you can, water in the morning so the roses have hours to take the moisture in before the temperatures rise. Roses in containers will need more regular watering, potentially daily,' he continues.

When watering roses, aim at the base of the plant to avoid splashing on the foliage, which can cause rose diseases to spread like black spot and powdery mildew.

'In extreme cases, you can place the whole container into a large bucket of water. If you are using a watering can or garden hose, give the plant enough moisture that the water starts draining out of the holes at the base of the pot,' Drew adds.

'Keep checking the moisture levels a few inches under the surface, either with your fingers or a soil moisture meter (like this from Amazon), and if it feels dry, water the rose.'

2. Add Mulch

The next step is to ensure your rose doesn't lose moisture too quickly, especially if temperatures are still high. One of the best ways to do this is by mulching.

You want to put down 2-3" of compost, bark chip, or something like this Lowe's brown mulch around the base of your rose. Though, you should avoid putting it right up against the rose's base, as it can cause rot.

This will help lock in moisture, keeping roots hydrated. It will also help regulate soil temperature to reduce heat stress.

There are lots of other types of mulch to choose from, many of which you can source from your own garden for free.

3. Avoid Pruning

When your rose is already showing signs of stress, it's best not to prune your rose heavily. As tempting as it is to remove the unsightly scorched and discolored leaves, trimming your plant now could cause it more harm.

In fact, if another heatwave is forecast in the next few weeks, hold off on removing any foliage. Partially scorched leaves can provide shade and shield healthy foliage from the sun.

If you do want to do a bit of tidying, focus on removing the fully brown, damaged stems, leaves, and blooms. You should use clean and sharp pruning snips (like these Fiskars pruning shears on Amazon) to do this.

Take care to wear thorn-proof gardening gloves (like these from Walmart) to protect your arms when tending to roses.

4. Shield It From Sun

If there's one thing your rose doesn't need after being stressed by the sun, it's even more intense sun and heat. For this reason, it's important to shield it during the hottest part of the day in the early afternoon.

If you're growing your rose in a pot, you can move it to a shadier spot.. Avoid a heat-reflecting wall and scorching pavers, as this can have the opposite effect and trap heat around your rose.

For ground-planted roses, consider installing a shade cloth (like this from Amazon) or even an umbrella to provide temporary garden shade.

5. Don't Fertilize

While there is an opportunity to fertilize roses mid-summer after the first flush of blooms, it's best to hold off in a heatwave and while your plant is recovering.

When the soil is hot and dry, a build-up of salt from the fertilizer can cause root burn and weaken your rose even more.

Not only this, but giving your rose a boost of essential plant nutrients can encourage new leafy growth that is susceptible to heat and drought stress.

Instead, focus on watering your rose deeply to rehydrate it. You could even use these self-watering terracotta spikes on Amazon to provide more consistent moisture.

What to Shop

It's never too early to start planning for winterizing your roses. Just like extreme heat, extreme frost can also wipe out your roses. You may want to invest in a frost cloth (like this from Amazon), for example.

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You may think it's an inevitable slow decline after summer-flowering perennials peak in midsummer. However, when you cut back perennials in August, you can encourage a vibrant second flush of blooms to enjoy.

The likes of hardy geraniums, nepeta, delphinium, astrantia, and lady’s mantle can be coaxed into bonus fall flowers by being cut back in late summer. At a time when even the best perennials can start to look faded and tired, don’t just deadhead but cut the plants back hard. It may feel counterintuitive, but the rewards are worth it.

You need to know when to cut back perennials in August, and also appreciate that not all plants will respond well to this treatment. Here, we look at perennials to cut back in August that you can encourage into a second flush, and those to keep the pruning tools (like these Felco F2 pruners on Amazon that are great for trimming perennials) away from this month.

Hardy Geraniums

Anyone who grows hardy geraniums knows how rampant they are. They are fast-growing and long-flowering perennials that develop into large clumps during the summer.

By August, they can start looking tired and collapse. But you can keep geraniums blooming for longer by cutting the clump back this month. Use a pair of sharp pruning shears or hedge shears and cut the plant right back to a few inches above the soil.

Remove the debris, give the plant a deep watering, and feed it with a balanced liquid fertilizer, such as this 10-10-10 plant food from Walmart, which contains seaweed extract.

It might look harsh, but new growth will quickly appear, and you’ll get a new flush of blooms in little time.

Nepeta

Nepeta, or catmint, is a low-maintenance perennial that fills any space with aromatic grey-green leaves and trumpet-shaped lilac blooms. It works perfectly near the front of flower beds, and you can also grow catmint in pots if you garden in smaller spaces.

When you grow catmint, it can provide long interest. With the right care, this can stretch right into fall. Come August, it can appear a bit straggly, and the stems often start flopping over other plants, lawns, or garden paths.

If you prune catmint back this month to above the first leaf, it will tidy it up, encourage new growth, and provide another round of flowers for you to enjoy.

This trim may take five minutes with a pair of pruning shears or hedge shears. These Fiskars 23-inch hedge shears at The Home Depot are ideal. They have sharp steel blades and soft grip handles for comfortable trimming.

Astrantia

Astrantia produces delicate, papery, pincushion flowers that sit atop slender stems. They come in shades of pink, red, or green-white and have a long flowering season. Indeed, with the right trimming, astrantias are one of an elite group of plants that flower twice or more.

Gardeners growing these cottage garden plants can extend the blooms with regular deadheading. If the plant starts to look tatty in late summer, you can cut it back by half to get a new flush of growth and pollinator-friendly flowers that extend the show well into fall.

Astrantias prefer soil types that keep their roots moist. They can be grown in drier sites, but will need regular watering in hot weather to prevent the leaves from going crispy and ruining any chances of a new set of flowers.

A soil moisture meter, available at Amazon, can be an essential gardening tool to help you judge when to water your garden plants.

Lady’s Mantle

Lady’s mantle, or Alchemilla mollis, is grown predominantly for its soft, scalloped, mid-green foliage. However, don’t overlook its blooms. It produces frothy star-shaped lime-green flowers starting in late spring or early summer.

However, come August, the plant can look untidy with flopping stems and browning foliage. It is a perennial to cut back for fall flowers and this month is an ideal time to do it. When you grow lady’s mantle, you can cut the plant back to the base, and it will sprout new growth within weeks.

Another reason to cut back lady’s mantle after the first flush of flowers goes over is that it stops the plant from self-seeding. If you don’t want lots of new plants sprouting, head out this month and give it a trim.

Delphinium

Delphiniums put on a towering display of blooms in summer. In reality, the season is short and come August, the spikes can look worse for wear. The best solution for this is to cut back delphiniums, pruning the flower spikes right back to the ground.

Cutting off the blooms after delphiniums finish flowering stops the plants looking tatty in borders. It might seem cruel, but the plants can respond with a second flush of flowers.

No matter what types of delphiniums you are growing, trim them, fertilize them, and water them this month. You should hopefully get another round of, albeit slightly smaller, flowers to enjoy in early fall.

If you care for delphiniums, use sharp pruning tools and cut the stalks to two inches from the ground.

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Perennials to Not Cut Back in August

• Peonies - When you grow peonies, they should be cut back in the fall. It is not recommended to cut back peonies in August, as the plants are still photosynthesizing and storing energy for next year’s growth. If you prune peonies now, next year’s display can be badly damaged.
• Asters - Asters are a great plant for fall color. They come to the fore in August and can bloom right through until October. It comes as no surprise to anyone growing asters that the advice is not to cut them back. You can cut back asters in the fall or spring, depending on whether you want to leave the plant for wildlife over winter. As many aster varieties can be a reliable food source for birds over the colder months, and the old growth insulates the plant against winter freezes, I would always opt to cut them back in spring.
• Japanese Anemones - Japanese anemones are another perennial routinely grown for showy performance from August to October. They offer color and interest at a time when summer perennials die down and are adored by many pollinators. However, they do spread through underground rhizomes, so many gardeners use a root barrier (such as this root barrier at Amazon) to keep them contained and prevent them from becoming invasive perennials. If you do grow Japanese anemone, cut them back in late fall or early spring. Don’t do it now or you’ll miss out on their blooms.
• Sedum - When you grow sedum, or Hylotelephium as they are now known, their flowers are rich in late summer and early fall. They are great plants for pollinators in fall, and will attract bees and butterflies in droves. If you cut them back this month, you are missing out on flowers and unnecessarily removing a vital seasonal food source for pollinators in your garden. Your best bet is to cut back sedum in spring, as the dried stems and heads can provide glorious interest and structure in a winter garden.
• Joe Pye Weed - Joe Pye weed, or eupatorium, is covered in nectar-rich flowers in late summer. These tall blooms provide food to several types of bees and many different butterflies. As late summer can be a period when nectar is scarce – it is a gap where summer flowerers have ended and the fall ones are just beginning – you want to retain Joe Pye weed blooms for pollinators. Other perennials that offer pollinators lots of nectar during this gap include black-eyed Susan and coneflowers. These are also plants you don’t want to cut back. You can deadhead them, but don’t prune them completely.

August is a busy month in the garden. While there are lots of maintenance tasks to do – watering, feeding, cutting back – there are also opportunities to take plant cuttings and get new plants for your garden for free. Our guide to plants to propagate in August reveals seven shrubs you can take semi-ripe cuttings from this month.

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Delphiniums dazzle in full bloom, their statuesque flower spikes reaching for the skies like fireworks above flower beds. By August, the first flowers are usually going over, and the plants look far from their best. You can revive tired delphiniums quickly and easily to get a second flush of flowers in late summer or early fall.

To get delphiniums back in shape, gardeners should prune, water, feed, and treat any fungal issues. This TLC provides essential moisture and nutrients, and the plant uses them to produce new flower spikes to enjoy.

If you care for delphinium plants, don’t just cut them down if they look like a shadow of their former selves. It doesn’t take much time or effort to cut back spikes, water them deeply, and give them a dose of fertilizer (such as this balanced liquid feed from Walmart) to put them back on the road to glory. The effort is more than worth it when you see another colorful bloom appearing.

1. Cut Spent Flower Spikes

Delphiniums usually flower for 4-6 weeks in June and July, but this will change depending on your location and climate. After delphiniums finish flowering, the best course of action is to remove the spent spikes.

If left, the bloom will drop its petals and begin forming seeds. This siphons energy from the rest of the plant. When you cut back delphiniums, that energy is redirected into new growth, resulting in a second flush of flowers. It gives the delphinium a second lease of life.

However, it must be said that this does not work with all types of delphiniums. Most perennial delphiniums can give a second flush, but annual and biennial types won’t rebloom.

To cut back the stems, use a pair of clean, sharp pruning tools and cut the spike all the way back to where it meets the base of the plant.

You don’t need to break the bank on expensive tools for this. For example, these budget-friendly Fiskars pruning shears from Walmart will be ideal for trimming back perennials, plus many other pruning tasks around the garden.

2. Remove Yellow Foliage

To keep your delphinium looking tidy, attractive, and healthy, it is also advisable to remove any yellow or dying foliage from the plant. Yellow or decaying leaves are not just unsightly, but attract pests including aphids, whiteflies, fungus gnats, slugs, and snails.

It may take just five minutes to snip away yellowing leaves. As long as you leave lots of healthy foliage for photosynthesis, the plants won’t miss the ones you remove. Your delphiniums will look green and tidy, benefit from better airflow, which helps against fungal issues, and be less attractive to unwanted pests.

Aphids are classic delphinium pests often seen on new foliage and flower spikes. To get rid of aphids, you can spray them with insecticidal soap, sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the plants (you can get diatomaceous earth on Amazon), or use companion planting to attract natural predators like ladybugs or hoverflies.

Herbs like dill, parsley, and cilantro are fantastic plants that attract ladybugs. You can get all three and more in this variety of 10 herb seed packets at Amazon.

3. Water Deeply

Delphiniums are thirsty plants. Given a choice, they’d pick consistently moist soil every day over drought and dry conditions. If the soil does dry out during periods of heat, delphiniums usually react by wilting or fading earlier than usual.

To prevent your plants from getting stressed and looking tired, try to keep the soil consistently moist in the summer. This also gives you the best chance of your delphiniums reblooming.

The best approach is to water them deeply, so the water soaks into the ground and reaches the roots. Don’t just sprinkle a little bit when watering plants in hot weather, as it can be lost to evaporation before the plants even get to enjoy it.

Water deeply and direct it to the base of the plants. And water the garden in the morning if you can, as it gives the plants time to take in the goodness before the temperatures rise.

Drip irrigation or soaker hoses can be used in the summer to provide a slow, steady stream of water to plants in flower beds. They are an efficient tool to deliver water to the roots, where plants need it most. You can get a 50-foot soaker hose at The Home Depot that uses up to 70% less water than a sprinkler.

Mulching around the base of delphiniums will retain soil moisture to reduce watering, protect the roots from extreme heat, and smother weeds around the plant.

4. Feed to Encourage New Growth

After cutting back perennials to encourage a new flush of fall flowers, fertilizing plants gives your delphiniums the best shot of producing another flower spike this year. Growing these skyscraper blooms takes a lot of energy, and a dose of essential plant nutrients after trimming the old spikes down will be welcomed.

The best feed at this stage is a liquid balanced fertilizer. This is a fast-acting fertilizer that releases those nutrients quickly to the plant – and speed is of the essence here. This all-purpose water-soluble plant food on Amazon has an NPK of 20-20-20 and contains beneficial kelp.

A balanced product is best, or you can use one higher in phosphorus and potassium, which promote bud and bloom development, like this Miracle-Gro liquid bloom booster, also at Amazon.

Avoid using high-nitrogen fertilizer, as it will encourage just lush foliage growth; you will ruin any chances of getting a second flush of flowers.

5. Check for Mildew

Delphiniums are highly susceptible to powdery mildew. Drought-stressed delphiniums are annually prone to the fungal disease, while wet leaves due to overhead watering are also a classic cause.

Powdery mildew starts as white spots or patches on leaves, which can spread and make entire leaves look as if they are dusted with a white substance. This usually starts low down on the plant, but the issue can spread quickly if left untreated.

Remove affected leaves to prevent the spread and take steps to get rid of powdery mildew. A common step is to spray plants with a copper fungicide (available at Amazon); however, such sprays can impact other wildlife in your garden,

There are other DIY options. This includes mixing potassium bicarbonate with dish soap and water to spray onto plants, or making a milk spray to stop powdery mildew.

What to Shop

Delphiniums are always plants to stake. The tallest varieties can reach six feet, but even medium-sized plants commonly get to four feet. Even though the second flush of flowers may be smaller, they will still be tall enough to need supports.

It may be time to check your supports, or get new ones in place. I usually just use bamboo canes and twine to support my delphiniums. You can get a pack of natural six-foot bamboo stakes at The Home Depot for this.

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Spending time outside in the garden, is in itself, calming for many of us. However, it's possible to take this concept even further by planting certain species that specifically imbue a sense of tranquillity.

Particular plants can contribute to a sense of calm and ease more readily than others. Whether through muted color palettes, subtle scents, delicate textures or soothing movements, plants can influence our mood.

This means it's entirely possible to create a sensory space to destress and decompress in your own backyard. Discover the plant species experts recommend to create a tranquil garden. A water feature like this tiered fountain from Lowe's would add a charming touch, too.

1. Climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris)

The pale tones and frothy flowerheads of most hydrangeas are pleasing to see in any garden. However, Hydrangea petiolaris is a climbing variety, so its a wonderful plant for softening hard edged fences and walls or enveloping seating areas to create pockets of restful seclusion.

'I’m obsessed with this vine - the deep green foliage and lacy white flowers have a quiet elegance, but what I love most is the sense of maturity climbing Hydrangea brings to a space,' says landscape designer, Kat Aul Cervoni, founder, Staghorn Living.

'Once it begins covering a wall, fence, or trellis, it gives the garden a grounding sense of place, almost as though it has always been there.

'I like to use it to soften a large vertical surface or enclose a seating area, where the layered foliage can create intimacy and make the garden feel sheltered and settled.'

This climbing Hydrangea from Plant Addicts would suit growing zones 4-8 and has a mature height and spread of 50-60', however can be kept smaller with pruning.

2. Fountain Grass (Pennisetum ‘Karley Rose’)

With their tall feathery plumes and gentle hypnotic movement swaying in a breeze, ornamental grasses are popular plants for soothing spaces. There are plenty of varieties to choose, however, one of Kat's preferred options is Pennisetum 'Karley Rose'.

'I adore this ornamental grass for the way it moves and the way its soft foliage and mauve-pink seed heads catch the light beautifully,' says Kat.

'To create a tranquil effect, I would plant Pennisetum in repeated drifts near a seating area or along a path, where even the slightest breeze brings the planting to life without making the space feel busy.'

This Pennisetum Karley Rose Fountain Grass from Plant Addicts is one of the hardiest ornamental grasses for cold winter regions (5-9) and one of the earliest to bloom.

3. Rosemary (Salvia Rosmarinus)

Aromatic herbs, with their long history of healing and medicinal properties, are a versatile inclusion when planting a sensory space.

Wellbeing Garden Designer, Amy Wagenfeld works with landscapers to create sensory gardens, which can be either soothing or stimulating. A fragrant favorite for Amy is Rosemary, which has a calming yet gently uplifting effect when inhaled.

'Rosemary’s stiff and somewhat sticky leaves offer an interesting tactile experience when rubbed,' says Amy. 'The highly aromatic oils that are released when rubbing the leaves can lead to a sense of peace and calm as the scent is slowly and quietly inhaled.

'Beyond its sensory qualities, herbal lore tells us that rosemary is useful to support memory and clear the mind. Plant a rosemary in a garden bed or container and take a moment to enjoy its fragrance.'

This Blue Cascade Rosemary from Nature Hills has a trailing habit, silvery-green foliage and will bloom with pretty blue flowers.

Amy goes on to explain that some sensory gardens will be places that have a muted color palette, and are quiet, and cozy, while others might be more activated and vibrant.

'The appeal is that it can be the space in someone’s life where they can go to and feel grounded and connected with themselves and the world around them.'

4. Baby Bunny Bellies (Tradescantia chrysophylla)

Soothing the senses and calming the mind isn't just about sight, sound and scent. Touch and texture are important elements too. For this reason, Amy loves to use Tradescantia in her garden designs.

This silvery greyish plant has hints of pink on its 'furry' leaves, so its muted color palette makes it as comforting to observe, as it is to touch.

'Baby Bunny Bellies, like its namesake, could well have the softest leaves you have ever touched,' says Amy. 'Simply stroking its downy leaves is calming and relaxing.'

'It's a trailing plant that is easy to grow and share cuttings with others. Baby Bunny Bellies are a lovely addition to a container garden or a hanging planter, and grow well indoors too in soil or a vase of water.'

A tall container like this Delray planter from Plant Addicts would suit a trailing Tradescantia.

5. Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)

Fragrance is one of the strongest sensory triggers tied to memory and emotion, and star jasmine offers one of the most calming scents in the garden, without being overpowering.

Landscape architect, Adam Sexton likes to position Star Jasmine near seating areas, garden gates, or along pathways where people naturally pause.

'Its glossy evergreen foliage provides year-round structure, while the delicate white blooms release fragrance in late spring and early summer, rewarding visitors as they move through the space,' says Adam.

'In sensory gardens especially, scent creates an immersive experience that encourages mindfulness and helps people become more present.'

Depending where you live, August to October is usually the best time to prune star jasmine to improve its flowers and fragrance next year.

This Star Jasmine from Nature Hill's is highly fragrant and would thrive in zones 7-11.

6. Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina)

Just as a room decorated in muted tones is more relaxing to be in than one that's filled with bold, bright or busy hues, so it is outside in the garden. Plants with silver foliage, such as Lamb's Ear introduce visual calm by reflecting light and softening contrasts within the landscape.

'From a landscape architect’s perspective, the most calming gardens aren’t necessarily the most colorful; they’re the ones that engage the senses gently and intentionally,' says Adam. 'Layering movement, fragrance, texture, and restrained color creates spaces that encourage people to slow down and linger.'

Muted tones act like a neutral backdrop, allowing the eye to rest rather than constantly shifting between bold colors. 'Many silver-leaved plants like Lamb's Ear also have tactile qualities or subtle fragrance that deepen the sensory experience,' continues Adam.

'Lamb’s Ear invites touch with its velvety leaves, while lavender combines silvery foliage with soothing scent and pollinator value. I frequently incorporate these species to balance more vibrant planting compositions and create gardens that feel timeless, cohesive, and restorative.'

This Helene von Stein Lambs Ear from Nature Hills has larger leaves than regular varieties for maximum tactility.

7. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)

There are numerous ornamental grasses that would make an attractive option for a tranquil garden. A north American native that offers structure and elegance with its beautiful arching blades and deep wine hue is Switchgrass.

'Ornamental grasses, such as Switchgrass, are one of the most effective plants for creating a sense of tranquillity because they bring constant, subtle movement to the landscape,' says Adam.

'Even the lightest breeze animates their foliage, creating a soft rustling sound that naturally draws attention away from everyday distractions.

'Rather than demanding attention with bold flowers, grasses contribute rhythm and texture throughout the seasons, making a garden feel alive without feeling busy.

'I often use Switchgrass, as well as Feather Reed Grass or Mexican Feather Grass, as connective tissue throughout a design to soften architecture and create moments of quiet reflection.'

The Prairie Winds Cheyenne Red Switchgrass from Nature Hill's grows to 2-3' tall and turns deep wine red in fall.

What to Shop

Creating a tranquil or sensory gardens that's right for you will also depend on the climate where you live. Whether you opt for a muted palette, subtle scents, tactile textures, gentle movement or a soothing mixture, it can help to choose plants native to your region, as these will largely look after themselves.

'The most fundamental principle of sensory garden design is to reflect on what you want and need in a garden to make it work well for you,' says Amy. 'Ideally it's a space where you experience a sense of balance and calm when you are in it, and hopefully for a long time afterwards.'

Summer is a glorious yet challenging time in the indoor garden, as our houseplants enjoy a growth spurt while battling pests that can quickly destroy them. One of the most common to find in August are spider mites, which form fine webs over plants, feed on their leaves, and significantly weaken them.

The reason so many of us have the challenge of getting rid of spider mites on houseplants this month is because these sap-sucking insects thrive in summer conditions. Dry air and dehydrated plants are what spider mites seek and they multiply quickly in this environment. The problem is spider mites can be easy to miss because they're tiny.

That's why it's so important to monitor your plants for any signs of mites, keep them hydrated, and clean their leaves regularly through summer. Even using this plant mister from Amazon daily can help keep plant leaves clean pest-free. Here, I explain more about why these little red insects are taking over your houseplants in August and what to do about them.

Spider Mites in August

Spider mites are one of the most common houseplant pests to spot in August for one reason: they love the summer heat.

With humidity low and temperatures high, spider mites thrive in our homes during the summer months. It's when their natural predators are less active and plants are more susceptible to heat-stress, which these mites target to feed on.

This means underwatered houseplants next to open sunny windows are most at risk of attracting spider mites in summer (I always use a soil moisture meter, like this from Amazon, to monitor my plants' soil and water correctly).

The warmer conditions also result in fast reproduction, so spider mite populations an multiply fast and spread to more plants in your houseplant collection.

If you don't catch a spider mite infestation quickly, it can result in leaf drop, discoloration, and stunted growth, as plants become significantly weak from the damage.

Luckily, there are a few things you can do to deter and get rid of them.

How to Get Rid of Them

To avoid spider mites on houseplants in August, I always do a few things to make my indoor garden less appealing to them.

This includes moving houseplants away from scorching sunny windows, especially the windows I have constantly open in summer as this offers a direct access point for pests.

This will also help prevent leaf scorch on your most sensitive houseplants. Alternatively, you can use these sheer curtains from Wayfair to diffuse the sunlight and protect foliage from damage.

I also clean my houseplant leaves weekly during summer. You can use these houseplant dusting gloves from Amazon to gently wipe the surface and remove any dust. This is a good opportunity to observe foliage and look out for pests, especially on the underside of leaves where they often hide.

You can also increase humidity for indoor plants to deter spider mites. As well as misting your plant, an effective solution is placing your plant on a pebble humidity tray (from Amazon) or even installing a humidifier (like this portable one from Walmart).

If you do spot any spider mites on your houseplants, it's important to isolate them from other plants to stop spreading. Cut off any heavily-infested foliage (using clean and sharp houseplant snips from Amazon) and then shower your plant to wash away the majority of the mites.

When I've dealt with these destructive insects before, I've found individually wiping each leaf is super effective. You can use water on a microfiber cloth, insecticidal soap (like this from Amazon), or even organic neem oil (like this spray from Walmart).

What to Shop

Not checking for pests is just one summer houseplant care mistake to watch out for. You should also take care to adjust watering frequency during hot spells and avoid overfertilizing your plants, which can burn roots.

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If you want to keep your annuals in borders, containers, and hanging baskets flowering all summer long and looking good right through until the first frosts, an expert flower grower recommends three tasks that are guaranteed to prolong their life as long as possible.

‘We grow a lot of annuals at our farmquarters up in Washington state,’ says Christina Stembel, the founder of Farmgirl Flowers. ‘I find the three things that do the most are to deadhead, water deeply and consistently, and not overfeed.’

To keep annual flowers blooming until frost arrives, follow this expert-approved advice to make the most of that one-season show. Add these three simple words to your summer gardening checklist: deadhead, water, feed (you can get a liquid bloom booster on Amazon that is perfect for annuals). ‘I've found that doing those three things works far better than any hack or wives' tale,’ adds Christina.

1. Deadhead Often

Deadheading encourages lots of fresh flowers and the longest display. Annual flowers are short-lived and put energy into producing seeds once the blooms go over. As Christina Stembel puts it, once the plants start making seeds, ‘that basically means they've done their job and are calling it a day’.

You don’t want the energy going into seed production; it exhausts the plants as they essentially prepare for the end of their lives. Instead, by deadheading, you direct the energy into producing new buds and flowers. This quick, easy task can dramatically extend the show and lifespan of annual flowers, including marigolds, cosmos, zinnias, snapdragons, petunias, and many more.

Check your plants every few days and snip off the spent flowers with a pair of sharp pruning snips, such as these Felco pruning snips on Amazon. Alternatively, you can snap the old blooms off many plants between your fingers and thumb, but be careful to snap rather than pull the entire plant by accident.

An exception comes with self-cleaning annuals that don’t need deadheading. These plants naturally drop faded flowers, and include impatiens, lobelia, and some varieties of petunias.

2. Water Deeply

Annual flowers won’t last long if they are repeatedly left to dry out and wilt, then completely soaked. That kind of feast-and-famine approach throughout the summer will stress the plants and reduce their lifespan.

The best approach to watering the garden is to water deeply and consistently. Shallow daily watering may seem beneficial, but it causes plants to grow shallow roots near the surface. When the temperatures spike and the top inches of soil dry out, they quickly suffer and wilt.

A much better way to water plants is to water deeply, though less frequently. This encourages stronger roots.

‘Depending on how much you're watering, I've found mulching helps them retain the moisture longer so you don't feel like a jerk not conserving water,’ adds Christina. This bag of all-natural wood mulch from Miracle-Gro is available at The Home Depot and ideal for use around annual flowers.

Fast-growing annuals in pots will need more regular watering, potentially every day, but still soak them thoroughly until you see water running out the drainage holes.

It is good practise when watering plants in hot weather to do it in the morning, so the plants benefit most, and avoid the watering mistake of soaking the foliage rather than the soil, which causes fungal issues.

3. Feed Regularly

To keep annual flowers blooming until frost hits, they need a consistent source of nutrients. Well-fed annuals will have the nourishment required to keep producing lots of new blooms for the longest display.

The best summer flower fertilizer is higher in phosphorus and potassium – the nutrients that encourage strong flowering. Avoid high-nitrogen feeds that promote lush foliage growth, and stick to fertilizing flowers in pots and borders with water-soluble products labelled ‘bloom booster’ or tomato feeds.

Feed annuals, especially those growing in container gardens or hanging baskets, every week or two to keep them blooming. Always stick to the recommended rates, as Christina warns: ‘I've made a ton of mistakes, like over-fertilizing, thinking that would keep them blooming longer, but sadly it actually did the opposite.’

Shop Summer Flower Fertilizers

If you keep annual flowers blooming until frost, that can be the end for them. However, you can protect plants from frost to try to squeeze a little bit more of a show from even tender annuals.

It can take only a few minutes to cover plants with frost cloth (such as this 10 x 50 feet frost cloth at Walmart) when a light frost is forecast. This quick job can extend the season, but remember to remove the covers in the morning once the temperatures rise.

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I've had my jade plant for many years now and love it for its low maintenance and sculptural foliage. To keep it looking its best, I always give my jade plant a quick check in August. Doing a few simple tasks this month keeps these plants healthy and prepare them for the incoming fall.

Growing a jade plant is straightforward and really, these succulents thrive on neglect. But, a little TLC in summer can go a long way. Hotter temperatures can cause a jade plant's plump leaves to shrivel, so it's important to keep on top of watering. You should also watch out for leaf burn in intense sunlight, and monitor for pests that love the current dry conditions.

All of these things apply to a large jade plant and jade bonsai tree (like this one I love from Amazon) alike, leaving your plant looking bright and glossy. Here, I talk through exactly what to do with a jade plant in August.

1. Water Deeply in Summer

When a jade plant is dehydrated, its iconic plump leaves (which store water) become wrinkled and turn limp. Jade plant leaves may even drop off and its stems can become brittle and break off.

This is one of the biggest risks in summer, where warmer temperatures are drying out the soil more quickly. That's why it's so important to keep on top of watering your jade plant in August.

I like to use the deep watering method to ensure my jade plant is sufficiently hydrated. This helps avoid overwatering, which can cause a jade plant to suffer from root rot.

I opt for this method over a self-watering planter (like this pretty set of green ones from Amazon) because jade plants need their soil to dry out in between watering. For this reason, I also use a soil moisture meter (like this one from Amazon) to monitor the soil before picking up my watering can.

2. Protect It from Scorching Sun

In August, there's still plenty of summer sun to enjoy. For jade plants, however, the intense afternoon sunlight can cause discoloration and sun burn.

In fact, too much sun exposure can cause your jade plant to turn red as a stress response. Though, native to southern Africa, these succulents thrive in 4-6 hours of bright light daily and enjoy a spot near a south-facing window.

You can use a sheer curtain (like this from Wayfair) to filter direct sunlight from your window and protect your plant.

Any jade plant leaves with leaf scorch won't turn green again, so it's best to snip them off with clean and sharp houseplant snips (like these from Amazon).

3. Monitor for Pests

Many common houseplant pests thrive in warm, dry summer conditions. For jade plants, spider mites, mealybugs, and scale insects are among the biggest culprits.

Damage includes dropping leaves, discoloration, distorted growth, and the general decline of your plant's health.

That's why it's important to regularly check your jade plant for pests. In particular, monitor the leaves and stem joints for clusters of white mealybugs, fine webbing of spider mites, and sooty mold or raised bumps for sap-sucking pests.

You should then take the necessary steps to get rid of spider mites on houseplants or the other pests you're dealing with. The first thing I always do is isolate pest-infested plants to ensure the problem doesn't spread to other houseplants.

Getting on top of pest problems early will give your plant the best chance. You can use diluted organic neem oil spray (available on Amazon) to make your houseplants less inhabitable to pests as a precaution.

Shop Our Jade Plant Edit

Another thing you can do this month is propagate your jade plant to multiply your houseplant collection for free. You can do this with stem cuttings, which can be taken using these houseplant snips on Amazon. Summer is a good time to do this, as the plant is in its active growth season and the warm, bright conditions encourage rooting.

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The Farmers' Almanac has released its winter weather forecast, predicting sharp contrasts between snowstorms and milder rainy conditions across the US. This first insight makes it easy to start prepping the winter garden so your precious plants make it through unharmed.

Trusted source of weather predictions for Canada and the US, the Farmers' Almanac, says to 'prepare for a winter of snow, sleet, and surprises' when thinking about your winter gardening checklist. Southern regions should focus on preparing gardens for snowstorms, while northern regions could have unpredictable cold snaps that wipe out plants quickly. Meanwhile, rainfall across the country calls for our yards to be more flood-resilient.

So, now is the time to get your hands on things like this frost cloth from Amazon and make changes to your yard to cope with the incoming winter conditions. Here's what the Farmers' Almanac winter forecast 2026 means for your garden.

Prepare for Snowstorms

The Farmers' Almanac winter forecast 2026 warns, 'El Niño is expected to remain an important influence through the heart of the season, favoring wetter-than-normal conditions across much of the southern United States.'

From Southern California and the Desert Southwest, through Texas, the Gulf Coast, and the Southeast, the report warns to 'watch for frequent storm systems, muddy fields, and occasional surges of cold air.'

The report also notes for much of the West, northern Plains, Upper Midwest, and Great Lakes, 'fast-moving clippers, sudden cold snaps, and brief snowy periods are likely.

'Farther north, the Plains, Midwest, and Great Lakes could experience sudden snow squalls, blustery winds, and bursts of bitter cold,' it continues.

This calls for preparing your yard for a storm and protecting plants from frost and snow.

You can use plant cloches (like these from Amazon) and frost cloths (which are also available at Walmart), and consider moving tender plants undercover, such as into a conservatory or greenhouse.

And if you're wondering whether you should remove snow from plants, it's not always necessary. It can actually provide insulation, much like mulching (putting down a layer of this brown mulch from Lowe's in fall can protect plant roots from freezing).

Make Your Yard More Flood-Resilient

As well as preparing for snow, much of the US is expected to have high rainfall this winter season.

'Coastal communities could receive more rain or mixed precipitation, while inland areas may be hit by several rounds of heavy, wet snow,' the report reads.

The storms in the South will also bring rain, and 'a second storm path may guide weather systems along the Eastern Seaboard, bringing additional opportunities for rain, wintry mixes, and snow from the mid-Atlantic into New England.'

Taking steps to make your yard more flood-resilient now can help it cope better with water surface run-off later in the season and stop your lawn becoming waterlogged.

This includes installing a French drain, aerating your lawn (with this lawn aerator tool from Amazon), and growing flood-resilient plants, like astilbe (which you can find in a wide range of colors at Plant Addicts).

There are also plenty of garden drainage ideas to consider adopting, including adding drainage channels to your patio to stop flooding.

What to Shop

As the report summarizes, 'keep the snow shovel, rain boots, and ice scraper close at hand. This winter, you may need all three.'

You can make your winter garden more low-maintenance by opting for the best winter plants for pots that can cope with these conditions. Plus, consider these ideas to make your yard more resilient in extreme weather for more long-term solutions.

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There are plenty of plants that continue to thrive in August and beyond, despite challenging heatwave conditions. These late-summer resilient plants are becoming increasingly important as we look for tough shrubs, perennials and annuals that will tolerate extremes of temperature without missing a beat.

Long periods of drought and strong sunshine can be deadly for many plants, but not the ones I've chosen here. These will push on through, with minimal water and care, because one way or another they're simply built that way – whether it's because of their roots searching deep into the soil for every drop of available moisture, inherently drought-tolerant adaptations or a native tolerance for hot weather conditions.

I've taken the advice of some expert plantspeople and garden designers, who have recommended shrubs, annuals and perennials that don't notice a heatwave. The result is a roundup of seven brilliant, resilient plants (and there are still lots available at Nature Hills) that will fill your garden with color and greenery through late summer and into fall, however the mercury hits. Let's go ahead and dig a little deeper.

1. Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)

Also known as Virginian trumpet flower, this is a great clue to the nature of this fast-growing deciduous climber with large trumpet-shaped flowers in hot shades of red, orange and yellow. A native of eastern North America, it will fill your yard with its big, bold flowers from midsummer to the end of fall.

Despite its resilient nature, it does come with a word of warning. It will get huge (around 40ft/12m in height) and is often considered invasive outside of its native range. Nevertheless, keep up a rigorous pruning regime in late winter/early spring and you'll be rewarded with one of the most colorful and drought-tolerant plants money can buy.

In terms of how to grow trumpet vine, as well as a good sturdy structure to clamber up, it needs a sunny spot, in either a garden border or a large pot, like this 20in barrel pot from Anthropologie. Lay over a thick layer of mulch, such as pea gravel from Lowes, in autumn to help retain moisture and keep out weeds.

Bonus: trumpet vine is adored by hummingbirds!

USDA Zones: 4-10

You can buy Chicklet Orange trumpet vine at My Perfect Plants

2. Adam's Needle (Yucca filamentosa)

Although there are more than 40 species of yucca plants, Yucca filamentosa is perhaps the most common. This North American native is an easy-going shrub that thrives in hot, dry weather, lending dramatic spikes of creamy white flowers to its bold sword-like evergreen foliage in late summer. They're gorgeously perfumed too.

Tammy Sons, CEO and founder of TN Nursery, is a big fan: 'Yuccas should be much more widely used: they maintain architectural form year-round, and don't need much supplemental irrigation when established.'

You'll need to give yuccas a spot in well-drained soil, perhaps in a rock garden or gravelled area (in fact it's one of the best plants for a desert garden), where they will thrive and provide a handsome architectural focal point up to 3ft (1m) in height. Yuccas are perfect for pots too, as they enjoy being a little root-bound. Choose a weighty container at least 18in (40cm) in diameter to stop it toppling over. Compost should be mixed with plenty of grit or perlite to give it the sharply-draining conditions it needs.

A pale gravel mulch – try something like these marble chips from Lowes – will set off those creamy blooms to perfection.

USDA Zones: 4-10

Buy Color Guard yucca at My Perfect Plants

3. Oleander (Nerium oleander)

My first memories of gorgeous oleander flowers are from a young age, seeing them planted along the central reservations of roads in southern France. I've since spotted them across all the hottest, driest, trickiest spots across southern Europe, where their glorious pink, white and, occasionally pale yellow, clusters of large tubular flowers are a real treat for the eye in high summer.

Angelika Zaber, a gardening expert at Online Turf, is an oleander enthusiast. 'A native of the Mediterranean, northern Africa and parts of Asia, oleander is adapted to hot, dry weather. It's an excellent choice if you want a plant that's guaranteed to thrive for years to come. It produces stunning blooms from late spring to early fall. These have a sweet scent with hints of vanilla and honey.'

This evergreen shrub happily grows in coastal salt-laden winds, tucked in verges by heavy traffic or simply in a sunny backyard. There are all kinds of varieties, growing to as tall as 20ft (6m) or dwarf varieties, which will reach just 3ft (1m) and make fabulous container specimens. Or plant in the garden as a windbreak, hedge or focal point shrub.

All parts of the oleander plant are highly toxic, however, so wear gloves when handling them. A protective pair of gloves like these Slarmor gauntlets from Amazon will keep you safe.

USDA Zones: 8-11

Buy Austin Pretty Limits oleander from Nature Hills

4. Salvias

There are hundreds of different salvias, in a huge variety of colors, shapes and sizes, including bedding salvias, annual salvias, tender varieties and culinary salvias. Just some of the many reasons to grow salvias.

All belong to the sage family but two of the best for heat tolerance, in my opinion, are shrubby evergreen varieties Salvia greggii and Salvia microphylla, both border salvias and perennials that flower for weeks on end, from summer right through to the first frosts of late fall.

'Salvias have a high tolerance for heat, attract pollinators and bloom profusely with just occasional deadheading,' says Tammy.

Of course, being sun lovers, to do this they need a south or west facing spot in a border or roomy container. Well-drained soil is a prerequisite too.

Cultivars I particularly recommend are red and white bicolor 'Hot Lips', purple ad white 'Amethyst Lips' and shocking pink 'Cerro Potosi'.

USDA Zones: 6-10 (depending on variety)

Shop the salvia collection at Nature Hills

5. Zinnias

For pops of the very brightest, most joyful color in pots, it has to zinnias. These Mexican natives are some of the simplest hardy annuals to grow from seed and they absolutely adore a heatwave, flowering from midsummer to late fall with very little care and attention.

In fact, these little color bombs are so low maintenance that many gardeners are ditching dahlias in favor of zinnias. They're just as colorful and striking, but much less hassle.

Angelika emphasises their environmental credentials: 'Zinnias are an amazing choice for any climate-conscious gardener. They handle heat and drought well and are rich in nectar, supporting beneficial pollinators such as bees, butterflies and even hummingbirds.'

In pots zinnias are perfect – aim to water deeply once or twice a week, from the bottom of the pot to avoid any possible problems with mildew. A classic terracotta plant saucer, like this one from Ace Hardware, is a huge help here.

Shop the range of zinnia seeds at Burpee

6. Fig Tree (Ficus carica)

'If you have room for a fig, grow one,' says Tammy. 'They're so fruitful, tough and heat tolerant once they're settled in.'

I couldn't agree more. A fig tree is beautiful throughout the year – even in winter its shapely branches provide structure and interest. And those huge leathery leaves are lush and cooling, dripping with fruit, once in early summer and again from August into September.

Choose from purple-skinned varieties such as reliable award-winning 'Brown Turkey' or pale green 'White Marseilles'. How to grow a fig tree? All are best planted with a restricted root run. A hole 2ft (60cm) deep, lined with vertical paving slabs and started off with an 8in (20cm) layer of stones, is ideal, or grow n a large handsome container about 1ft (30cm) in diameter for a fabulous statement pot.

USDA Zones: 7-10

Shop the range of fig trees at Burpee

7. Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)

Crepe myrtle is classed as a deciduous small tree or large shrub (it grows to around 26ft/8m) with large lilac-esque panicle flowers in shades of purple, white and pink from late summer into fall. The foliage is pretty too, emerging a lovely bronze color in spring.

Tammy highlights the bark of the crepe myrtle tree as worthy of special mention: 'When I think of plants that not only survive but look good through several weeks of extreme summer heat, crepe myrtle is near the top of my list. Its blooms beautify through summer, and its colorful bark lasts for weeks after the flowers are done.'

Obviously a sunny planting spot is needed, and a sheltered one too. A light prune in late winter will encourage more summer blooms and strong new growth. Apart from that, once established, crepe myrtle is an easygoing sun lover that will flourish in a heatwave.

USDA Zones: 6-9

Shop the crepe myrtle range at Fast Growing Trees

Finally, a few words that are true for all new plants, drought-tolerant sun lovers or moisture-loving shade-tolerant species. All of them will need some TLC in their first year. Avoid planting in summer, and when you do plant, soak the pot well first. Once planted, water your newbies in deeply, then continue to water regularly throughout that first season, which will allow them to send their roots deep into the earth, become established and, ultimately, fend pretty much for themselves.

If you've chosen plants like the ones I've mentioned above, then you'll be making your life easier and more beautiful for many hot summers to come.

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Tomato plants can look a tad weary in late summer. The stresses of quickly growing stems and leaves, developing and ripening fruit, and facing hot midsummer temperatures can take their toll on plants. There is still time left in the season, though, and you can encourage them to end on a high.

Growing tomatoes in late summer is more about gentle encouragement and preserving what you have got. You need to ensure the fruits you have develop healthily and ripen, and that is the priority rather than encouraging huge flushes of new growth.

So, what can you do to rejuvenate ageing and tired tomato plants in late summer? The answer is selective pruning, regular watering and feeding (you can get Miracle-Gro water-soluble tomato food at Walmart), harvesting fruits when they are ready, and controlling any problems. Here’s what I do with my tomatoes to revive and prolong plants through the final stages of the season.

Prune Leaves and Shoots

As the season goes on, tomato foliage can look a little worse for wear. Tomato leaves can turn yellow, brown, spotted, or deformed. Many factors can cause tomato leaves to curl or turn discolored, including nutrient deficiencies, poor watering, diseases, and natural old age.

For healthy plants, it is beneficial to remove any less-than-desirable foliage towards the bottom of the plant. If you haven’t been pruning tomatoes and removing lower leaves through the season so far, do it now.

It keeps plants healthy by improving airflow, allows more light to reach fruits to ripen them, and makes watering tomato plants easier – it is plain sailing to direct water to the base of the plant without unnecessary foliage in the way.

As we get towards the end of the season, you also need to continue removing side shoots as they appear. You need to put as much energy as possible into ripening existing fruit, rather than new stems.

A pair of sharp pruning shears is crucial for removing tomato leaves and larger side shoots. I have often used a pair of Japanese pruning shears like these Okatsune pruners on Amazon for this task and found them sharp, lightweight, and comfortable to use.

Alternatively, these Fiskars micro-tip pruning snips at Walmart are perfect for precise snipping tasks like removing leaves and side shoots.

Routinely Feed Plants

Hopefully, you have been fertilizing tomatoes every week or two since they started flowering, which is the trigger point to start giving them a tomato feed (or any fertilizer lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus and potassium) that encourages fruit development.

If you have, that is good, and you should continue this until around three weeks before your first frosts, or when your last ripe tomatoes are ready to harvest. Feed plants every two weeks, or every week if you are growing tomatoes in pots or grow bags.

However, if you haven’t been feeding your crop regularly, now is the time to make a positive change. They may desperately need a pick-me-up, and a lack of essential nutrients could well be why your plants look tired or are not producing a good crop so far.

Don’t give tomatoes too much nitrogen now, as it’ll encourage foliage growth. You want to encourage fruits to develop and ripen. Use a liquid tomato fertilizer – such as this tomato booster at Walmart – and feed plants weekly to breathe some new life into them.

Alternatively, you can feed tomatoes using a seaweed fertilizer, such as this fish and seaweed liquid fertilizer on Amazon, or make your own tomato fertilizer by brewing a nettle or comfrey tea.

Water Consistently

Tomatoes are very susceptible to changes in moisture. How and where you grow the crop can make a massive difference, and will impact how much you need to water your tomatoes to keep them thriving.

For example, tomatoes growing in a greenhouse are likely to experience sweltering temperatures in midsummer. If they are in grow bags – or indeed even if you use grow bags to grow tomatoes on a balcony or patio – the soil can dry out incredibly quickly. I have seen tomatoes go from happy to wilting in a blink of an eye during a heatwave when they are in pots or grow bags.

When tomatoes go short on water, plants wilt, drop flowers, and curl leaves as they try to conserve moisture. The fruit is also affected; inconsistent watering – periods of drying out followed by a soaking – commonly causes tomatoes to split or succumb to blossom-end rot.

Tired tomato plants could easily be suffering from drought stress during late summer. The key is to water consistently and, when you do water plants, water deeply. If you allow the soil to go back and forth between dry and waterlogged, you’ll have miserable tomato plants that likely won’t provide much towards the end of the season.

Pick Tomatoes When Ripe

Harvesting tomatoes is super-satisfying – a summer highlight. A perfectly ripe tomato will be deep red (or yellow, orange or purple, depending on the tomato variety) and not green, feel firm but give a little when squeezed, and come away from the plant easily when twisted.

You need to keep on top of picking tomatoes; otherwise, it slows down the ripening of newer ones. The plants will focus energy on the older fruits, which may crack, go moldy, or simply drop off if they are left too long. This halts the production of new blooms and fruits, and other tomatoes still ripening on the plant may go without nutrients.

To keep your harvests going into late summer and fall, it is crucial to check your plants regularly and pick the fruits once they’re ready. To help tomatoes ripen on the vine later in the season, remove foliage, snip off new flowers, and cut the top of the central stem to focus the energy into ripening the existing fruits.

Watch for Pests and Disease

Late summer is unfortunately a prime time for plants to show the effects of pests and tomato diseases. It can cause them to look tired and show symptoms such as yellowing foliage, stunted growth, a white coating on leaves, or wilting.

Common tomato pests like aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites can cause issues. But it is the tomato hornworm that causes most damage, as the caterpillars can completely defoliate plants. The best way to combat tomato hornworms is to hand-pick the caterpillars or spray plants with Bacillus thuringiensis, available at Amazon.

Young caterpillars can be targeted with insecticidal soap (available at Walmart), which is also a proven way to get rid of aphids and other small soft-bodied pests, such as flies and mites.

If you do see any signs of disease, fast action is crucial to preserve your plants and any future harvests.

Thankfully, diseases such as blight, leaf spot, and powdery mildew can be combatted by pruning off diseased leaves and watering the soil rather than the foliage. You can also spray copper fungicide like this from Amazon.

However, bacterial diseases such as wilt cannot be cured, and plants must be removed and destroyed.

What to Shop

Around 4-6 weeks before the end of the season, it is advisable to cut the growing tip of the tomato plants.

This technique, known as topping, encourages the plants to focus their energy on ripening all existing fruits rather than producing new flowers and fruits. This is a crucial, and often overlooked, task to ensure you get the most from your plants before their time is up. It is a tomato growing mistake not to top plants, and you’ll miss out on harvests as a result.

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This year, sustainability, resilience and biodiversity have been the buzzwords in gardening more than ever before, and the trend looks set to continue next year. Everyone wants to build a climate resilient garden that can adapt, survive and recover after extreme weather events, as well as being a pleasant place to spend time during the hottest months of the year.

From simple ideas like planting a tree to create shade, growing climate resilient crops, and making your own compost to feed your soil, to design-led options like reducing the amount of hardscaping and letting your garden relax with a naturalistic planting style, there are lots of easy things to consider to make a more climate resilient garden.

So if you're looking at your own garden after the long hot months of summer have left it looking parched and fried, and thinking now really is the time to change things, this piece is for you. We asked leading experts to talk about this trend as well as share their tips on how to create a climate resilient garden. Here's what they had to say.

Creating A Climate Resilient Garden: The Key Trends

A key trend for 2026 and going forward into 2027 is 'precision gardening', as highlighted in the latest report from the Garden Media Group. There is a shift in the gardening world towards more data-driven results, where every plant, patch of soil, and drop of water is part of a smarter, more sustainable and resilient garden.

'Precision gardening uses site-specific, data-informed strategies to grow healthier, more resilient landscapes,' says Katie Dubow, garden trend spotter and president of the Garden Media Group. 'It's not about guessing. It's about gardening with intention, saving resources, time, and money by preventing over-watering or over-fertilizing.'

Technology like soil sensors, localized weather tracking, and plant monitoring tools can now give gardeners access to the kind of personalized insights transforming other industries. 'There's a move away from broad, zone-based planting toward hyperlocal, site-specific strategies,' says Katie. 'This means designs based on details such as microclimates, soil health, and resilience to drought, fire, and flooding.'

Katie also notes there is a shift towards using niche experts in resilient landscaping. 'This proactive approach to design requires less intervention and is more about embracing science-backed strategies to cultivate gardens that are personalized, resilient, and future-ready.'

But what does resilience mean when applied to your own garden? Find out with our 6 expert-led ideas for a more climate resilient garden.

Plant For All Weather Extremes

The growing incidence of drought, wildfire, and flooding in a changing climate present new challenges for the gardener seeking to make their garden more climate resilient. Planting is key to this, including what type of plants to choose.

'Native plants and climate-adapted plants conserve water, reduce heat islands, support pollinators, and create restorative environments with measurable wellness benefits,' says landscape designer Kevin Lenhart, head of design at Yardzen. 'They're also, by a wide margin, the most affordable feature in any landscape budget. Hardscape and planting should be understood as dance partners, together creating something bigger than the sum of the parts.'

Planting a climate-resilient garden means choosing drought-tolerant planting that is adapted to and can thrive in local conditions. 'Choosing the right plant for the right place, matching to the site’s specific conditions, including sunlight, soil type, moisture, and temperature, reduces stress and generally means less supplemental water and maintenance is needed,' says Mary Phillips, head of native plant habitat strategy at the National Wildlife Federation.

Mary also suggests prioritizing native plants. 'These have evolved with the local climate and wildlife, making them especially well suited to challenging weather. Planting a diverse mix of native species creates a more resilient garden and also creates a landscape that can support wildlife through changing conditions.'

To find native plants appropriate for your ZIP code, use the National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder.

Another idea to try is Meadow Lab’s new Wildflower Sod™ , a game-changing way to help you create a beautiful, biodiverse plant community faster and more reliably than traditional methods. These native, pre-designed plant palettes are tailored for regional ecology.

Create A More Biodiverse Garden

Boosting the biodiversity of your garden has many benefits, including attracting pollinators and other wildlife, conserving water, mitigating heat, and improving soil health. It's one of the key ways to ensure a climate resilient garden.

'The best plant palettes today take their cues from local wildlands, including meadows, chaparral, woodland edges, and the high desert of each region, then do something new with those "ingredients,"' says Kevin Lenhart, who has seen a 23% year-over-year increase at Yardzen in requests for native planting, pollinator gardens and climate-adapted species.

Another great idea is planting thickets instead of monoculture privacy hedges. Thickets are collections of native shrubs and small tree species growing close to one another. 'Once a common feature in natural landscapes, they're now less abundant due to hundreds of years of agriculture and development,' explains Basil Camu, treecologist, arborist and author of From Wasteland to Wonder: Easy Ways We Can Help Heal Earth in the Sub/Urban Landscape. 'These ecosystems are essential because they provide food and shelter for wildlife, including insects and birds, and serve as a transition zone between meadows and forests.'

You'll want a mixture of shrubs and small tree species, according to Basil. Avoid anything that grows taller than around 20 feet, and aim for a minimum width of 10 feet to create sufficient density.

Shop For Wildlife

Make Your Garden Shadier With Trees

'Tree canopy and shade structures can significantly reduce surface and air temperatures,' says Kevin Lenhart. 'Trees positioned to shade a home can also reduce energy consumption.'

Trees are the single most impactful element you can add to a landscape, according to Kevin. 'When someone falls in love with a yard, it's almost always because of a heritage tree. One of the most elegant ways to screen a garden from the sun is dappled shade from a tree canopy.'

Dappled shade is a beautiful addition to any outdoor space and is a wonderfully cooling option too, so it also has a practical purpose in the climate resilient garden. Choose trees like amelanchier, Japanese maples and Eastern redbud. Davey Tree’s research in climate-resilient tree care underscores this shift, using advanced diagnostics and GIS mapping tailored to future climate conditions. See their list of climate facing trees for US Metropolitan Areas for more information on what to plant in your yard.

Think also about pergola ideas, gazebos, and shade sails, which are all good options if you don't have space for a tree.

Cooling Shade Options

Opt For Resilient Layered Planting

Another key element in the climate resilient garden is layered planting. If you aim for a loose, layered planting style featuring lots of tall ornamental grasses it will help to move air around and keep soil covered and therefore cool. This approach to planting is a key trend right now, helping to transform flat spaces into vibrant ecosystems by copying how plants grow in nature.

'Layered planting can help protect soil and reduce evaporation by creating more shade at ground level and is better positioned to handle fluctuations in heat, precipitation, and other environmental stresses,' says Mary Phillips. 'Incorporating trees, shrubs, flowering perennials, grasses, and ground covers also creates a more complex habitat, and gives wildlife multiple sources of food, shelter, and nesting sites across the seasons.'

There are other practical benefits too. Layered planting contributes to climate resilience by helping to retain soil moisture, capturing stormwater, reducing erosion, and recharging groundwater.

Plan For Both Drought And Flooding By Reducing Hardscaped Areas

Big areas of hardscaping like patios tend to heat up your garden so it's not a good choice if your aim is to create a climate resilient garden. Stone, concrete, and paving will absorb heat during the day and release it later, making the garden unbearably hot in the evening. Instead natural materials that reflect rather than absorb heat are your best choice, including light-colored materials such as pale stone and gravel.

There are other advantages to using permeable surfaces and other sustainable garden landscaping ideas such as gravel or brick pavers as they allow rainwater to soak into the ground. Using non-porous materials in hard landscaping increases the amount of rainwater run-off, often causing flooding. To avoid this problem, use permeable paving and keep hard surfaces to a minimum.

'Adopt water-wise gardening too,' says Mary Phillips. 'Healthy soil, organic mulch, choosing drought-tolerant plant species and thoughtful plant placement can all help conserve moisture. Grouping plants with similar water needs together can also make any necessary irrigation much more efficient.'

Garden Irrigation Ideas

Reduce Garden Maintenance With The Latest Innovations

'Gardeners now want a bespoke, future-proof garden, science-backed plant choices, and low-fuss, high-reward gardening experiences,' says Katie Dubow. 'This includes use of data-driven tools such as soil tests, climate mapping services, and identification apps.'

A climate-resilient garden is built on observation, but the changes that matter most tend to arrive too slowly to notice, even for the most observant gardener. 'Technology as simple as a camera pointed at a garden can be a surprisingly valuable source of information,' says Cameron Hill, creator of Greenlapse.

'We built Greenlapse to work with cameras gardeners already have in situ, collecting images automatically so you can see how much plants actually grow, where the shade falls each season, and which soil patches never quite dry out. Greenlapse generates seasonal sunlight heat maps that help gardeners make better planting decisions based on which areas get full sun, partial sun, and full shade.'

Another idea is using 'plant prescriptions' based on soil tests or ZIP code microclimates, and site-specific plans to invest in resilient, native, drought, fire, flood-adapted varieties for low-input landscaping. Climate resilient gardens are the future

One last tip from Mary Phillips. Here are her top 5 choices of plants for a climate resilient garden:

Goldenrod is a drought-tolerant powerhouse, flowering perennial and keystone species that supports a wide range of specialist native bees, butterflies, and other wildlife.

Common serviceberry is a climate-resilient shrub that adapts to a range of growing conditions and provides seasonal food and habitat for wildlife. Its berries are valuable to many birds, while its early spring flowers provide nectar for pollinators.

Side oats grama thrives in hot, dry conditions and poor soils, and an excellent choice for climate-resilient landscapes. It requires little supplemental water and can withstand periods of drought while providing valuable habitat for wildlife.

Butterfly milkweed prefers full sun and well-drained medium to dry soils, and is highly drought-tolerant once established. It provides nectar for pollinators from June to September with clusters of tubular, bright orange blooms.

Frogfruit is a ground cover or lawn alternative that thrives in challenging conditions, prevents erosion, and is highly drought-tolerant once established. It also provides nectar for pollinators from May to November.

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Raspberry plants are at one of two distinct stages in August. It is towards the end of harvest time for summer-bearing raspberries, while fall-bearing canes are starting to ripen their fruits. The types of raspberries you have impact what attention they need this month.

In a nutshell, both types need picking, watering, and weeding, while summer-bearing raspberries also need pruning and tying in. You wouldn’t want to trim fall-bearing raspberries, though, as you’ll miss out on fruit – a regrettable mistake.

Knowing how to grow raspberries ensures you care for different types properly. I have worked in kitchen gardens with both summer and fall raspberries, where understanding the particular nuances of each is essential to getting the best crop year after year. If you ever wonder what to do with raspberry plants in August, these six tasks are essential.

Harvest Ripe Fruits

For the longest cropping season, many growers enjoy having both summer- and fall-bearing raspberries in their garden. Planting both raspberries ensures a crop of sharp-but-sweet berries from midsummer into fall.

Summer-fruiting raspberries are ready to pick from June to August, depending on the variety, and the season for fall-fruiting raspberries starts in August and runs through to early October.

In August, picking ripe fruit is essential, no matter which types you have. You can enjoy the last fruits of summer canes, the early fruits of fall canes, or both if you have planned for a long season.

Once the fruits have ripened to their full color – which can be red, yellow, or purple (like on this ‘Jewel’ raspberry bush at Nature Hills), depending on the variety – they should come loose from their central core easily. If you need to pull hard, the raspberry is not ready.

Prune Summer-Bearing Raspberries

Summer-bearing raspberries produce their fruit on the previous season’s wood. Once they have finished fruiting, it is time to prune the raspberries, as the canes that carried this season’s fruits will not produce again.

Take a pair of clean, sharp pruning tools and cut the old brown canes back to ground level. Don’t cut away any green stems yet; these are this year’s growth that will fruit next year.

After removing the old fruiting wood, it is time to thin the newer canes. You don’t want the raspberry canes to be too congested, as they’ll struggle to produce the best crop. A few choice cuts now help guarantee a better harvest next summer.

Start by removing any damaged or weak canes. Then thin out any crowded areas to leave a strong selection of canes 6-8 inches apart. Any raspberry suckers growing too far out of the row should also be removed.

A pair of pruning shears should be sufficient for the task. I have a trusty pair of Felco F2 pruners that I used for many years to cut back raspberry canes in the productive gardens I worked in. You can get Felco F2 pruners at Amazon.

Tie in Stems

After pruning and thinning the stems, tie the remaining healthy raspberry canes to their support.

When you plant raspberries, they need some form of support. This usually comes in the form of wires stretched between posts. You can buy a raspberry trellis (like this durable metal trellis at Amazon) or make your own DIY version with wooden posts and wire.

The framework keeps stems protected from wind, especially when laden with fruit. In August, after pruning summer-bearing raspberries, tie the remaining canes to the ties to keep them upright.

It is important to use soft, flexible plant ties, such as jute twine, flexi-ties, Velcro ties (get Velcro garden ties at Walmart), or fabric from old T-shirts as a plastic alternative in the garden.

Water During Hot Weather

Raspberry plants have shallow roots, so are susceptible to stress if the soil dries out during summer. It is important to keep the top two inches of soil consistently moist in summer if you want the raspberry plants to fruit well.

Raspberries need 1-2 inches of water per week, but this increases when the berries are developing. A lack of water during the fruiting period causes the fruits to shrivel and dry out – hugely impacting your yield.

During hot, dry spells, keep a close eye on your plants to keep on top of watering. Check the top inches of soil with your fingers. If it feels dry, then water deeply. It is better to give plants a deep watering more infrequently than little and often.

You can use a soil moisture meter (available at Amazon) to measure levels and get immediate guidance on whether you need to water your plants.

Remove Weeds

Weeds will compete with your raspberry canes for the water and nutrients in the soil. For the strongest canes and best fruits, you want all those essential plant nutrients being taken in by your raspberries, not lost to unwanted invaders.

Spend a little time gently pulling weeds around your raspberries. Carefully remove them by hand with a garden fork or hand weeding tool (such as this hand weeder tool at Amazon) to avoid damaging the shallow roots of raspberry canes.

You can use a garden hoe, but be careful not to accidentally catch the raspberry roots that sit just below the surface.

Mulching around raspberry canes offers a double advantage. It helps to retain moisture in the soil and also smothers weeds. The best types of mulch for raspberries are compost, wood chips, straw, and bark. You can get bags of all-natural pine bark mulch at Lowe’s.

Protect Fruits From Birds

Sometimes you face competition for your fruits. I have seen birds brazenly stealing my raspberries this year. If this is happening to you, you may need to protect soft fruits in your garden from being nabbed.

You can cover your canes with a large fruit cage, like this crop protection tent from Wayfair. Or place bird netting (available at Amazon) over the plants.

It is advisable to place netting over hoops or supports placed around the canes. The netting needs to be secured at the base with landscape staples or bricks so birds can’t get underneath and get stuck.

What to Shop

Raspberries are one of many fruits to pick in August around the garden. It is a time of rich bounty, with blueberries, blackberries, peaches, plums, and figs also ripening to perfection in late summer. You can pick them for desserts, puddings, or jellies, or just enjoy sun-kissed fruits straight from the bush or tree.

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I don’t think geraniums will ever go out of style. I have so many of them all over my kitchen, patio and workshop. And yet, I've only ever bought two, because they are one of the easiest plants to multiply yourself.

If you’re a beginner gardener and you’ve never tried to propagate anything before, this is a great plant to start with. Geraniums (or pelargoniums, to give these plants their official name) rarely ever fail, and they are so hardy that they will survive outside in cold temperatures and harsher weather, as long as they are protected from frost.

If you want more of these beautiful, timeless plants without having to pay for them, here is how to propagate them. In this episode of Petals & Roots, I'll show you exactly how to take cuttings and plant them to grow more of these timeless favorites without spending a dime.

What You Need to Take and Plant Geranium Cuttings

• An established, healthy geranium plant
• Sharp, clean pruning shears or snips; I highly recommend these Fiskars ones from Amazon
• Potting compost, available from Walmart
• Terracotta pots, just like this set I found on Amazon
• A pencil or dibber
• A small watering can, such as this one from Target

How To Take Geranium Cuttings

Taking geranium or pelargonium cuttings is a simple job that takes just a few minutes, and it's a great way to create new plants to enjoy next year.

Start by selecting a healthy, non-flowering shoot around 3 to 4 inches long. Using a sharp pair of snips or shears, cut just below a leaf node.

This is the point on the stem where two sets of leaves appear.

Next, remove the lower leaves, leaving a few at the top of the cutting. If there are any flowers or buds, pinch those off too. We do this so that the cutting can put all its energy into making new roots rather than flowers.

Fill your pots with fresh potting compost and make a small hole in the center with a pencil or dibber. Then gently insert the cutting and firm the compost around it.

Give your cuttings a light watering and place them somewhere bright but out of direct sunlight. They love the heat, so a greenhouse is an ideal place for them. Otherwise, you can bring them into your home and keep in a warm, bright room.

They will survive well outside, but are frost tender, so it's useful to know how to overwinter geraniums to take best care of your cuttings.

One of the reasons I love taking geranium cuttings is because you’re creating the next generation of a favourite plant to grow on or gift to someone else. Some of my favorite geraniums were grown from cuttings given to me by close friends or older family members, giving these plants extra special meaning.

In a few weeks, they should start to develop roots, and before long you'll have healthy young plants ready to grow on. You can easily see when roots have developed, because your cuttings will have put on lots of new growth along the stem, and some may have even produced clusters of flowers.

Even the smallest geranium cuttings can produce blooms, which look particularly charming when displayed on a kitchen table.

It's one of the most satisfying ways to multiply your favourite plants, and the best part is that it costs nothing.

What to Shop

Petals & Roots is a weekly video series fronted by me, Rachel Bull, Head of Gardens at Homes & Gardens. Every weekend on social, I share my seasonal gardening and flower arranging expertise and advice.

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Agapanthus is one of the standout stars of the late-summer garden, producing elegant globe-shaped blooms in shades of blue, purple, and white just as many other perennials begin to fade. While these plants are still putting on a show in August, now is the perfect time to give them a little attention if you want an even better display next year.

Whether you're just learning how to grow agapanthus or already have established clumps in your yard, a few simple maintenance jobs this month will help extend flowering, strengthen the plant before dormancy, and encourage healthier growth for the season ahead. The same care applies whether your agapanthus is growing in the ground or in containers.

If you're inspired to expand your collection, now is also a great time to make a note of the best agapanthus varieties that have performed well in your area, so you can add new plants to your garden in spring or fall, depending on your USDA hardiness zone.

1. Deadhead Spent Flowers

One of the easiest August jobs is to deadhead agapanthus as the faded flower heads begin to finish blooming. Removing spent blooms helps the plant direct its energy into strengthening the roots rather than producing seeds, which can support healthier growth and better flowering next season.

Using clean, sharp pruners, cut each spent flower stem back to the base without damaging the surrounding foliage. A reliable pair of pruning shears, such as the Fiskars Bypass Pruning Shears, makes it easy to create clean cuts while protecting the plant.

If you'd like to collect seed or leave the decorative seed heads for late-season interest, allow a few blooms to mature naturally. For smaller trimming jobs and precise cuts, Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Snips, available from Amazon, are another handy tool to keep in your gardening kit.

2. Water During Hot, Dry Weather

Established agapanthus is fairly drought-tolerant once mature, but flowering plants still benefit from deep watering during extended periods of heat, especially across hotter parts of the U.S.

Water thoroughly when the top few inches of soil become dry rather than watering little and often. Deep watering encourages stronger root growth and helps support flowering through the hottest weeks of summer. Container-grown agapanthus will usually need more frequent watering than plants growing in garden beds, as pots dry out much more quickly.

Always allow excess water to drain freely to avoid waterlogged roots. For more consistent watering, a GARDENA AquaZoom Oscillating Sprinkler, available from Amazon, can help deliver even coverage across garden beds without creating areas of standing water, making it useful during prolonged dry spells.

3. Give It One Final Feeding

If you've been feeding your plants throughout the growing season, August is usually the last month to fertilize agapanthus before growth begins to slow. Giving your plants one final feed now helps replenish energy reserves while supporting healthy roots and next year's flowers. Apply a balanced fertilizer, or one slightly higher in potassium, to support flowering, then stop feeding by late August or early September. Continuing to fertilize into fall can encourage tender new growth that's more susceptible to cold damage.

A balanced granular feed such as Espoma Garden-Tone Organic Plant Food, available from Amazon, is a good choice for established agapanthus growing in borders, providing slow-release nutrients through the end of the growing season. If you're growing agapanthus in containers, Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Bloom Booster Flower Food is another great option, delivering a potassium-rich boost before it's time to stop feeding for the year.

4. Check for Pests and Diseases

Late summer is a good opportunity to inspect your plants for summer pests before the growing season comes to an end. Alongside common problems such as aphids and slugs, gardeners should also keep an eye out for agapanthus gall midge, a tiny pest whose larvae feed inside developing flower buds, causing them to become swollen, distorted, and fail to open. Look out for:

• Slugs and snails feeding on foliage
• Aphids gathering around flower stems
• Agapanthus gall midge causing distorted or unopened flower buds
• Yellowing leaves caused by poor drainage
• Signs of crown or root rot in consistently wet soil

Removing damaged growth and dealing with problems early will help keep plants healthy heading into fall. For slugs and snails, Sluggo Snail & Slug Killer, available from Amazon, is a popular pet-friendly bait for protecting ornamental plants. If aphids become a problem, Safer Brand Insect Killing Soap, available on Amazon, can be used on ornamental plants to control soft-bodied insects when applied according to the label directions.

5. Resist the Urge to Divide

If your agapanthus is looking crowded, it's usually best to wait before you divide plants. In much of the U.S., spring is the ideal time to divide evergreen agapanthus, while gardeners in warmer USDA Zones 8–11 may also divide deciduous varieties in early fall after flowering has finished.

Dividing during the heat of August can place unnecessary stress on the plant and reduce next year's flowering. Fortunately, agapanthus often blooms best when slightly root-bound, so frequent division isn't necessary unless the clump has become overcrowded or flowering has noticeably declined.

6. Prepare Container Plants for Cooler Weather

If you're growing agapanthus in containers, August is a good time to think ahead to winter protection. Gardeners in USDA Zones 8–11 can usually leave hardy agapanthus outdoors year-round. In colder regions, however, container-grown plants are more vulnerable because their roots aren't insulated by the surrounding soil, so plan to move pots into a sheltered garage, greenhouse, or other frost-free location before hard freezes arrive.

Checking containers now for good drainage and deciding where they'll overwinter makes the seasonal transition much easier. If moving large pots is likely to be a challenge, a plant caddy with locking wheels, such as the Bosmere Down Under Plant Caddie available from Amazon, can make it much easier to relocate heavy containers when colder weather arrives.

FAQs

Should I Cut Back Agapanthus in August?

Do not cut back agapanthus in August. Instead, deadhead spent flower stems as they fade, but leave the healthy foliage in place. The leaves continue to photosynthesize after flowering, storing energy in the roots that will fuel next year's blooms. Wait until the foliage naturally turns yellow or brown in fall before cutting it back, as removing green leaves too early can reduce flowering the following season.

Can I Plant Agapanthus in August?

In warmer parts of the U.S., container-grown agapanthus can be planted successfully in August if it's watered regularly while establishing. In colder regions, spring is generally a better planting time, giving roots several months to establish before winter.

With just a little attention in August, your agapanthus will finish the growing season in excellent health and store the energy it needs for another spectacular floral display next summer. Deadheading, watering wisely, and preparing plants for the changing seasons now are simple jobs that can make a noticeable difference when your agapanthus bursts back into bloom next year.

Caryopteris, also known as bluebeard, is a unique shrub to brighten up beds and containers late in the season. Its vibrant blue flowers stand out against the usual seasonal tones of red and orange and are a beacon to pollinators from late summer right through to the frosts.

This low-maintenance shrub is grown both for these late blooms and its attractive, aromatic foliage. Caryopteris thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. When established, it is a drought-tolerant sub-shrub that needs only a light touch during the season to put on a show and be a beacon plant for pollinators.

If you are looking for plant to bring a different color to your fall garden and attract pollinators, then I recommend you plant caryopteris. For example, a cultivar like this ‘Beyond Midnight’ bluebeard plant at Nature Hills offers deep blue flowers beloved by butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. And there are many different varieties to consider, offering various tones of blue.

Reasons to Plant Caryopteris

Caryopteris is one of the best plants for small backyards as it only reaches 2-4 feet in height and spread. Yet it can offer so much to any garden throughout the seasons, despite its smaller stature.

As a versatile, low-maintenance shrub, you can plant caryopteris in cottage garden borders, wildlife gardens, gravel gardens, or container gardens and enjoy gorgeous late-season flowers and aromatic foliage.

The blooms predominantly come in shades of blue, though some varieties have white or purple flowers. These flowers are produced in fluffy tiers that appear up the upright stem from late summer up until the first frosts.

Blue and purple blooms are the best colors that attract bees. Unsurprisingly then, bluebeard plants are a magnet for late-season bees and butterflies. Caryopteris are great plants for fall pollinators and will be surrounded by them during the latter part of the season.

Caryopteris foliage also brings texture and interest. The finely-toothed leaves are gray-green, bright yellow, or variegated, depending on the variety, and soft to the touch. If you rub the leaves, they release a lovely herbal aroma.

The final reason to plant caryopteris is that it is low-maintenance. It is a drought-tolerant shrub once established, and needs little feeding or trimming throughout the season.

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Where to Plant Caryopteris

For the healthiest plants and best displays, plant caryopteris in a sunny spot that gets at least six hours of sunlight each day.

When it gets enough sunlight, the shrub remains compact and blooms strongly. If it lacks light, it can get thin and scrawny as it reaches for sun, and blooming will be reduced.

Caryopteris can survive in many different soil types. However, the one thing guaranteed to make it sulk is wet, poorly-draining soil. The shrub does not like sitting in wet soil, especially over winter, and this can lead to root rot.

Adding organic matter such as compost or well-rotted manure (you can get bags of cow manure at The Home Depot) can improve drainage to make it more suitable for caryopteris.

However, if you have really heavy soil, it may be better to plant caryopteris in a container or raised bed, where you can create the right conditions for the shrub to thrive.

This bag of organic compost and cow manure from Lowe’s can be an ideal material for preparing beds for planting, breaking up heavy soils, or increasing the moisture-retaining levels of lighter soils. It also helps boost soil nutrients and benefits any plants.

Care Tips

• Watering - After you plant caryopteris, it will need regular watering for the first season to guarantee it develops a healthy root system. Over these early stages, keep a close eye on the moisture levels and water plants when the top few inches of soil are dry. You can check this using your fingers or a soil moisture meter, available at Amazon. Mulching around plants helps to lock in moisture and suppress weeds. After the first year, caropteris is a drought-tolerant shrub once established and should only need watering during extended periods of dry weather. Take care to avoid overwatering, as the plant will suffer from sitting in wet soil for long periods.
• Feeding - Caryopteris are not heavy feeders and can flourish without regular feeding throughout the season. Give plants some balanced fertilizer in the spring, such as this all-purpose 4-4-4 plant food at Burpee. This one dose is sufficient to provide the nutrients needed for strong growth and flowering. You do need to avoid over-fertilizing plants, as it can lead to spindly foliage and fewer flowers for you and your garden pollinators to enjoy.
• Pruning - Caryopteris are very low-maintenance when it comes to pruning. You don’t need to do any deadheading, as the blooms continually open up the stem. If you remove the stem prematurely, you miss out on more tiers of flowers. The blooms are also followed by decorative seedheads that can be used in dried flower arrangements or left to provide interest in a winter garden. You prune caryopteris in spring. The shrub flowers on new wood. It needs to be cut back to just above ground level to allow new shoots to come through and carry this season’s flowers. Always use clean, sharp pruning tools. A pair of pruning shears, such as these Felco pruning shears at Garden Goods Direct, is ideal for cutting back shrubs.
• Overwintering - Caryopteris are cold hardy down to US hardiness zone 5. The roots can be protected over winter with a 2-4 inch layer of mulch in colder climates, and not pruning until the spring leaves a protective layer of growth in place to protect plants from frost. Shrubs in containers may need to be moved to a protected spot for the winter in colder zones, or you can cover them in frost cloth or winter covers, such as these plant protection covers at Amazon. It is also advisable to raise containers with pot feet to ensure they drain well during winter.

A garden for pollinators needs lots of wildlife-friendly flora, especially native plants. It is also important to provide habitat, such as a bug hotel, butterfly house, or even small piles of old stems or logs, along with a water station where pollinators can land and enjoy a drink. These pollinator watering stations at Walmart can be placed in flower beds and are colorful for attracting bees and butterflies.

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Bringing vibrant energy and color to the late summer yard, Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia) offer long lasting impact for very little effort or gardening know-how. Besides their rich orange blooms that last well into fall, these plants are simply irresistible to bees, hummingbirds and butterflies, introducing a fascinating extra dimension to your garden

Undemanding when it comes to growing conditions, these plants are plentiful across USDA Hardiness zones from 2a to 11b. Smothered with open, daisy-like flowers that have a rich concentration of nectar, tithonia blooms are particularly attractive to migratory butterflies and an important aid to the monarch butterfly migration.

Making their annual journey down both coasts of the USA to their breeding grounds in California and central Mexico, these remarkable butterflies rely on this particular plant for handy refuelling stops all along the route. To encourage this endangered species into your yard, you can find ‘torch’ Mexican sunflower seeds at Botanical Interests. Here experts share their growing tips.

How To Grow Mexican Sunflowers And Help Monarch Butterflies

Native to Mexico and Central America, tithonia is a heat loving and fast growing annual. Reaching up to 5-6ft (152-182cm) tall these flowers sit on top of long, slender stems making them perfect for cutting. An annual that thrives on neglect, these plants are largely disease resistant and perform well right up until the first hard freeze.

‘Tithonia is an easy-growing annual that prefers a spot with full, all-day sun and well-draining soil. It’s pretty drought tolerant and doesn’t appreciate a wet or soggy soil,’ says horticulturalist Justin Hancock. ‘Unlike a lot of annuals that benefit from regular fertilization, Tithonia can grow too fast, become brittle and leggy if it’s in soil that’s too rich.’

August is the time to direct sow tithonia seed. Soil temperature should be 70-85°F (21-29°C) for germination (a soil thermometer such as this from Walmart will help).

Sow seed around 1/4 inch (6mm) deep, cover lightly with soil, water and watch for germination which can take around 10 to 15 days. You can find heirloom Mexican sunflower seeds from Amazon.

The Best Spot For Mexican Sunflowers

Known as goldflower of the Incas, these specialist pollinator plants need a sunny, yet sheltered spot. 'Since these quick growers can have brittle stems, it’s best to give Mexican Sunflowers something of a protected spot from strong winds,' says Justin.

'Because it’s a large plant it’s best to position Tithonia in the back of the border, both so it doesn’t block the view of other smaller plants and because it’s relatively brittle, it may not be as obvious if flowers or branches break from strong wind, birds landing on it, etc,' he continues.

Amongst the best fall plants for privacy, why not grow this low maintenance plant in a movable planter, such as this metal planter box with trellis from Lowes, to surround a deck or patio.

Plants to Pair With Mexican Sunflowers

Thanks to it's late flowering period (from July until the first frost) Mexican sunflowers are perfect for pepping up already established annuals and perennials. With its bold orange, daisy shaped blooms and tall stature it works well alongside other long stemmed sun lovers with brightly colored blooms.

'Cosmos is an outstanding companion in my book,' says Justin. 'It has similarly shaped flowers, foliage that’s more delicate and textural, and likes the same hot, sunny conditions as Tithonia. Both are top picks for attracting butterflies, as well.'

Contrasting floral textures and opposing colors work brilliantly alongside these annuals, as Justin explains. 'Salvia (such as Black and Blue) is another butterfly and hummingbird magnet that loves the sun and doesn’t mind dry soil. While tall varieties of Verbena (such as Finesse, Lollipop, or Vanity) also share Tithonia’s preferred growing conditions, but give contrasting texture with their small rounded flower heads in lavender-purple.'

Find Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' at Amazon and Verbena speciosa 'Imagination' seeds at True Leaf Market.

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Flower beds and containers are likely in full bloom in August. Take time to revel in the performance, but don’t rest on your laurels, as deadheading is essential in summer to ensure you can continue to enjoy it for as long as possible.

Deadheading is the simple task of removing spent blooms from your flowering shrubs, perennials, and annuals. It keeps the plants looking neat and tidy, but more importantly, it encourages them to produce more flowers rather than expend energy on going to seed. Consider it a vital part of any summer gardening checklist, especially for roses, sweet peas, dahlias, bee balm, snapdragons, and more.

Checking plants and deadheading keeps plants blooming for weeks longer. It doesn’t need to take that long. And it can be done effectively with just a few cuts with a pair of clean, sharp pruning tools, like these Felco F2 pruning shears at Amazon, or even sometimes just with your fingers. We previously listed 7 plants to deadhead in August, but there are so many hugely popular flowers that also need some TLC this month. So let's look at another selection below:

Sweet Peas

If your sweet peas are like mine, they are looking glorious at the moment. I am regularly picking and deadheading the sweet peas, and the blooms just keep coming.

Sweet peas start to fade once seed pods are left to develop. When several seed pods form, the plant thinks its life is coming to an end and starts to die back.

The key is to stop that from happening, and you’ll get a longer season of flowers. This works with all sweet pea varieties. If you pick and deadhead the flowers often enough, the blooms can carry all the way through until fall.

Check your plants every few days to remove spent blooms and any seed pods that have started to form. Trace the old flower stalks back to another stem, and snip them off with sharp pruning snips.

You can get a pair of micro-tip Fiskars pruning snips at Walmart that are perfect for deadheading.

Dahlias

Your dahlias are probably starting to flower in early August, and you want that display to last as long as possible.

To keep dahlias blooming all summer long, deadheading is a must. It is probably the most important job to do with dahlias in August and guarantees you get the maximum blooms from the plants.

Deadheading is important for all types of dahlias. A crucial aspect of deadheading dahlias is understanding how to differentiate between a new bud and an old spent flower once the petals have dropped – as this can fool many gardeners new to growing dahlias.

Thankfully, there is a simple way to remember. A new bud is round and closed, and an old flower is pointed or pyramid-shaped. To avoid making any mistakes, don’t let the blooms go that far.

Once you see the flowers fading, cut them off back to the next set of leaves. These lightweight pruning shears at Burpee are great for flower trimming, vegetable harvesting, or deadheading.

Roses

Deadheading roses keeps them flowering all summer long. I worked in public gardens with lots of roses and spent many an hour diligently deadheading roses during the summer to keep the shrubs looking neat and the blooms coming for longer. It is a continuous part of summer rose care and should not be overlooked.

When you grow roses, you can either remove individual blooms by hand or with tools as they go over, or remove entire clusters with pruning shears once all the flowers have faded. Cut the roses back to just above the next set of leaves, and make an outward angled cut so water runs off.

Some types of roses don’t need deadheading. This includes self-cleaning roses, such as the Knock Out roses, which naturally drop spent blooms and only need summer pruning to tidy the shrub. You can get an ‘Orange Glow’ Knock Out rose at Nature Hills that’ll impress with fiery orange blooms.

Bee Balm

You don’t necessarily need to deadhead when growing bee balm. The plant will grow fine without it, and you’ll get a good show to enjoy, but maybe deadhead it for the pollinators.

Bee balm is adored by bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, who are drawn to its nectar-rich flowers. If you deadhead bee balm, it means a longer season of bright flowers for you and garden pollinators to enjoy. Regularly removing spent blooms can extend the season into late September or October – your bee balm can become a beacon plant for fall pollinators.

It can take as little as 5 or 10 minutes once or twice a week to remove blooms as they fade and turn brown. Trim the stem back to the first set of leaves. Then, once an entire stem has faded, you can cut it back to the crown.

This form of thinning prevents powdery mildew and can encourage new shoots to develop from the base and carry new flowers. If you do see powdery mildew, this copper fungicide at Amazon treats that and many other common diseases.

Petunia

Petunias are go-to summer annual plants for vibrant displays in beds, containers, or hanging baskets. You can get petunias in a wide range of colors, or even striking speckled types with white splotches on the bright petals (such as these Shock Wave petunia seeds at Botanical Interests) that make an immediate impact when you grow petunias in pots.

An essential way to keep petunias blooming all summer long is to fertilize the plants with a tomato feed every week or two (like this tomato fertilizer at Amazon) and deadhead them regularly. When you deadhead petunias at least weekly, they stay attractive, and you encourage more flowers.

The good news is that deadheading petunias is really quick, and you don’t even need pruning tools. You can pinch off the spent blooms between your thumb and forefinger. Or you can use pruning shears, scissors, or snips if you’d rather. The one mistake to avoid is pinching and not pulling, as pulling can uproot the entire plant.

Snapdragon

Snapdragons are vibrant flowers that start blooming in spring and can continue through late fall with the right care and attention. Central to keeping snapdragons flowering as long as possible is deadheading. When you grow snapdragons, deadheading is essential for continuous blooms.

Start deadheading snapdragons once the flowers start to wilt, drop petals, and turn brown. Snipping these off just above a leaf node, or pinching them off, stops seed pods developing and encourages new flowers. You can remove individual flowers, or entire stems once all the flowers on it have faded.

In August, you can also prune snapdragons back after the majority of the first flowers have faded. Cutting back up to 50% of the growth stimulates a second flush and a new set of blooms to enjoy into fall.

After cutting them back, feeding with a balanced liquid fertilizer will provide essential nutrients to help the plant produce new shoots. This all-purpose plant food at Amazon has an NPK of 10-10-10 and contains seaweed and iron – it is ideal for a quick dose of nutrients in summer.

Phlox

Phlox comes in a huge variety of sizes, forms, and colors, from tall, low-maintenance border plants to low-growing ground cover plants like creeping phlox.

The larger types of phlox commonly seen in flower beds and borders look and smell glorious in full flower, but turn a bit unsightly once they have gone over.

Deadheading phlox isn’t essential, but there are benefits to doing it in August. It improves the overall appearance and channels energy into new growth, encouraging a second flush of flowers from side shoots later in the season.

The other reason to deadhead when you grow phlox is to prevent self-seeding. It can reseed itself in the yard, and deadheading prevents huge numbers of little phlox plants becoming weeds across the garden.