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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‘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.’

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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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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.

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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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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.

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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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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.

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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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Perennials, biennials, and annuals can all be sown in August. The fastest, such as sweet alyssum or marigolds, can flower this year in warmer climates. Or, viola can be sown for winter color. Others, like black-eyed Susan, coneflower, and California poppies, will reward you with a bounty of color next year and potentially for years to come.

Don’t disregard summer sowing. Despite there being a lot of other tasks around the garden needing attention, there is a great selection of popular flowers to sow in August. You can sow seeds indoors or outdoors, but just make sure to keep a close eye on watering after planting in August. A soaker hose, like this one at Walmart, can offer an efficient solution to keep outdoor sowings hydrated on warm summer days.

California Poppies

California poppies are short-lived perennials in warmer climates or annuals elsewhere. They are popular types of poppies with vibrant orange, yellow, or red flowers. They are perfect plants for hot, dry gardens and can also thrive in poor soil types, including sandy and rocky ground.

If you want to grow California poppies, you can sow seeds in late August for earlier blooms next year. Once you have them in your garden, they will self-seed readily, or you can harvest California poppy seeds to sow yourself.

Sow seeds outdoors directly in their growing position, as poppies have delicate roots that dislike root disturbance. Clear the area, rake it level, and thinly scatter the seeds. Press them into the soil and cover them with a fine layer of soil. Keep the area moist, but be careful when watering plants. Use a fine rose (you can get a rose head for a watering can at Amazon) or spray so as not to dislodge the small seeds.

You can get packs of ‘Mission Bells’ California poppy seeds at Amazon that are bred to bloom in six shades, including orange, pink, scarlet, apricot, and cream.

Cornflower

Cornflower, or bachelor’s button, is a popular wildflower that has become a common sight in gardens.

The plants are highly versatile and can be used in anything from wildflower meadows to cottage garden borders. The classic cornflower is a beautiful blue, but nowadays you can get blooms in shades of white, pink, red, and even dark plum to suit any garden type or color scheme.

Sowing cornflowers in August works as you get strong plants and early flowers next year, usually starting to show in May or early June and putting on a strong performance early in the season.

The best method is to sow the seeds directly into prepared ground in late August. Cover them lightly, keep them moist, and the seeds should readily germinate. However, an alternative option is to start them off indoors in modules or pots and overwinter them before planting outside next spring after the frosts.

You can get a packet of ‘Blue Boy’ bachelor’s button seeds at Botanical Interests that’ll impress with sky-blue flowers.

Calendula

Pot marigolds are a hardy calendula variety and a fast-growing flowering annual. They are traditionally sown in spring by gardeners. But as hardy annuals that can cope with frosts, calendulas can also be sown in the early fall to overwinter outdoors to flower earlier next spring.

Wait, as it gets even better. If you live in warmer climates, there is even time for August-sown calendula to bloom this year and continue well into winter. The bright, cheery blooms can be great for fall pollinators and be used as a vegetable companion plant. Calendula blooms are also edible flowers to add to salads and soups.

Pot marigolds are so simple to grow from seed. Either prepare the ground and sow them directly where you want them to flower, or sow seeds indoors into modules or pots filled with a good seed compost, such as this organic seed starting mix at Burpee.

You can get pot marigold seeds at Amazon to sow at home.

Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan is a perennial plant with a long flowering season. Indeed, many types of Black-eyed Susan can bloom from summer right through to the first frosts. The plants dazzle with their bright petals set against the dark centers, and the blooms attract lots of pollinators to any wildlife garden.

You can buy plants from any garden center or online, but a cost-effective way to grow Black-eyed Susan is to sow seeds, and August is an ideal time to start plants off. Planting Black-eyed Susan seeds this month gives plants the chance to develop stems and roots this year, and then burst into glorious bloom next summer.

You can get Black-eyed Susan seeds at Botanic Interests to sow directly into the garden or into trays, modules, or small pots. Using biodegradable pots (like these fiber pots from Burpee) is an ideal way to start plants and transfer them to the soil without disturbing the roots too much.

Coneflowers

Like Black-eyed Susan, coneflowers are perennial plants that are popular additions to flower beds or container gardens thanks to their distinctive backswept petals around a central ball. Coneflowers are also great plants for pollinators and can be grown as cut flowers.

An advantage of sowing coneflower seeds in August is that you provide them naturally with the period of cold stratification they need to germinate. Coneflower seeds need up to 10 weeks of cold to germinate, which they get naturally by sowing in late August and overwintering in the ground.

Sow the seeds thinly over the soil surface and press them down to establish good contact. Don’t cover the seeds, as they need light to germinate, and keep the soil moist. Gardeners may need to cover them or put up deterrents to stop birds from eating the seeds over winter.

There are many different coneflower varieties you can sow this month. However, purple coneflowers are probably the most popular, and you can understand why due to their light purple petals against dark centers. You can get packs of purple coneflower seeds at True Leaf Market.

Sweet Alyssum

There is time to get fall flowers in warmer climates by sowing the seeds of these fast-growing tiny flowers in August. Sweet alyssum germinates and develops speedily, and you can go from sowing to enjoying the first blooms in 6-8 weeks.

Gardeners in colder climates can also sow at the end of this month or into fall, but their sowings will emerge in spring for early blooms.

Sweet alyssum seeds are another that need light to germinate, so just press the seeds lightly into the surface rather than cover them with soil. Keep a close eye on the soil to ensure it remains consistently moist and doesn’t dry out.

When you grow sweet alyssum, prepare for your plants to self-seed and spread around the garden. You can deadhead plants throughout the flowering season to restrict the spread.

You can get packets of white sweet alyssum seeds at True Leaf Market

Viola

Winter violas and pansies are tough plants that provide bright color during the starkest times of year in the garden. They make great winter flowers for pots, and there is a range of violas to propagate from seed in August.

Viola seeds are incredibly fine and must be handled carefully. Sow them into the surface of damp seed compost in trays, modules, or pots. As they need light to germinate, only cover them with a very fine layer of compost or vermiculite (get organic vermiculite at Walmart).

Place the seed containers somewhere bright, transplant the seedlings into individual pots if needed, and plant them outdoors once they are ready.

If you want to grow violas for late and early season color in your yard, ‘Johnny Jump-Up’ is a classic heirloom winter viola variety. You can get packets of ‘Johnny Jump-Up’ viola seeds at Amazon.

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Any gardener wanting to expand their plant collection should consider taking cuttings in August. It is a time of the year when plants have lots of semi-ripe material that is perfect for summer cuttings. Our guide to plants to propagate in August reveals seven popular shrubs and perennials that you can clone via cuttings this month.

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Fortunately, there are plenty of hard-working showstoppers that are waiting to be planted this month for raised bed garden ideas. Poised to revive a flagging display, these attractive and often tasty border stars will happily mingle with established plants or even steal the show alone.

These seven plants can all effectively revive raised beds of any shape or size. From the smallest circular designs to the three-tiered Stair Step Bed from Walmart, there are plenty of August planting options to discover. Don't forget to also pick up a Garden in Minutes Garden Grid to make raised bed growing this month low-effort.

1. Winter Salad Leaves

August is the time to restart your salad sowings in a raised bed. With free-draining soil at an easy-to-reach-height, you can easily sow and nurture a flavorful and decorative mix of hardy leaves to see you through fall and winter.

'Sow arugula, mustard greens, Asian greens, leaf lettuce and spinach, once the hottest weather begins to ease,' says Carrie Spoonemore from Park Seed’s app From Seed to Spoon. 'Many mature quickly and tolerate light frost.'

Taking around 50 to 60 days from seed to plate, there are plenty of exciting and intriguing varieties to choose from. Such as the striking bronze Cimmaron Lettuce Seeds and spicy hot Rocket Wasabi at Park Seeds.

Radish and Speedy Root Crops

August marks the start of a second growing season, so utilize the benefits of a raised bed by planting root crops. Fast-growing roots such as radish, beets, turnips, and baby carrots can now be sown in situ and be ready to harvest in a couple of months.

There are plenty of eye-catching and tasty varieties to try, bringing decorative color to a raised bed as well as your plate. Our favorites include Chioggia Beet Seeds , Kaleidoscope Blend Carrots, and Salad Rose Radish, all from Burpee.

Boosted by a raised bed's enhanced drainage and enriched soil, these plants will mature quickly but need regular watering, so consider installing a soaker hose such as this from Amazon.

Kale and Leafy Greens

August marks a reset for the raised vegetable garden. With summer crops dwindling, it's time to start planning winter leafy greens such as spinach, chard, kale and broccoli.

Varieties such as Bright Lights Swiss Chard from Burpee and the steely blue Lacinato Kale from True Leaf Market can be sown outside towards the end of the month.

Nutritious and bringing texture, height and color to the vegetable patch, they impress intermingled with perennials or in traditional rows. 'The loose soil, reliable drainage and defined edges of a raised bed also make it easy to add shade cloth now and insect netting or frost protection later,' says Carrie.

Carrie does note: 'August planting is highly regional. Gardeners should check their average first-frost date and the variety’s days to maturity, then allow roughly 10–14 additional days because growth slows as daylight and temperatures decline.'

Pink Muhly Grass

Landscaping with ornamental grasses brings beds and borders alive and, providing you avoid extreme heat and keep them well watered, some can be planted in August.

One of the most spectacular perennial grasses is Pink Muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris). Thriving in full sun and reaching 3-4 ft tall it is a firm designer favorite.

'Summer blooms aren’t done and more color can be added to the garden with late season grasses, including Pink Muhly grass,' explains landscape architect Stacilyn Feldman. 'This sometimes fickle grass prefers a slightly drier condition and will benefit from a well-drained raised bed. Plant in August for late fall color.'

Find Pink Muhly grass at Amazon or the smaller Pink Cloud Muhly grass at American Meadows.

Camellia

August is a good time to plan for winter color, and introducing winter flowering shrubs into raised beds can prove the answer.

'For further color, beyond frost, plant camellias in late summer for early winter blooms,' says Stacilyn.

'Do be careful to keep the shrubs watered properly during the hot August heat, but a raised bed will aid the Camellias in establishing strong roots, free of root rot. Consider placing the Camellias in morning sun and afternoon shade, out of the wind, using an acidic soil.'

A raised bed with integral trellis - such as this Tall Planter Box with Lattice Screen from Target - can provide useful protection. Alternatively, slot in a freestanding screen such as this chic Slatted wood screen from Lowes and pair with Tri Color Starter Camellia from Amazon.

Saffron Crocus

For something a little different, 'August is the perfect time to plant saffron crocus,' says horticulturist Peggy Anne Montgomery.

'With a sunny location and well-drained soil, these easy-to-grow bulbs reward gardeners with elegant lavender-purple blooms in fall.'

These plants come with a culinary reward too. 'Each flower produces the vivid crimson stigmas that become saffron,' explains Peggy Anne. 'The largest saffron harvests typically begin in the second year, and the corms can remain productive for up to six years before needing to be divided.'

For the best long-term results, Peggy Anne suggests planting saffron or Crocus sativus in a dedicated raised bed. 'This helps prevent the corms from being accidentally dug up or disturbed during routine maintenance and replanting that often occurs in ornamental flower borders.'

Find Saffron corms at Amazon.

Red Clover and Cover Crops

If August vacation plans or a super busy schedule means hitting pause on raised bed displays, don't despair; cover plants are the answer.

'Late summer is an excellent time to sow a cover crop,' says Carrie Spoonemore. 'Cover crops help keep soil covered, suppress weeds, reduce erosion and retain or add nutrients. The best choice depends on winter climate and when the bed will be needed again.'

Popular options include oats, buckwheat and crimson clover. 'Choose a cover crop with the spring plan in mind,' adds Carrie. 'Whatever the choice, decide how and when it will be removed before sowing it.'

Buy crimson clover seeds at True Leaf Market

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Growing in raised beds has many landscape design and growing advantages. Get more from these planters by learning how to improve drainage and the best fall raised bed garden ideas.

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Meet the Experts

A lack of moisture is often the root cause of summer woes when growing and caring for hostas. When stressed, the foliage loses its lushness; it can turn yellow, brown, curl, and wilt. It makes watering an important part of summer care. Perhaps even more crucial is mulching, as it retains moisture, keeps the soil cool, and prevents weeds.

Mulching hostas may not feel like a summer job, but if yours are not protected, it will make a remarkable difference. You can even use something as simple as this organic mulch from Amazon. I spoke to a vastly experienced hosta grower about caring for these popular perennial plants in the summer to keep them healthy and looking their best all season long – here's what they said.

Why Mulch Hostas in Summer?

‘Spring gets all the glory in the garden world, but summer hosta care is just as important,’ claims Richard Jolly, an expert hosta grower and owner of Pine Forest Gardens. ‘Summer gets busy fast, but a little consistent care goes a long way. Keep up with watering, weeding, mulching, and critter control, and your hostas will reward you with years of beauty in the shade garden.’

A healthy hosta puts on the best foliage display. In the summer, a common culprit that upsets hostas is a lack of moisture. If your hosta leaves turn yellow, droop, or have brown edges, it can be due to drought stress.

Larger-leaved hosta varieties will lose moisture quickly in a heatwave and will quickly struggle if the soil is dry and they cannot replenish what moisture they’ve lost.

‘Keeping the soil consistently moist is one of the best things you can do for your hostas,’ claims Richard. ‘Well-watered hostas hold their color and form longer through the season and come back stronger in spring.’

Watering deeply as and when required keeps hostas hydrated and the leaves looking on top form. Check the soil a few inches under the surface with your fingers or a soil moisture meter (you can get a long-probe soil moisture meter at Amazon), and water when it feels dry.

Make sure to water the soil rather than the foliage, and give them deeper waterings less regularly, rather than little and often, to get the moisture down to the roots.

What helps to maintain a good display of foliage and reduce the amount of maintenance required during the summer is mulching hostas. It is an efficient way to offer several different benefits to your plants.

‘A good layer of mulch does double duty,’ explains Richard. ‘It suppresses weeds and helps the soil stay cool and moist, which means less time spent watering and weeding.’

The usual advice for hostas is to mulch around them in spring. However, if yours weren’t mulched earlier in the year, now is the time to do it to prevent the leaves drooping if the plants get stressed in baked soil. Even if you mulched in spring, topping up the layer will benefit your hostas.

As for what makes a good type of mulch, the expert adds: ‘Bark mulch, wood chips, and even old leaves all work well around hostas.’

Richard does warn not to make the layer too thick, saying: ‘A heavy layer can create hiding spots for pests and rodents looking for an easy meal. Stick to no more than a couple of inches, and keep it away from the crown of the plant.’

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FAQs

Can I Cut Back Hosta Leaves in Summer?

You can remove damaged hosta leaves during the summer. Any foliage that is dead, has suffered from leaf scorch, or has been destroyed by slugs or snails is best removed from the clump. These damaged leaves are unsightly and will attract further pests. Cut the stalks completely back to the base, using sharp pruning tools like these Felco F2 pruning shears from Lowe's.

Richard Jolly from Pine Forest Gardens adds that hostas can get an ‘extra boost’ from a feed in midsummer, especially those growing in poorer soil types. Gardeners can use any balanced feed to fertilize hostas, such as organic all-purpose plant food at Burpee, but do need to avoid it coming into contact with the crown, shoots, or leaves.

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It's a container garden trick I do every year around mid-July – gently removing the rather sad-looking plants from their pots to observe root health. Often, I find overcrowded roots are the culprit, stunting growth and causing stress. Rehoming the plants to a larger pot is an easy solution, giving them a second lease of life for the rest of summer.

It's also a good time to do a soil test to see if your pots are nutrient deplete and need some fertilizer to continue looking spectacular (this rapid soil test kit on Amazon makes it easy to identify which nutrients are needed). Here, I explain how this quick July container garden check works.

How to Check Potted Plants in July

If your container plants are wilting, drooping, or fading sooner than you expected, then you can do this July container garden check to revive them.

It's worth noting, this is most useful for the likes of evergreens and perennials that live in the same pots year after year, rather annuals that will naturally fade after one season.

Before attempting to remove your plants from your container, you should water them to make it easier to remove and prevent dry, brittle roots snapping.

I actually like to use self-watering terracotta spikes (like these on Amazon) in many of my container plants, which helps keep the soil consistently watered during summer.

You should then slide the root ball out of the pot, gently twisting if it's proving stubborn.

Take a close look at the roots. A healthy root system is one that is white and firm, and there should be plenty of soil left in the pot.

At this point, if your plants seem to be healthy below surface level, you may wish to do a soil test (this soil test kit from Amazon is also highly rated) to identify if there's a nutrient deficiency. This is likely if your perennials have been growing in the same pot and soil for a few years, as nutrients deplete over time.

You can then use a fertilizer to give your plants a boost of essential plant nutrients.

The best fertilizer for your container plants will depend on what they are and what is needed. If it's a blooming plant, you can use a phosphorus-rich bloom booster feed (like this from Walmart). Or, if you want to encourage more leafy growth, you can opt for a nitrogen-rich feed (like this one from Amazon).

If your plant needs a general lift, an all-purpose fertilizer can work well, like this Miracle-Gro fertilizer at Lowe's.

If, however, the roots are wrapping around each other and seem tightly packed in the pot, it indicates that they're a bit overcrowded and need a bigger home to continue supporting healthy growth.

The fix is simple: repot your plant into the next size planter, i.e. a planter 1-2" bigger in diameter than the current pot.

I find these sets of plant pots on Amazon handy because you can upgrade to a pot of the same style, so you don't compromise the look of your carefully curated container garden.

You should take care not to upgrade to a pot too big too quickly. It can encourage root rot because the soil will take longer to dry out.

Some light pruning will also encourage new growth, focusing on removing dead and damaged plant material, including deadheading spent blooms. Always use clean and sharp pruning tools for this, like these Fiskars bypass pruning shears on Amazon.

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If your potted plants are still struggling even after making these adjustments, it might be that you're making some container gardening mistakes. I like to use a soil moisture meter (from Amazon) to check my pots' soil to make sure I'm not overwatering my plants.

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July is a time when plants are growing strongly. There is a lot of plant material to pick from this month, and cuttings you take will quickly develop roots and shoots. The young plants that develop will need caring over winter, before being planted out next spring.

This guide looks at some of the best plants to propagate in July. With just a few tools and materials, plus a little patience, you can take plant cuttings this month and get a range of plants to add to your flower beds, borders, or containers.

An essential pruning tool is a sharp pair of pruning shears or pruning snips. These Felco pruning snips, available at Amazon, have long, straight steel blades perfect for cuttings.

Verbena

This popular cottage garden plant is an absolute winner for bringing pops of pinky-purple flowers into borders or containers.

There are around 200 different verbena varieties to grow, and perennial types are ideal for summer cuttings. You can grow verbena from seed you collect, but cuttings offer a quick, simple way to get exact clones of your favorite verbena specimens.

To take verbena cuttings in summer, pick healthy, non-flowering stems and prepare them into 4-6-inch lengths, making cuts just above a node. Remove the lower stems, leaving just a few at the top, and dip the base of the cuttings in rooting hormone – such as this hormone rooting powder at Walmart.

These cuttings can then be put either in a pot filled with compost or into a glass of water. After around 4-6 weeks, they should develop healthy roots.

At this time, pot them up into individual pots and protect them over winter in a greenhouse, cold frame, or on a bright windowsill.

Rosemary

This aromatic herb is always a popular addition to herb gardens and containers. As a staple in cooking and a great plant for pollinators thanks to its flowers, it is understandable why any gardener may fancy a few extra rosemary plants in the yard.

As it is really simple to propagate rosemary from cuttings in summer, this is easily done.

Look for flexible, green tips of stems when picking cutting material, and avoid going into the woody stems. Take 4-6 inch cuttings, remove the leaves from the lower two-thirds, and shave away the outer layer of tissue on the bottom inch with a sharp knife (like this grafting and pruning knife at Amazon).

After dipping in rooting hormone, place three to five cuttings around the edge of a small pot filled with well-draining compost. Keep the cuttings moist, but not waterlogged, and roots should form within a month.

Rosemary is hardy in zones 8-11. This makes it beneficial for gardeners in colder climates to take summer cuttings just in case their existing plants don’t make it through winter.

Lavender

Lavender remains one of those universally popular plants, thanks to its glorious fragrance, silver foliage, and purple blooms. The versatile herb can be at home either in flower beds or containers, or be used to line the edges of borders and paths.

Whether you grow lavender to pick for cooking, baking, skincare, or for medicinal purposes, summer is a prime time for propagating lavender while it is actively growing. You can collect and plant lavender seeds to get new clumps, but taking cuttings is quicker and guaranteed to give you a pure clone of the parent plant.

Pick healthy, non-flowering stems that have grown this year and are 3-6 inches long. Remove the lower leaves, dip the bottom in rooting hormone, and place the cuttings in pots filled with compost.

Cover the container with a clear bag or plastic lid and place it in a bright location, out of direct sunlight.

You can get nursery pots with humidity domes on Amazon that are ideal for starting cuttings off in.

The cuttings should root in 3-4 weeks. Then the cuttings can be potted up, and you can plant the lavender into the garden next spring.

Hydrangea

Hydrangeas brighten a summer garden with their large summer flower heads. And summer offers the chance to add to the show in future years by propagating your favorite hydrangeas.

You can take cuttings of most hydrangea varieties in July, including popular smooth, panicle, and mophead hydrangeas.

The best materials for propagating hydrangeas in July are healthy, flexible, non-flowering shoots that have grown this year. Any cuttings should be 4-6 inches long and have the lowest leaves removed. It is advisable to cut the remaining leaves in half, which helps to limit water loss.

Place the cuttings in pots filled with well-draining potting mix (you can have three or four around the edges of one pot) and cover with a clear plastic bag. This provides vital humidity and stops them drying out. Alternatively, you can place them in a propagator for the same effect.

Your new hydrangeas should root in a few weeks. Each cutting can be potted up and then planted out come spring. Pot each one into a container filled with a well-draining potting soil, like this organic potting soil from Burpee.

Penstemon

Penstemons are among the easiest perennials to grow in flower beds or containers, with their flower spikes coming in a range of colors. These blooms are long-lasting and popular with bees and other pollinators.

Taking cuttings in summer gives you lots more plants to attract bees each season. Plus, as many penstemons can struggle in cold winters, cuttings offer a nice insurance policy, especially for gardeners in colder climates.

Penstemon cuttings should be 3-5 inches long and snipped just below a leaf node. Remove the lower leaves and leave just a couple of pairs at the top. Place cuttings around the edge of a pot filled with well-draining compost and keep the soil moist, but not overly wet.

Once the individual cuttings are potted up, overwinter them somewhere frost-free before planting them out in the spring once the risk of frost has passed.

If you keep deadheading penstemon whilst in bloom, you can enjoy flowers well into fall each year. You don’t need expensive tools for this; for example, these Fiskars pruning shears at Walmart won’t break the bank and are perfect for deadheading.

Salvia

There are many great reasons to grow salvias and to want to have more in your garden. The perennials have standout long-lasting flower spikes, fragrant foliage, are drought-tolerant, low-maintenance, and adored by pollinators. It’s quite an impressive list of accolades.

Gardeners can pick between many types of salvias, with tubular blooms in shades of purple, blue, red, pink, or white. If you have a favorite salvia, taking cuttings is the perfect way to get an exact clone. The risk with collecting seeds is that salvias are known to cross-pollinate.

If you don’t mind a gamble, collecting and sowing seeds is rewarding. However, if you prefer guarantees, either propagate salvias from cuttings in summer or divide salvias while they are dormant.

You can root salvia cuttings in soil or water. Pick healthy, non-flowering stems 4-6 inches in length and remove the lower leaves. Dip the bottom in rooting hormone and then place the cuttings in a pot filled with soil, or a container of water.

Bee Balm

If you really want to boost the amount of pollinators that visit your garden, add more bee balm plants. This is a perennial with nectar-rich blooms that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds in droves.

If you have a Monarda variety in your garden, or you know someone who has one, July is the perfect time to take cuttings and add more of these pollinator magnets to your beds.

You don’t even needs lots of space to grow bee balm. It can thrive in pots in a small container garden even make a balcony smell nice and become a haven for insects.

Take your bee balm cuttings in the morning, as the stems will be full of moisture and not dry out the second you snip them from the plant. Snip 4-6 inch lengths of non-flowering stems, cutting below a node. Remove the lower leaves, place them in a pot, and cover them with a plastic bag or humidity dome.

The cuttings will need potting up and keeping in a greenhouse, cold frame, or indoors over winter to plant out come spring. This portable wooden greenhouse at Wayfair is suitable for housing cuttings and overwintering plants.

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If you have got the itch to transform your garden, there is also the opportunity to sow lots of seeds in July. It includes annuals for speedy flowers, vegetables you will harvest come winter, and also perennials to provide blooms for years to come. Our guide to what to plant in July reveals a whole host of ornamental and edible plants that you can start from seed this month.

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Mulching refers to putting down a layer of organic material at the base of your plants. It locks in moisture, helps regulate soil temperature, and even suppresses weeds. In summer especially, it's a handy tool to protect plants in a heatwave with little effort.

The best part is you can use fallen leaves and compost from your own yard as mulch, so it doesn't have to cost a thing. Alternatively, you can purchase brown mulch from Lowe's for less than $5. Here, with insights from a garden expert, we explain how summer mulching can keep your garden safe over the next few months.

Why Put Down Mulch in Summer?

You may be more familiar with November mulching in preparation to protect plants from frost. During the coldest months, this layer of organic material provides insulation. But, it has dual purpose and also aids plant survival in the hottest conditions.

When there's a lack of rain and extreme heat during the summer months, mulch helps lock in moisture and keep soil cool. Alongside correctly watering plants in hot weather, this keeps symptoms of heat stress away.

'Having a layer of mulch on your soil creates a protective layer that helps retain the moisture-from-above by reducing evaporation,' explains gardening author and podcaster, Martha Retallick.

After deep watering your plants, this means you won't need to water so frequently again because the mulch is retaining moisture to keep roots hydrated.

'I also like mulch for soil temperature regulation. It acts like a cooling blanket that keeps the soil from heating up like an oven. In the summertime, that’s important. It also keeps the soil cool at night,' Martha adds.

This stops roots burning and becoming severely dehydrated, and it keeps soil in the ground for longer.

Mulching also suppresses weeds by smothering them and blocking light. This keeps your beds and borders neat, but also stops weeds stealing water and nutrients from your plants, reducing stress in hot weather.

Martha notes there's also a long-term benefit of summer mulching:

'It improves soil health as it breaks down. The mulch provides organic material that enriches the soil, enhances its structure, and its ability to retain moisture.'

This is especially true when you use mulching materials like pine bark (which you can find at Walmart), organic compost, and fallen leaves. As they break down, they put lots of essential plant nutrients into the soil and support plant growth.

How to Apply Summer Mulch

To use summer mulching properly, you first need to do some preparation.

Get rid of any weeds in the area and water the soil well. Installing a drip irrigation system (like this kit from Amazon) will ensure your plants have a good supply of water all summer.

Then, put down 2-3 inches of mulch around the base of your plant. Make sure to leave a two inch gap around the stems to ensure there is airflow and to stop excess moisture rotting the plant material.

When you then water your plants through summer, use a soil moisture meter (like this from Amazon) to monitor when the soil has dried out. You should then water deeply to ensure the moisture reaches the root zone.

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It isn't just mulching that will keep your garden healthy and happy in summer. You can also grow plants that cool a garden and tick off your summer gardening checklist.

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It is a month for regular deadheading in your beds, borders, and containers to keep the blooms coming, and you can cut back early-flowering perennials for a second flush of flowers. Also, shrubs and climbers that flower in late spring and early summer need trimming to produce the best display next year.

This guide to plants to prune in July includes a wide variety of shrubs, climbers, perennials, annuals, fruit and vegetables that need your attention this month. If you are building a summer gardening checklist, we’ve got you covered.

Prune Early-Flowering Shrubs

July is the last opportunity to trim spring-flowering shrubs. If you haven’t done it yet, I recommend doing it quickly this month. These glorious shrubs flower on old wood and will have already started setting buds for next year, so prune carefully to avoid hampering next year’s flowers.

It is also the month to prune shrubs that flower in early summer – including those that may have been in full bloom in June. They also set buds on this year’s growth from midsummer onwards, and pruning them quickly after flowering gives them lots of time to set themselves up for a top show next year.

This advice covers philadelphus, California lilac, weigela, deutzia, forsythia, rhododendrons, and azaleas. To prune these shrubs this month, remove any dead, diseased, or damaged stems, cut the old flowering stems back to strong side shoots, and lightly shape the shrub to keep it neat.

The key advice is to do this trimming early in July, as pruning too late into summer will see you remove next year’s potential blooms. After pruning, it is beneficial to mulch around the shrubs and feed them with a balanced, slow-release fertilizer, such as this organic plant food at Burpee.

Chop Early-Flowering Perennials

You may have heard of ‘The Chelsea Chop’, but what about ‘The Hampton Hack’?. The latter is a technique whose timing is based on the annual RHS summer flower show, which takes place every July (though it is no longer held at Hampton Court annually, as it was for many years, hence the name).

Whatever the name, the summer pruning technique is done in early July to rejuvenate early-flowering perennials, stimulating them to produce new growth and a second, albeit smaller, round of blooms.

This technique is suitable for hardy geraniums, lupins, salvias, delphiniums, astrantia, bee balm, and alchemilla.

It is a simple technique to do. Take your pruning tools (either a set of sharp pruning shears or hedge shears) and cut the clumps back to about six inches from the ground. Then remember to keep the plants well-watered during the summer to support healthy regrowth and new flowers.

Deadhead Summer Flowers

July is a month for regularly deadheading summer flowers to enjoy the longest season of blooms. Deadheading is a simple and rewarding summer gardening job, and one that helps perennial and annual plants to look their best for longer.

In a nutshell, removing faded flowers stops the plant putting energy into producing seeds, and instead directs it to developing new buds and blooms.

Many popular summer-flowering plants need deadheading throughout July, including the likes of roses, dahlias, salvias, zinnias, cosmos, coneflower, daylilies, and more, which will all perform better for longer thanks to deadheading.

Soft-stemmed flowers can often be pinched between your fingers and thumb. However, I always prefer to use pruning shears or pruning snips (like these Fiskars pruning snips, available at Amazon) to deadhead plants. Simply snip off the spent flowers back to a set of leaves or a bud.

Some flowers don’t need deadheading, including self-cleaning annuals that shed their own old flowers. These include some types of impatiens, lobelia, and petunia.

Trim Robust Climbers

July is a time to prune vigorous flowering climbers after they have flowered, which includes wisteria, early-flowering honeysuckle, and summer jasmine. If yours are still flowering this month, wait until the blooms fully fade for the season before heading out with the tools.

You need to prune wisteria twice a year to keep it controlled and looking at its finest, whereas honeysuckle and jasmine need just one pruning session per season after flowering.

The focus of summer pruning of climbers needs to be on removing dead or dying branches and cutting the longer, whippy stems back to a few feet.

With wisteria, good practise is to cut the shoots down to fix or six leaves, while honeysuckle and jasmine should be trimmed a bit further, to two or three leaves, but always cut to just above a leaf node.

Lightly Trim Formal Hedges

Many popular garden hedging plants will look all the better for a light summer trim. To keep your yard looking neat for upcoming summer events and parties, clipping hedges in July will tighten the shape and stop them looking straggly or bushy.

Formal evergreen hedges such as box, yew, and laurel all benefit from a summer prune, and the same applies for deciduous fast-growing hedges like beech, privet, and hornbeam.

Always check any hedges for nesting birds during the summer months, and don’t do any trimming if there are any signs of activity, or you may risk facing penalties or fines under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The take-home advice here is to trim lightly in July. Many of the hedges above need trimming twice a year to keep them looking sharp. This month is a time to gently clip back this year’s growth and shape the hedges.

These steel blade extendable hedge shears at Amazon are perfect for tidying your formal hedges in summer.

Prune Heat-Loving Edibles

The vegetable garden isn’t a major source of pruning in July; it is more of a spot for watering, weeding, and harvesting. There are, though, some crops for which trimming is beneficial in summer to help you get the best yields from your plants.

The main one is when growing tomatoes, as gardeners should continue to remove the ‘suckers’ or side shoots of indeterminate or vining tomato varieties. These plants routinely grow side shoots between the main and leaf branches, which should be regularly removed to avoid wasting energy.

You can use your fingers to remove the shoots, but larger ones need snipping off with pruning shears. I like these bypass pruners at Garden Goods Direct, as they have ergonomically shaped grips so trimming is always comfortable.

It is also advisable to prune the lowest leaves from tomato plants to stop them touching the soil.

Gardeners should also prune cucumber plants to keep the plant healthy. Remove the lowest side shoots from the bottom two feet of the stem and trim any old or yellowing foliage. It is also advisable to scour the vegetable garden and remove yellow leaves from peppers, zucchini, squash, and pumpkins.

You can also prune squash and pumpkins by trimming the side shoots once flowers have formed and the first small fruits are developing. Pruning encourages the plant to focus energy on developing a select amount of fruits rather than keep on producing more and more.

Prune Fruit Trees

July is a time for summer pruning any fruit trees grown in restricted forms, including those grown as fan or espalier trees. These trees need pruning twice a year.

In summer, the goal for pruning espalier apple or pear trees is to develop fruiting spurs and allow light and air in to ripen the developing fruits.

Cut any side shoots growing off the main arms of the tree to three to four leaves above the base, and any shoots coming off these secondary branches need cutting back to just one leaf.

In July, it is also beneficial to thin fruits, so you get better quality harvests. Thinning fruit trees can be done carefully by hand, or with small pruning tools like shears, snips, or scissors.

Shop Pruning Tools

There are a lot of gardeners who think that July is too late to sow flowers and vegetables for the year, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth in reality.

In fact, July offers a wealth of potential. What is important, though, is picking the right plants and remembering to keep on top of watering after sowing in summer.

For inspiration, we reveal lots of flowers, vegetables, and herbs in our guide to what to plant in July to help you enjoy beautiful blooms and homegrown harvests for many months to come.

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The truth is, there is a fantastic range of plants to sow that can provide blooms or crops for a very long period of time. From fast annuals for late summer to perennials for spring blooms. And speedy crops for quick harvests to hardier winter crops for food during the colder months. The one task you’ll need to remember this month is to water any sowings deeply after planting to stop the soil drying out.

To fill your garden with plants, why not take advantage of the great conditions in July? This guide to what to plant in July covers vegetables, flowers, bulbs, and herbs to boost your backyard ideas. You’ll get beautiful displays, bountiful harvests, and a colorful, packed garden to enjoy for many months, or even years.

Plant Fast-Growing Annuals for Summer Color

You may look out across your garden and see flowers in full bloom, but it is not too late to add to this year’s display.

A great selection of fast-growing annual flowers, including zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, viola, and nasturtium, can be sown this month into beds or containers and give you a beautiful display in the weeks and months to come.

These plants can be sown directly into their growing position, or started indoors and transplanted.

If you opt for the latter, biodegradable pots offer an ideal solution, as you’ll avoid disturbing the roots when you transplant the seedlings. You can get biodegradable fiber pots at Burpee.

Plant Perennials For Future Displays

July offers a chance to plan for the future and start growing perennials that can bring color and texture to flower beds for years to come.

Starting perennials from seed is a cost-effective way to bolster and boost your future displays, and you can admire the blooms each year with the satisfaction that you have grown that plant from scratch.

You can sow seeds of delphinium, columbine, coneflower, foxgloves, and lupins in July. These are best sown into trays or pots filled with a quality seed compost, like this organic seed starter at Amazon. The plants can be potted up after they germinate and planted out either in fall or the following spring.

Plant Biennials

July is also the window for planting biennials that will bloom in 12 months. These plants will develop foliage this season, and burst into flower next year – often coming to the fore in the gap between the spring bulbs and the summer perennials.

Biennials are very useful yet often underrated plants, usually overshadowed by their annual or perennial counterparts. But they do offer a valuable role to gardeners looking for color and texture throughout the seasons.

Biennials you can sow this month include sweet williams, foxgloves, honesty, and wallflower.

Plant Fast-Maturing Vegetables

In July, the warm soils and air provide an ideal environment for sowing fast-growing vegetables directly into the ground with a view to enjoying harvests in summer and early fall.

Summer lettuces, turnips, radishes, beets, and fast-maturing varieties of carrots top the list of speedy crops to sow.

Keep the soil consistently moist for great germination and healthy growth, and thin seedlings as they develop to give the veggies room to grow.

Also, regularly weed around plants with a garden hoe to eliminate any unwanted competition for water and nutrients. Depending on the crop, you’ll be able to start harvesting in as little as 30-40 days.

Plant Winter Crops

As well as short-term harvests, you can think longer term by sowing and planting vegetables in July that will reward you with harvests throughout the colder months.

While temperatures may be warm, a good number of hardy vegetables can be planted this month to pick well into fall and winter, and potentially even in spring.

Brassicas like kale, cabbage, and cauliflower, as well as Swiss chard, leeks, and corn salad, will get going in summer, and their growth slows come fall.

But the crops continue to develop and will be ready for picking in late fall or winter, or they can be left to overwinter in the vegetable garden for spring harvests.

Plant Fall-Flowering Bulbs

When you mention bulbs, most people will first think of spring bulbs, then potentially summer bulbs.

Unfortunately, fall-flowering bulbs are often overlooked. Don’t let that be the case, as July is an ideal time to plant them while they are dormant, and they will burst into glorious flower come fall.

Colchicums, also known as autumn crocus, are my favorite, offering delicate pink or purple flowers before any foliage (which appears in spring). Also, cyclamen, oxalis, and nerine can all be planted this month to bring color to the garden later in the year.

The planting rules for fall-flowering bulbs are the same as any others – plant them in well-draining soil and at a depth two to three times their height.

Plant Speedy Herbs

It is not too late to plant herbs for picking this season to use in the kitchen. Whether in a herb garden, herb planter, or on a windowsill, there is still time for homegrown pickings, all thanks to some of the fastest-growing herb plants.

The likes of cilantro, dill, basil, chives, and parsley all germinate speedily and can go from sowing to picking in 60 days or under.

All of those mentioned can be sown directly into the soil this month. Sow the seeds thinly in rows spaced about 12 inches apart, cover them with a thin layer of soil, and keep the soil consistently moist.

Direct sowing is best, as some of those mentioned, particularly dill and cilantro, have taproots and dislike being transplanted.

When discussing what to plant in July, we need to touch on shrubs and trees. While container-grown plants can theoretically be planted in July, it is not a recommended time for planting shrubs or trees.

The hot temperatures and dry conditions not only put the plants at risk of stress but places extra responsibility and workload on the shoulders of gardeners to keep the soil moist in summer. It is better to wait until conditions are cooler to add these larger plants to your garden.

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Sowing biennials in early summer fits their life cycle perfectly. They’ve got many months ahead to produce strong roots and foliage, before going dormant for winter and then bursting into life and flowering in spring or summer. With a bit of planning, you can get lots of gorgeous blooms to enhance your flower beds or container displays at a crucial time, with many flowering after the spring bulbs and before the annuals.

In mild and northern hardiness zones, biennials are ideal for planting in June. You can sow seeds either indoors or outdoors, depending on your preference, and there are some fantastic plants to choose from. I prefer the former – sowing indoors and planting them outdoors in fall – and here are some of my favorite biennials to sow in June.

Foxgloves

Foxgloves, or Digitalis, bring vertical drama to any flower bed in spring and early summer, with their tall spikes of flowers demanding attention before many other perennials or annuals really get going. The flowers are good for pollinators and also look stunning in a vase when used as cut flowers.

I usually start foxglove varieties indoors in June. The seeds are very fine and only need to be scattered on the surface and pressed into the compost. Don’t cover them though, as they need light to germinate.

Give them temperatures of 50–60°F in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame, and they’ll germinate in a few weeks. Then, you can transplant seedlings into the garden in early fall.

See foxglove seeds at True Leaf Market

See foxglove seeds at Burpee

Canterbury Bells

Canterbury Bells is a biennial type of campanula and a popular cottage garden plant. They have fragrant, bell-shaped flowers in shades of white, pink, blue, and purple that sit on tall spires and gently nod in the summer breeze.

This biennial flower prefers milder climates, rather than the hottest, southern US hardiness zones.

To sow seeds indoors in early summer, finely scatter the seeds in trays and press them into the compost. You can top with a very fine layer of vermiculite, but the seeds do require light to germinate. At temperatures of 70-75°F, the seeds will germinate in two to three weeks.

Gently pot up the seedlings into individual pots filled with well-draining potting soil once they are large enough to handle. Plant them outside in the fall or next spring into a sunny spot in the garden.

Shop Canterbury Bells seeds at Amazon

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Wallflowers

Biennial wallflowers are popular spring flowering plants to use in large numbers for bright, highly fragrant displays. They come in vivid shades, which make a real impact when planted in mass, and are really simple to grow from seeds sown in early summer.

Wallflowers are one biennial that buck the trend for me. As I said at the start, I usually start my biennials off in trays or pots, but not when I grow wallflowers. For them, I still use the traditional way of starting them off a nursery seedbed.

To do this, I prepare the bed and rake it to a fine tilth. I then sow seeds into rows, let them germinate, and them transplant them from this bed to their final position in the fall.

You can, however, still start them off in trays if you want to and prick them out into pots to grow on before planting out. Wallflowers reliably germinate quickly and benefit from pinching out once they reach six inches tall, to encourage bushing and more blooms.

Shop wallflower seeds at Amazon

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Sweet Williams

Sweet William, or Dianthus barbatus, is a nostalgic plant, and one that I grew in large numbers for displays in one historic garden I worked in for several years. The plant played an important role in the summer formal parterre display each season, and I always sowed the seeds of the biennial in summer.

Sweet Williams burst into flower in late spring and summer. The colorful blooms, which can be red, pink, purple, or white, are clusters of many flowers, each with serrated petals, that sit atop thin stems, and attract bees and butterflies during the flowering season.

To grow Sweet Williams, sow seeds onto the surface of pots filled with compost. These pots can go into a cold frame or an unheated greenhouse to germinate. The location is important, as for the best results, Sweet Williams need cool temperatures rather than too much warmth.

If you don’t have a suitable location to start the plants off, the seeds can be sown directly into their growing position onto the soil surface and thinned to 12 inches apart.

See the range of Sweet William seeds at Botanical Interests

See the range of Sweet William seeds at True Leaf Market

Honesty

Honesty, Lunaria annua, has been popular for centuries, primarily for its translucent seedheads that can either be cut and used for dried flower arrangements or left on the plant to add glorious interest in a winter garden.

But don’t overlook the flowers, too, as the delicate four-petalled purple blooms (you can get white varieties, too) are a beautiful addition to any space in late spring or early summer.

June is the last month to sow honesty seeds each year, to ensure they have the time to develop strong roots this year to see them through winter and burst into life come spring.

Sow the seeds into pots and cover with a light layer of soil or vermiculite and germinate them in a cold frame, or make shallow drills into your beds and sow directly into them.

Whether you transplant young plants or thin seedlings, honesty plants ultimately want to be spaced 12 inches apart and grown in full sun or partial shade.

See honesty seeds at True Leaf Market

See honesty seeds at Amazon

Hollyhock

Hollyhocks are grown as biennials, but once you plant them in a garden, you may consider them a perennial as they will make themselves properly at home and self-seed around. Like a guest who simply won’t leave, but one you are happy to have stay.

The plants are adored for the tall flowering spikes that can reach up to six feet in summer. They won’t flower this year, but planting hollyhock seeds in June will give you stunning blooms next year.

And if you sow next summer, they’ll bloom the following year. From that point on, your self-seeded hollyhocks can take over for year after year of charming flowers.

Sow the seeds directly into the soil this month. Gently scatter them and barely cover them with soil, as they need light to germinate. If you keep them moist, but not waterlogged, they’ll germinate readily in early summer temperatures.

Hollyhocks do make good plants for pollinators. If you do want to grow them in a wildlife garden, pick single-flowered varieties, whose nectar is easier to access by bees and butterflies.

See the range of hollyhock seeds at Botanical Interests

See the range of hollyhock seeds at True Leaf Market

See the range of hollyhock seeds at Burpee

Evening Primrose

This native plant has decorative, fragrant, bowl-shaped, yellow flowers that open in the evening and attract night-time pollinators, including moths and nocturnal bees.

It is a very pretty night-scented plant, but it has a reputation for being aggressive. Evening primrose does self-seed, so deadheading is advisable if you want to stop it from spreading around your garden or into your neighbor's property.

And you can plant it in containers to stop the rhizome spreading. Control is something to consider before sowing this biennial plant.

Directly sow the seeds outdoors onto the soil surface and tamp them down, then thin seedlings to around 12 inches apart once they germinate. If you start the plants off indoors, which you can do, sow into biodegradable pots this month and plant them out in the fall to reduce any root disturbance.

Shop evening primrose seeds at Amazon

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What to Shop

June is a busy month for sowing and planting. As well as biennials to sow in June, there are still annuals and vegetables to plant this month. For inspiration, our in-depth guide to what to plant in June contains fast annuals, heat-loving vegetables, summer bedding, herbs, and more that you can add to your garden in early summer.

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In May, the soil is warm and moist in most regions. As the days and nights are more agreeable, and the frost ends for many gardeners, it becomes a time of great opportunity. It is the perfect month to sow seeds outdoors, transplant seedlings started indoors, or plant any purchases from garden centers, nurseries, or online.

During my years working in public gardens, May was a crucial month. There was a lot of planting of flower beds, borders, containers, and kitchen gardens to get the garden set up for summer. Think along the same lines for your backyard ideas. Whether you want flowers, texture, or vegetables, feel encouraged to plant this month. So let’s dive into what to plant in May.

Plant Simple, Long-Blooming Flowers

Most gardeners will aspire for flower beds or container gardens packed with bright summer flowers to enjoy. May is the perfect time to get that dream going into overdrive, as there are many low-maintenance, long-blooming plants you can start growing this month from seed.

The likes of zinnia, cosmos, sunflowers, marigolds, cornflower, snapdragons, and poppies can be sown this month directly into their growing position. The seeds germinate and establish quickly. And the reward can be blooms and instant color from early summer onwards.

Sowing seeds outdoors directly in flower beds or containers is a great way to fill gaps in your borders and add extra pops of color. You can start many of the above indoors and then transplant seedlings outdoors, depending on the space you have for propagation this month.

After the risk of frost has passed, it is also time to plant out sweet peas and other tender annuals you may have started indoors earlier in spring to add even more color to your beds.

Plant Productive Vegetables

May is a prime time for any vegetable garden. It can be a busy time of sowing seeds (both indoors and outdoors) or adding plants to your beds. There is a wide selection of crops that can fill any kitchen garden with summer vegetables.

Firstly, you can direct sow fast-growing vegetables like radishes, spinach, or spring lettuces to harvest in early summer before the temperatures peak and they risk bolting.

As the soil warms, the likes of carrots, beets, green onions, and rutabaga can also be sown in situ to grow on for summer crops. These can be sown successively every few weeks for long harvests.

May is also a window to plant out heat-loving vegetables you may have started earlier indoors, or bought as young plants. Tender crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, zucchini, pumpkins, and squash can be planted into their final position.

Other highly productive crops you can plant in May include beans, peas, kale, and chard. These are all vegetables that give big yields, especially when you harvest the likes of kale and chard (along with broccoli, arugula, spinach, and lettuce) as cut-and-come-again vegetables.

Plant Pollinator-Friendly Native Perennials

There are many perennials you can plant in May, but the best route to go is native plants to support local wildlife in your garden. These plants have evolved to suit your climate and the pollinators and beneficial wildlife in your area, and they will bed down quickly if planted this month.

May is an ideal time to plant perennials as they can develop strong roots before summer arrives. They will put on a glorious show for months to come. The likes of black-eyed Susan, milkweed, coneflower, asters, and bee balm will burst into bloom come summer and attract the likes of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds into your garden.

To get the plants off to the best possible start in your garden, add some organic matter to the planting site. Adding some compost or well-rotted manure will boost the soil structure, maintain moisture, and provide nutrients as it breaks down.

Mulching after planting is also advisable to regulate soil temperature, retain moisture, and smother weeds. Add a layer 2-3 inches deep of compost or shredded bark around the newly-planted perennials, taking care not to smother them.

Plant Grasses to Add Drama

Ornamental grasses come in a range of shapes and sizes, from small blue fescue grass that can be under a foot tall to Stipa gigantea or pampas grass that can soar to over six feet. The range includes warm- and cool-season grasses, as well as evergreen and deciduous types.

There is a huge variety when you are landscaping with ornamental grasses, but they all offer movement and drama. Whether used as screening plants, dotted through flower beds to provide a textural backdrop to showy blooms, or as specimen plants in containers, grasses add something special to yards of any size.

May is the right time to plant warm-season grasses, including switchgrass (Panicum), fountain grass (Pennisetum), and maiden grass (Miscanthus). These grasses start growing in late spring, and planting this month lets them establish before the temperatures rise in summer.

Plant ornamental grasses in a sunny spot, but they will tolerate some shade. If you put grasses in containers, use heavier pots to prevent taller grasses from blowing over, and use a well-draining potting mix, as grasses are unhappy sitting in wet soil for long periods.

Plant Flowering Tubers

For a crescendo of summer blooms, there are flowering tubers, bulbs, and corms you can plant in May for vibrant displays.

Once the risk of frost has passed and the soil warms in spring to around 60°F, summer-flowering bulbs and tubers like dahlias, cannas, gladioli, agapanthus, and crocosmia can all be planted. These will provide a riot of color that peaks in summer and lasts into fall.

Of all those listed above, perhaps dahlias are the most adored by gardeners globally. And for good reason, as there are so many types of dahlias in different shapes, sizes, and colors that can brighten up any yard.

It is not too late to buy dahlia tubers, and, depending on your location, the window to plant dahlias can stretch until early June. Whether you put them in borders and grow dahlias in pots, there can be a variety to suit any garden.

For the best performance from your summer bulbs, incorporate organic matter, such as compost or well-rotted manure, into the soil before planting to improve soil structure and moisture retention.

Gardens on a smaller scale can be as bright and bold as any other. Filling pots and troughs with long-flowering container plants will reward you with a bold display and color throughout summer.

Some of the best container flowers to plant in May include sunflowers, alyssum, thunbergia, and black-eyed Susans.

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A growing fig tree is low-maintenance, but at this stage in the year, you can ensure they are in a good place for the season ahead. If you haven’t already, pruning and feeding trees in April is definitely needed to promote new growth to carry fruit.

Whether you have fig trees in the ground or in containers, they may also need watering in dry spring and potentially some protection from the weather and pests to keep them healthy. A few simple measures carried out in April can make a big difference for the coming months – so keep a close eye on your figs and show them some love if you want an attractive ornamental tree and a crop of sweet figs come summer.

1. Prune Trees

The window to prune fig trees is still open, but not all gardeners will need to reach for the tools this month. As mentioned earlier, it is one of those jobs that depend on the climate.

Fig growers in warmer climates will likely have done their pruning earlier in the year, in late winter. But the time may be right for those in colder climates, and it is important to get that timing right. The key time to prune fig trees is after your last frost, and before the tree starts budding out for the new season.

This crucial window may be April for many gardeners, so prepare to head out with the pruning tools if this applies to you. Avoid holding off too long, though, as pruning too late after the tree has started growing is a fig growing mistake that will result in lots of sap loss. This weakens the tree, leaving it susceptible to pests and diseases.

Use clean, sharp pruning tools, and wear gloves as the sap can irritate the skin. Working upwards on the tree stops sap from dripping and causing issues.

In terms of how to prune the fig tree, the primary focus of trimming at this time of year is to remove dead, damaged, and diseased wood and lightly shape the tree.

Concentrate on the 3 D’s and also target inward-growing branches, along with weak growth. Trimming branches back to a bud or branch will promote new growth to carry fruit, but use a light touch. Don’t get too carried away and remove more than a third of the growth, as it can lead to stress and erratic regrowth.

2. Feed Trees

As with pruning, some fig growers may already have fed their trees once the buds started to break dormancy earlier in spring. But, for many others, April can be an opportune time to fertilize fig trees to give them a dose of nutrients to develop healthy growth and produce fruit.

A key moniker to remember each season is that when you see growth, it is a perfect time to fertilize.

Fig trees generally don’t need rich, fertile soil, but a feed once a year in spring can provide the nutrition the trees need to develop and ripen fruits. This is the case for trees growing in the ground. However, if the fruit tree grows in pots, it does need a more rigorous feeding regime.

A good fertilizer for fig trees is a balanced, slow-release product that will boost the soil nutrients over an extended period. A good example of such a feed is this 10-10-10 all-purpose fertilizer at Amazon.

After fertilizing in spring, it is also advisable to mulch the trees with a 2-3 inch layer of compost or well-rotted manure, such as this composted cow manure, also from Amazon.

3. Water in Dry Spells

Fig trees naturally grow in dry, sunny climates. They are drought-tolerant fruit trees native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, and their deep roots can search far down into the soil for water and nutrients. However, that does not mean gardeners need never water fig trees.

They do need deep watering during extended periods of dry weather in spring, and will especially want regular watering if they are growing in containers.

Indeed, newly-planted fig trees and those in pots are going to be most in need of watering in April. Keep a close eye on both of these to prevent the soil from drying out completely. Check the moisture level a few inches under the soil surface with your fingers. If it feels dry, water the tree.

Alternatively, use a soil moisture meter, and it will tell you when the tree needs watering. You can get a long probe soil moisture meter at Amazon.

Water the tree well, but don’t waterlog the soil, which can be especially risky in containers. Fig trees sitting in saturated soil for too long can lead to yellowing leaves, foliage drop, or root rot.

4. Protect From Late Frosts

In colder climates, fig trees may need some protection from late spring frosts. Keep checking local forecasts and be prepared to act if temperatures look set to drop below 32°F at night. Severe frosts and freezing winds can damage new growth and buds, potentially wrecking any harvest.

Some varieties of figs are hardier than others, so it pays to understand your type of fig and the temperatures it can tolerate. The ‘Chicago Hardy’ fig is a popular cold-hardy type suited for growers in colder climates, and you can get a live Chicago Hardy fig tree at Fast Growing Trees.

A simple way of protecting fruit trees from frost is to wrap them in frost cloth (horticultural fleece), burlap, or old sheets. Place the covers ahead of freezing temperatures, and remove them when temperatures rise again the following day so pollinators can get to any blooms.

Fig trees in containers can be moved indoors or to a protected spot and wrapped for the night. Placing covers over the container will insulate the roots from frost, such as these winter pot covers at Amazon.

5. Deal with Pests or Damage

Even if you took steps to winterize your fig trees and protected them from challenging weather, your trees may have suffered damage. And spring can have turbulent weather, including storms.

Check your trees for any signs of damage, especially after any spring storms, and remove any broken branches promptly with clean, sharp pruning tools.

There are also early pests around in April. Fresh growth on fig trees is appealing to active pests in spring, and it is advisable to keep a close eye and catch issues quickly.

The likes of aphids and scale insects can be found on new shoots and leaves. These are both sap-sucking insects that congregate around new stems, leaves, and buds and can be spotted by honeydew (a sticky residue) that is left behind them.

You can knock them off plants with a blast of water, scrape them off stems, or, as a last resort, spray with insecticidal soap spray, available at Walmart.

Fig tree borer is a major issue that feeds on all parts of the tree. It tends to strike in summer, but it is advisable to watch out for any symptoms in spring, including stunted growth or wilted stems.

The best way to prevent fig tree borer is to keep the tree healthy, as they are attracted to stressed trees and dead or damaged wood.

What to Shop

Looking ahead, you want to ensure that birds and squirrels don’t nab your figs as they ripen on the tree. Did you realise you can cover figs in tinfoil as they’re developing to stop any pests getting to enjoy them before you?

Wrapping the fruits can trap moisture, so it is advisable to poke some holes in the foil to allow airflow if you want to experiment with this technique.

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April is a prime time to prune, fertilize, and then mulch forsythia shrubs. This trio of tasks encourages lots of healthy new growth to carry next spring’s performance of blooms. You may also need to water shrubs during dry periods, and there is an opportunity to propagate new ones.

When you grow forsythia in your garden, always remember that April is a good time to head out and give your shrub some care and attention. It’ll reward you with another show-stopping display of flowers next spring to brighten up any cold, crisp early spring days. Here are the important jobs to add to this month’s to-do list:

1. Prune After Flowering

Forsythia is one of the earliest spring-flowering shrubs, bursting into bloom from February to April, depending on your location.

As an early bloomer that flowers on last year’s growth, pruning forsythia post-blooming is the most vital job to do this month. Cutting the shrub back in April gives it lots of time to develop growth and buds for next spring’s display.

Once you see the old flower petals dropping, pick up the pruning shears and head outside to trim. Don’t wait until it is too late to prune forsythia, as cutting late in spring or summer can impact next year’s flowers.

Use clean, sharp pruning tools for trimming this month. For example. I have had a trusty pair of Felco F2 pruning shears for a decade now. It is durable, reliable, and has seen me through many pruning years, and you can get a pair Felco F2 shears at Amazon.

Start by removing any dead, damaged, or diseased stems from the forsythia. Some older, woody stems can be trimmed out to open up the center and allow for lots of air and light to reach the interior of the shrub.

Then, this year’s flowering stems can be cut back by up to a half to shape the shrub and encourage fresh, productive new growth.

2. Feed After Pruning

Early flowering takes a lot of energy out of a forsythia. The shrubs will benefit from a pick-me-up by fertilizing after trimming to give them a valuable dose of essential nutrients to spur growth to carry next year’s flowers.

A perfect product to fertilize the shrubs is a balanced, slow-release product, with an NPK of 10-10-10 or similar, such as this all-purpose plant food at Amazon.

Sprinkle the product at the recommended rate around the shrub, incorporate the granules into the top inch of the soil, and water thoroughly to activate the ingredients.

3. Mulch After Fertilizing

After pruning and fertilizing shrubs, the next job on any spring gardening checklist for forsythia should be mulching around them. It is a good idea to mulch with organic matter to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and provide nutrients as it breaks down.

Use organic mulch, such as compost, well-rotted manure, leaf mold, or bark chippings, and add a layer two to three inches deep. One example of such a product is this all-natural pine bark mulch at Lowe’s. Compost is always a great option, whether you make compost at home or purchase bags, such as this composted cow manure, from Amazon.

Spread the mulch over the roots of the shrub, but leave a clear ring a few inches around the forsythia’s base. Piling organic matter against the shrub’s stems is a mulching mistake, as it can lead to rotting.

Water as Required

April can be an ideal time to plant new forsythia shrubs, and they will need regular deep watering to help them establish in their new home.

Once established, forsythia are fairly drought-tolerant shrubs. However, they may need watering during particularly dry Aprils, especially in warmer climates.

The soil should be consistently moist, but not waterlogged, as forsythia can be prone to disease or rot when sitting in saturated soil for long periods. Consider investing in a soil moisture meter, such as this soil moisture meter at Amazon, to help decide when to water and reduce the risk of overwatering outdoor plants.

If you grow forsythia in pots as part of a container garden, these will need more watering in spring than in-ground shrubs to supply sufficient moisture for strong early-season growth.

Propagate by Layering

The most common way to propagate new forsythia shrubs is by taking cuttings. This is not a task for April, but there is scope to start propagating new shrubs by layering this month. This is a slower process that can be started in spring, using low-growing, flexible stems you bend down to touch the ground.

Scrape away some bark with a sharp knife at the point where the stem meets the ground, and peg it down using wire or landscape staples (you can get staples at Amazon). Cover the section with soil, keep it moist, and leave it for between a few months and a year to develop roots.

Next spring, you can cut the rooted section away and plant elsewhere in the garden or into a pot.

What to Shop

We touched upon cuttings, and taking softwood cuttings is best done in late spring when there is lots of fresh growth to choose from. Alternatively, you can take semi-ripe cuttings of forsythia shrubs from midsummer.

Our guide to how to take forsythia cuttings talks you through the process, showing you how to take summer semi-ripe cuttings to get new shrubs for free to add to your garden.

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Shrubs, perennials, fruits, and container plants will thank you for providing them with that vital dose of nutrients by fertilizing this month. It’ll help them grow strongly and have the energy to produce foliage and flowers in the coming weeks and months. Your TLC is more than repaid with a stunning display.

There is no denying how important fertilizing is in April – it needs to be near the top of any spring gardening checklist if you want beds and pots brimming with beautiful blooms this year. Here we look at some of the most important plants to fertilize in April, and reveal the feeds to use to guarantee the best results.

1. Roses

Growing roses remains globally popular, and feeding plants guarantees the best display of those sought-after blooms.

In most climates, they will have started developing new growth for the season ahead. After they wake from their winter slumber is a perfect time to fertilize roses and give them a dose of essential nutrients for strong spring growth and to produce flowers.

These hungry plants always want feeding in spring with a balanced slow-release fertilizer once they start to grow again. A product like this Espoma organic rose-tone food at Walmart is ideal for the job and will give you healthy shrubs and bigger blooms come summer.

Apply the product to the soil around the drip line and gently work it into the top inch of soil before watering well. Avoid the fertilizer coming into contact with the woody stems.

2. Shrubs

Flowering shrubs need annual feeding to perform at their best. As deciduous shrubs start to leaf out for the new season, they are hungry for nutrients to guarantee healthy growth and strong flowering.

At this stage in their annual cycle, fertilize shrubs with a slow-release fertilizer that contains the primary nutrients needed for strong plant growth.

A rounded NPK ratio means the feed has a good mix of nitrogen for strong foliage, phosphorus to stimulate the production of blooms, and potassium for healthy roots.

If you worry about potentially over-feeding shrubs, these tree and shrub fertilizer spikes at Amazon are pre-formulated to feed shrubs and simply need to be hammered into the soil near the plants in spring.

Plus, if your shrubs prefer acidic soils, like rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, and Japanese maples, use a feed specifically for such plants instead, like this acid mix at Amazon.

3. Evergreens

Evergreen shrubs also produce new foliage in spring and require a valuable dose of nutrients. However, they prefer a slightly different type of fertilizer at this time of year.

Firstly, they only require a light feeding. Indeed, unless the shrub shows signs of slow growth, yellow leaves, or ill health, it may not need fertilizing at all in spring. Evergreens in healthy, fertile soil types may not need feeding every year, but will benefit from an application of spring fertilizer at times, and April is an ideal window for this.

A suitable fertilizer for evergreen shrubs is higher in nitrogen to boost strong foliage growth. You can use high-nitrogen products like chicken manure pellets (you can get organic chicken manure plant food at Walmart), or a product formulated especially for evergreens, such as this Evergreen-tone plant food at Amazon.

4. Fruit

Fruit trees and bushes are bursting into new growth in spring and want lots of nutrients to leaf out, flower profusely, and provide you with a bumper harvest of fruits.

There is a sweet spot between the buds breaking and the flowers opening to fertilize fruit trees and guarantee yourself a great crop.

You can see this guide to fruit trees to fertilize in April for specific advice on groups of trees you may have in your yard.

As for a quick overview of how to fertilize fruit trees this month, they want a product with a balanced NPK ratio, such as this 10-10-10 slow-release fertilizer from Amazon. Spread it around the area under the tree as wide as the canopy and water it into the soil.

If you are growing fruit bushes, such as berries and currants, they also need feeding in early spring to get them on the right track to a great harvest. A balanced feed is ideal, except if you are growing blueberries, as they prefer acidic soil and want a feed for acid-loving plants.

You can get a specially formulated liquid blueberry fertilizer at Amazon

5. Perennials

Many gardeners are likely to see the first shoots of perennial plants in their flower beds appearing in April.

Once the plants start actively growing in spring is a perfect time to fertilize flower beds. It gives them a great boost of nutrients at a time when they are exerting a lot of energy producing stems, buds, and flowers.

A balanced, slow-release product is the best fertilizer for flowers in April, such as this 10-10-10 all-purpose flower and vegetable food at Amazon. As clumps expand and lose vigor over the years, annual feeding and dividing plants every few years keep any perennials performing year after year.

Only ever feed perennial plants gently; never go over the recommended rates. Over-fertilizing plants is always a mistake to avoid. But when it comes to perennials, you will get lots of lush growth rather than blooms, and that excess is likely to flop and look unsightly come summer.

Spring mulching is also advisable after fertilizing. Spread a 1-2 inch layer of organic matter, such as compost, leaf mold, or bark chippings (you can get bags of pine bark mulch at Lowe’s), to smother weeds, retain moisture, and feed plants as it decomposes.

6. Container Plants

Plants in container gardens always need more feeding and watering than those in the ground, as they can use up all the nutrients in the compost. After planting, the nutrients in the mix tend to last a couple of months, and so the plants need feeding going forward.

It means that any plants that have overwintered in pots and are entering a new season will be desperately in need of an additional dose of nutrients in early spring for the food they need to grow and flower over the weeks and months ahead.

To fertilize container plants, it is advisable to opt for a slow-release fertilizer in spring, supplemented with regular liquid feeds every week or two going forward.

This Osmocote plant food on Amazon can feed for up to six months and is a great source of spring nutrients. Sprinkle the recommended amount onto the soil surface and mix into the top inches of soil.

Follow this up with a liquid feed starting at least two weeks after the initial application. For this, you can use a general liquid product, homemade comfrey tea, or a seaweed fertilizer, such as this sea magic extract at Burpee.

What to Shop:

April can be a really busy time in any garden. But it is also an exciting time of year as the temperatures rise and the garden really bursts into life.

To help you plan your month, our guide to what to plant in April shows what range of plants you can add to your garden as the soil warms in spring. And, this piece on plants to prune in April will tell you what you should and shouldn’t trim this month, too.

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I chatted to experts about what they think are the most impactful April lawn treatments and dethatching was highlighted as a simple fix that will help your lawn thrive come summer. This is because gently raking out thatch and debris from your lawn puts it in a perfect position for healthy growth.

If you are planning your April lawn care but are short of time, this is one job you should do in the upcoming weeks. A little bit of vital attention can make a marked difference to your summer lawn. Along with this, the experts also revealed a few other important lawn care tasks you can do this month that will help your lawn stay healthy and beautiful for summer parties and family gatherings.

The One April Lawn Fix That Makes a Big Impact

If you want a thick, green lawn to enjoy come summer, you need to add dethatching to your spring gardening checklist.

It is a spring lawn care task I have always done when maintaining turf in public gardens, and at home, and a vastly experienced lawn expert highlights it as an impactful, quick fix to get done this month.

Jason McCausland, National Technical Director at Weed Man, recommends ‘a good fan raking’ in April to get the season off to a great start. And this simple April lawn treatment can make a big difference come summer.

‘This will remove a lot of the thatch and debris that has accumulated over the winter,’ says the lawn expert. ‘This ensures your lawn is ready and able to soak up the sun, water, and nutrients it needs to thrive in the summer.’

You can get a fan rake with a carbon steel head containing 22 teeth and a sturdy wooden handle at Walmart that makes an ideal tool for dethatching a small lawn by hand this month.

Thatch is a natural layer that occurs in all lawns. It comprises dead material, decomposing grass stems, and moss, and sits between the soil surface and the visible top of the grass blades.

You expect all lawns to accumulate thatch. A thin layer is beneficial, but when it builds up too thickly, it becomes a problem. A thick thatch layer acts as a barrier, stopping water and nutrients from getting down to the grass’s roots. The result is a spongy, unhealthy lawn.

All lawns will benefit from being dethatched at least once a year. The best time to dethatch a lawn is when the grass is actively growing. Cool-season grasses will always benefit from a light dethatching in early spring, but whether April is the perfect time will depend on your location.

‘April is the perfect time in many northern and central areas because the lawn is just coming out of dormancy,’ adds Jason. ‘But April is a bit late in warmer and more southern areas. Their lawn care season usually kicks off in late January, so timing is key depending on where you live.’

Dethatching and scarifying both remove thatch and debris from a lawn; the difference is that scarifying is a deeper, more aggressive approach.

Dethatching is recommended for lighter maintenance, but you may need to scarify a lawn if you have a severe build-up of thatch that potentially jeapordizes the health of your grass.

Other April Grass Treatments That’ll Make a Difference

Dethatching alone will help any lawn perform better during the summer, as it improves how much moisture, nutrients, and air get to the grass roots. If you want to improve your summer lawn further, which other April lawn treatments do experts recommend?

Before doing anything this month, Theresa Smith, SVP at NaturaLawn, hails the importance of doing a lawn soil test at the start of the new growing season.

She says ‘a beautiful lawn starts with the soil’ and a soil test will tell homeowners vital information for the year ahead.

‘It will help you understand your soil (soil pH, nutrient levels, organic matter content, and soil type) and what nutrients and treatments will help it thrive all summer long,’ adds Theresa.

‘April is a great time to do a soil test because it should inform every other task. This will help you use the right type of treatments and right amounts – saving you from wasting products and money.’

You can get a soil test kit at Amazon that provides laboratory analysis of your lawn's soil pH and the availability of 13 nutrients.

In many climates, April is when homeowners start watering their lawns in the spring. When temperatures rise and regular rainfall is absent, it becomes time to implement a healthy watering schedule

Don Chouinard, a lawn irrigation expert from Irrigreen, says optimizing watering of lawns is ‘one of the simplest and most impactful’ things homeowners can do in April.

‘April is an ideal time to establish this routine as your lawn enters its active growing season,’ he says. ‘Maintaining consistent moisture early on helps prevent common issues like disease, root rot from overwatering, and weak root systems caused by inconsistent irrigation.’

Lawns need around an inch of water per week to stay green and have strong roots. How long you water your lawn for can make a big difference, as it is more beneficial to do deep, infrequent watering rather than daily light applications.

Jason McCausland also advises fertilizing the lawn this month, saying of the April lawn treatment: ‘It is time to apply a slow-release granular fertilizer to give the lawn a boost and help ensure a green and lush lawn all summer.’

The best fertilizer for grass in spring is a slow-release product that provides a lot of nitrogen to the lawn. A good example is this premium lawn food, available at Amazon.

What to Shop

When you should start lawn care in spring depends on the soil reaching the right temperatures. It differs across the US hardiness zones and whether lawns have cool or warm-season grasses. This guide to the ideal soil temperature to start spring lawn care reveals the markers for a host of seasonal maintenance tasks.

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The good news is you don't have to break the bank to give your yard a springtime glow-up. Color can bring about an immediate impact, adding vibrancy and depth to your spring garden ideas. Choosing three or four complementary colors will create cohesion and drama for your backyard ideas, while mixing in foliage with colors for depth will help keep your yard looking lush and vibrant all summer long.

To find out more, I spoke to two US garden designers to find out what they would do to help you focus on your next garden chapter, and they shared their two distinctive methods.

Cohesive Color

Chicago based landscape designer Hayden Regina knows a thing or two about giving yards a refresh and believes the key is to focus on repeat planting using the same or similar colors and shades.

He tells me, 'A useful way to make a spring refresh feel intentional rather than piecemeal is to think in terms of matrix planting. He gives us an example of a soothing palette in blue hues.

'Rather than arranging plants as individual specimens, the garden can be organized around a consistent base layer that repeats. When the same colors and textures recur across the planting, the whole composition reads as a single tapestry rather than a series of disconnected plants.

'A dependable matrix can begin with something like Sesleria autumnalis (or autumn moor grass) as the constant. Its fine, mounding foliage forms a soft green ground plane that visually ties the planting together from early spring through fall. Through that layer, drifts of Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ emerge in spring with clear blue flowers and a compact, upright habit. You can find Amsonia 'Blue Ice' perennial plants available from Amazon.

'As the season progresses, the hardy geranium ‘Rozanne’ extends the color story with violet-blue blooms that repeat for months. Together, these three plants create structure, continuity, and a long season of interest while keeping the palette calm and cohesive.'

Hayden continues, 'To prevent the planting from feeling flat, introduce punctuation plants that rise above the matrix with distinctive form. Sculptural perennials such as Eryngium ‘Prairie Moon’, Digitalis ferruginea, or Echinacea pallida bring vertical movement and contrast without disrupting the composition. You can find great-value Echinacea pallida seeds at Amazon.

'Their silhouettes, whether the architectural grey thistles of eryngium, the warm spires of rust foxglove, or the graceful, nodding petals of pale coneflower, read as rhythmic markers moving through the planting. This creates a spatial condition rather than many focal points.'

Color Bursts

If you like the idea of growing edimentals, another way to bring some change this spring with color is by choosing some new edible plants for your borders, as Ashley Irene, founder of Heirloom Potager based in South California, shared with me.

'I love to layer in a color story, mixing warm and cool season flowers, most of which are edible, to complement the future fruits and vegetables growing into the warm season.

'For clients who love a warm color story, I'll mix white alyssum with red and yellow violas and pansies, paired with Alaskan nasturtium, and a mix of red, orange, and yellow ranunculus or poppies for the cool season layered against green cabbages, colorful lettuce mixes, and arugula.

'As the weather warms, red petunias, orange and yellow marigolds, and edible celosia are added when tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are transplanted.'

This edible wild flower seed mix from Amazon would be a quick and simple way to create your own take on this idea.

There is no limit to Ashley's imagination when it comes to injecting change that not only looks beautiful but also taste delicious and edimentals are a great way to do just that.

She continues, 'Black Strawberry tomatoes, purple jalapeños, and a mix of warm-season greens, such as arugula, Swiss chard, and kale offer a beautiful mix of foliage to accent the color story.'

To ensure a smooth transition after your spring flowering bulbs begin to fade you will want to focus on choosing a palette of color for summer flowering bulbs. Think lilies, gladiolas and dahlias. The good news is there are so many wonderful varieties to choose from, the difficulty will be choosing a palette that reflects your style of gardening and your personality.

Or you could also consider sowing a wildflower meadow in your yard, which will provide a succession of different flowers throughout the summer and also provide a feast for pollinators, adding a different type of life and energy to your greenspace. This wildflower seed mix available from Amazon contains 21 different types of wildflowers, which will bring vibrancy and color with minimal effort.

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False spring is a phenomenon in late winter and very early spring when unusually warm temperatures arrive, often triggering plants to bloom and put on new growth prematurely. The issue is it typically only lasts for a couple of weeks before frosty conditions return. As such, some pruning, planting, and fertilizing now is likely to do more harm than good.

Experts say these actions may seem productive but will actually make your plants vulnerable to frost damage, potentially wiping out your spring garden before the real growing season arrives. Here, they share five common mistakes to avoid in false spring to protect your plants' health and save wasted efforts.

What is False Spring?

False spring is a period in late winter or early spring when temperatures seem warmer than usual, the sun is shining, and some your plants have responded positively with new growth and early blooms. But, it's often short-lived with colder weather retuning just a few weeks later.

'False spring can feel like permission to begin planting. Warm days arrive, soil softens, and it seems like winter is ending,' describes Siobhan Shaw, sustainable gardening expert and founder of Growing to Give.

'But when that warmth is followed by a hard freeze, the damage can be significant, not something a bandage can fix,' she adds.

To help you avoid this, experts have shared five common mistakes to steer clear of during false spring.

5 Mistakes to Avoid in False Spring

You can look out for a false spring by looking ahead at the weather forecast for your US hardiness zone, identifying your frost dates, and figuring out when the last frost is.

This way you'll know exactly when it's safe to prune, plant, and fertilize without putting your garden at risk.

1. Don't Neglect Fruit Blossoms

It's not uncommon for some fruit trees to have emerging blossoms in early spring. But, don't be fooled by the warmer temperatures of false spring – these delicate flower buds need protecting now to ensure they fruit later in the year.

'I have seen entire peach and apricot crops lost after trees began blooming during a January thaw and then freezing temperatures returned and turned them black,' says Siobhan.

'Once blossoms are damaged, there is no fruit for the season. That means no harvest, and in our home, no canned peaches or apricot jam for winter. It makes the impact very real,' she adds.

You can protect the best trees for spring blossom with things like a frost cloth (like this one for trees from Amazon) during this time.

Just take care to remove it during warmer temperatures in the day (which will allow for pollination to happen) and replace it as frosty nights return.

Only when the risk of late frost has passed entirely should you remove the frost cloth completely.

2. Don't Direct Sow Seeds

With your garden soil feeling warmer and daylight seemingly sticking around for longer in false spring, it can feel like the right time to sow seeds outdoors. However, the short-lived nature of false spring won't fully support seed germination, reducing your yield.

'I was so excited when warm weather broke that I planted peas in clay soil, only to return weeks later and find no germination,' Siobhan recalls.

'In heavy, cold, saturated soil, seeds can rot before they ever sprout. Air temperature can be misleading during false spring and soil conditions matter just as much,' she notes.

Instead, keep an eye on your frost dates and wait to direct sow later in the season for warm-season crops. Or, sow seeds indoors to start them early in a controlled environment, like a greenhouse.

You might find these seed trays with humidity domes from Amazon are helpful for the vegetables you plant in March.

3. Don't Plant Out Seedlings

Just like sowing seeds outdoors, the short-lived conditions of false spring won't be suitable for supporting a smooth transition for seedlings and starter plants.

'It's important not to get too excited and start planting outside when a false spring arrives,' warns gardening expert Annette Hird.

'It will most likely spell disaster for those tender plants, and even if some of them do survive, they're probably not going to put on that spurt of growth you were hoping for when the weather finally does become warm,' she adds.

This rings true for seedlings, starter plants, and overwintered plants, which are best kept under cover until all risk of frost has passed.

If you're lacking sheltered space to keep them in, consider a portable greenhouse (like this from Amazon) or a cold frame.

4. Delay Pruning a Little Longer

If you're anything like me, then you're keen to get out in the garden after winter to tidy up, cut plants back, and get the yard spring ready. But, it's a pruning mistake to do so during a false spring.

'Pruning during a false spring creates an injury on the plant and if the temperatures are going to drop again, that injury will be exposed and the plant won't be able to heal itself,' explains Lindsay Chastain, gardening expert and founder at The Waddle and Cluck.

If the plant isn't able to recover from pruning before frost returns, it could severely weaken it. This is especially true when pruning encourages new growth that will only be wiped out by colder temperatures.

It wastes plant energy, hinders its health, and could even cause the plant to dieback.

Instead, focus on light clean-up during this time, only pruning to remove damaged and broken plant material rather than encourage new growth – check out our list of plants to prune in March for more guidance.

If you do have to do any essential pruning during this time, always use sharp, clean pruning shears (like these Fiskars bypass pruning shears available on Amazon).

5. Avoid Fertilizing Your Plants

There are some plants that benefit from early feeding, but doing it too early can cause some serious setbacks once those frosty conditions return.

'This will initiate new growth, which is likely to die if a freeze happens. Hold off feeding plants until after the last predicted frost instead,' Annette suggests.

Not only can it encourage new growth that won't cope well with colder conditions, but fertilizing when plants aren't actually in active growth can cause fertilizer burn, causing them to fade and dieback.

Slow release fertilizers are often a better choice to avoid fertilizer burn, offering a gradual source of nutrients over a longer time period.

For example, you can fertilize your rose by applying this slow-release rose feed from Amazon in spring.

FAQs

What Is Fool's Spring?

Fool’s spring is simply another name, an alternative to false spring, that people sometimes use to describe that first period of warmth and sun in late winter or early spring. It is often followed by cold and seasonally-expected weather, including low temperatures, frosts, and snow.

Not only are there mistakes to avoid in false spring, but there is actually a false fall to be aware of, too. Check out our guide for expert advice on what to do when this comes around.

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Shop Gardening Kit

The top plants to divide in March are herbaceous perennials and ornamental grasses. It is a perfect moment for many gardeners as they are about to start growing again for the new season. However, for those still experiencing winter frosts, snow, and storms, it is not so opportune, and you may do more harm than good dividing plants this month.

Here we deep-dive into when to divide plants in early spring, and the best candidates that you may have in your garden. To prevent any mistakes, we reveal the zones where you should wait and the plants not to divide this month.

Plants You Can Divide in March: What to Do Now

1. Summer and Fall-Flowering Perennials

If the ground is workable, not frozen or waterlogged, a long list of summer and fall-flowering perennials can be divided in March. Lifting and dividing perennials every few years helps to keep clumps vigorous and continue to put on the best displays.

Over the years, clumps can get congested, and the flowering is affected. Dividing not only rejuvenates them, but also gives you more plants to add to your backyard ideas.

You can divide lots of the best perennials in early spring, including aster, sedum, bee balm, hardy geranium, monarda, salvia, black-eyed Susan, and many more.

When it comes to how to divide plants, smaller clumps can be dug up and divided by hand. Larger ones may need a sharp knife or two sturdy garden forks (such as this steel spading fork at Lowe’s) inserted back-to-back to lever the clump apart.

2. Foliage Plants

The importance of foliage plants cannot be underestimated, as they offer glorious color, sculptural foliage, and texture to any flower bed or container.

Many of the most popular foliage plants can be divided in March. Just like flowering perennials, congested clumps can suffer from bare centers or smaller foliage, which can be solved by lifting, dividing, and transplanting. Also, if a clump has got too big for its space, it can be divided into smaller sections.

The likes of hostas, hardy ferns, bergenia, brunnera, and lamb’s ears (if you want more plants with silver foliage) are suitable for dividing in early spring.

The job is best done on a dry, cloudy day, rather than a hot, sunny day, and care must be given to keep newly-planted divisions well-watered to get them established. A soil moisture meter (available at Amazon) can help you determine when to water divisions to ensure they put down strong roots.

3. Cool-Season Ornamental Grasses

Perfect for height, movement, and interest throughout the winter, ornamental grasses come in a wide variety, with specimens suitable for anything from screening to pots. When you grow ornamental grasses, they need to be divided every 3-4 years to prevent congestion, which can affect vigor and lead to dead centers.

Cool-season ornamental grasses such as carex, calamagrostis, festuca, hakonechloa, schizachyrium, and stipa can be divided just as they start growing in early spring to rejuvenate clumps, and give you new ones for free.

As the time to cut back ornamental grasses also lands in late winter or early spring, you can either prune and divide at the same time, or divide plants a little later, though any new growth should be an inch or two when lifted, split, and replanted.

Ornamental grasses can be split with a sharp spade or a hori-hori knife. The clumps can get very large, so it may take some work to dig up and divide an older one. It is recommended to wear gloves when working with grasses, as the blades can cause nasty cuts.

You can get a Japanese hori-hori garden knife at Amazon with a serrated blade that is ideal for sawing through tough roots.

4. Ground Cover Plants

Ground cover plants are vitally important but often underrated. The benefits of ground cover plants go far beyond smothering weeds and preventing soil erosion. There are lots of flowering ground cover plants that can make colorful carpets, and evergreen ground cover plants to bring year-round interest to often trickier spots with shade or slopes.

If you have extra areas to fill, you can propagate fast-growing ground cover plants by division rather than spending money on new ones. Or, if any of your existing plants are looking sparse, dividing them can revitalize clumps and give you new plants.

Popular ground cover plants like ajuga, creeping thyme, lamium, monkey grass, ground cover sedums, and more can be divided into sections in March and replanted straight away to get down roots before temperatures rise for summer.

When lifting and transplanting, adding bone meal into the planting hole and mixing it into the surrounding soil helps the new clumps to develop roots quickly. You can get a bag of organic bone meal at Burpee, which is ideal for new plants.

Plants You Should Not Divide in March – When to Wait

1. Anything When the Ground Is Frozen

The simple truth is that you don’t want to lift and divide any plants during frozen winter weather. It means the task isn’t suitable for colder US hardiness zones, particularly zones 3 or 4, in March, where it may be a job for April, or even May.

Depending on the weather, gardeners in zones 5 or 6 may be able to divide plants in the second half of March; otherwise, wait until next month if the ground remains frozen this month.

The dangers of dividing plants in freezing weather are that it stresses the plant, and roots can get damaged in extreme cold. If the ground is frozen or freezing temperatures are forecast, wait until the conditions get more suitable and the weather improves.

2. Spring-Blooming Perennials

Perennials are divided in spring or fall. A good motto to remember is that summer and fall-flowering perennials are better for spring division, and those that bloom in spring are better for fall.

Dividing spring-flowering perennials in March disrupts their natural life cycle, disturbing them just when they should be putting their energy into blooming. You’ll lose out on flowers for that season – is it worth it?

Instead, if you grow peonies, bleeding heart, irises, lilies, phlox, astilbe, or any other spring bloomers, don’t touch them in early spring.

Hold fire, and divide the plants after flowering, in early fall. This gives new clumps a lot of time to bed down roots ahead of winter, and they can flower come next spring.

3. Tender Plants

Any tender or borderline hardy plants in your yard shouldn’t be divided until at least after the risk of frost has ended. March is too early in many US hardiness zones to lift and divide plants, if the conditions are still too cold then leave it until late spring, usually April or May.

Wait until the soil has warmed in late spring to lift and divide the likes of cannas, agapanthus, red hot poker, dahlias, or alstroemeria. Dividing and planting them too soon can result in plants getting damaged by freezing weather, or rotting in cold, wet soil.

4. Warm-Season Ornamental Grasses

Cool-season ornamental grasses can be divided in March, but you do want to wait with warm-season grasses.

These types of grasses start growing later than cool-season ones, starting in late spring as opposed to early spring – hence the slight delay in lifting and dividing them, as you still want to do it just as they start growing.

If you have panicum, pennisetum, blood grass, pampas grass, or miscanthus varieties, these warm-season grasses should be divided in late April or early May once they just start growing for the new season.

As well as plants to divide in March, there are other key seasonal tasks to add to any spring gardening checklist.

Pruning is an important job, as many trees, shrubs, and perennials need trimming before they start growing again when the temperatures rise. You can see our guides to plants to prune in spring and trees to prune in March for detailed guidance on lots of plants that may need some attention this month.

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Tools for Dividing Plants

Once spring arrives, my thoughts always shift towards being outside in the garden again – on warm days anyway. There’s a real sense of looking forward and a keenness to gear up for the growing season ahead. If you're new to growing your own, working out the easiest vegetables to grow in March is a good place to start to help you get up to speed.

It's also a key time for sowing seeds indoors, especially if the weather is disappointing. I use a heat mat and grow lights to help speed up germination, and I always label everything carefully as it's amazing how many seedlings end up looking the same. Read on to find out what made it onto my list of favorite easy vegetables to plant in March.

1. Summer Cabbage

One of my favorite vegetables to plant in March is cabbage. It's so rewarding to grow as it develops into giant heads of leaves so fresh they squeak when you prep them for cooking. Packed with crunch and flavour, homegrown cabbages are a world away from store-bought varieties.

It's not too late to sow seeds now for a spring harvest, as it is a fast-growing vegetable. I prefer to start my cabbage seeds indoors around now, in seed trays placed on heat mats like this durable seedling heat mat from Amazon.

Seeds need to be kept consistently moist while they germinate. Once they sprout a few sets of leaves, which usually takes around 5-6 weeks, they can be transplanted directly into the ground, spacing them about 2 feet apart to give them enough room.

This year I'm trying the new Saku Saku cabbage variety from Burpee, which is available as seeds and young plants.

Cabbages are greedy feeders, so apply a high nitrogen fertilizer for plants such as this one by the The Grow Co, available from Amazon, until the heads begin to form.

Young plants need watering regularly too. It's a good idea to protect cabbage plants from pests by covering them. I grow my cabbages in hoops made from PVC pipes with mesh stretched over to stop the birds nibbling them.

2. Onions

Last year I planted my onions way too late and as a result the harvest was very disappointing.

The late planting was compounded by a very dry spring. Onions need water to grow larger, so when I eventually picked the crop in summer some of them had barely increased from the size they were when I planted them.

One of the most useful vegetables you can grow, onions are a cool-season crop that can be started in March. I always use onion sets, which are small onion bulbs especially prepped for planting.

Buy them according to the part of the country you live in. Look for short-day onions if you live in the south, while it's best to choose long-day onions for northern latitudes. Intermediate-day onions are also available, which are suitable for central locations. Find a selection to choose from for all hardiness zones here at Burpee.

Onions like a sunny location and well-drained soil. Plant the sets pointed end up, about 1 inch deep and 4 inches apart. Onions quickly become established and require very little attention unless there is a lack of rainfall, in which case you will need to water them regularly.

3. Kohlrabi

I grew green kohlrabi for the first time last year and was so impressed I'm growing it again. I like kohlrabi as it's one of those vegetables where you use all the parts, as both the stem and leaves are edible.

This time I'm trying purple kohlrabi too and I've chosen these organic heirloom 'Purple Vienna' seeds from Amazon, with a mildly sweet flavor and tender greens that can also be eaten raw.

The combination of green and purple will make a stunning addition to the garden too. Kohlrabi thrives in full sun and well-draining soil that's rich in nutrients.

The seeds can be sown directly in the ground if conditions are suitable or started indoors in seed trays if you live in a cold climate. Use a heat mat to provide warmth during germination, and ensure the trays remain consistently moist.

Kohlrabi seedlings are ready for transplanting when they have developed a couple of sets of true leaves. Then use a nitrogen-based fertilizer every 4 to 6 weeks for best results.

4. Chili peppers

I find that chillies are one of the best vegetables to plant in March as they need a long growing season, so it's a good idea to get going with them as soon as you can. Sow seeds indoors now to give them the time they need to reach maturity in late summer/early fall.

I'm mixing things up a little this year with a combo of different colors and varieties. This Salsa Blend from Burpee has red, yellow, orange and green varieties including 'Hungarian Wax', 'Anaheim Chili', 'Long Slim Red' Cayenne, 'Ancho' (Poblano) and 'Jalapeno M'.

Fill a tray with seed compost to a depth of ½ inch and push in the seeds. Transfer to a warm place – if necessary use a heat mat until the seeds have germinated. Keep the soil moist. Transplant seedlings when they have a couple of sets of true leaves.

Once it gets warmer move the plants outside, planting them either in the ground or in containers.. Chillies thrive in full sun and like well-drained, fertile soil.

5. Spinach

Leafy green spinach is one of the best vegetables to plant in March for instant gratification as it grows so rapidly – around a month from sowing seeds to picking a plentiful supply of fresh leaves to enjoy.

This cool-season vegetable likes a sunny spot with well-drained soil. It can be either started indoors from seed then transplanted outside or planted directly in the ground or in containers.

If you want to grow outside now is the time to sow spinach seeds like this crinkly-leaved heirloom 'Bloomsdale' organic variety from Amazon. Wait for a spell of fine weather at a depth of about an inch, spacing them 4 to 5 inches apart. Water thoroughly and maintain a consistent soil moisture.

As with lettuce and salad leaves, I always make sure I sow a scattering of seeds every couple of weeks to keep my spinach crop producing consistently.

6. Early Potatoes

March is a key time to plant early potato varieties, which will need chitting beforehand. This is the process of letting seed potatoes sprout before planting them outside. I use empty egg cartons for this and just stick them on the windowsill. Main crop varieties can be grown directly outdoors once the threat of frost has passed.

If you're planning on growing potatoes in the ground, enrich the soil with organic compost and all-purpose fertilizer before planting. At this stage phosphorus and potassium are the key nutrients to boost growth cycle, so try a seed potato fertiliser like this one by Wicked Growth from Amazon, which is packed with beneficial ingredients.

Place the potato in the bottom of a trench with the eyes facing upwards, and cover with soil. Once the plants have grown to around 10 inches tall, mound them up with more soil to protect tubers from the light and prevent them going green.

Potatoes need consistent moisture throughout their growth period. Water around the base of the plants, avoiding the leaves. It's a good idea to add a layer of mulch to aid moisture retention in the soil.

7. Tomatoes

One of my favorite things to grow, last year I had such a bumper crop of tomatoes that this year I'm going to do successional seed planting to spread out the harvest. Last year I grew three different varieties and I'm adding a couple of extra ones to the mix this time round.

I love the look of the new 'Rain Drops' cherry tomato from Burpee, which promises cascades of fruit in dense clusters, plus the cold-tolerant 'Early Bird' variety, also from Burpee, as the seeds can be sown directly outdoors.

Once I start sowing tomato seeds indoors in March it feels like the new growing season is really happening. You need to start tomato seeds off around eight weeks before you plan to transplant them outside.

Again, it's a case of filling a seed tray with seed compost and sowing 1-2 seeds per cell around ½ inch deep. Keep the soil evenly moist during the germination phase. It's also a good idea to use a heat mat to speed up growth.

Tomato seedlings are ready to transplant when they grow a couple of sets of their true leaves. Before moving plants outside it's important to harden them off gradually so outdoor temperatures aren't a shock.

Finding out when to plant vegetables can be tricky. To get your season underway find out some of the easiest vegetables to grow.

There are more crops you can add to your seed sowing schedule for March too. On top of those already covered, you can also start growing kale, sweet peppers, eggplant, and leeks, as well as a good selection to max up your summer herb garden ideas.

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Meteorologically speaking, spring always starts on March 1, while astronomical spring comes a few weeks later (March 20th in 2026). As the temperatures warm and days grow longer, plants start to wake from their winter slumber. Some plants desperately need pruning before new growth starts, others need planting ahead of their buds breaking, and certain flowers or vegetables need sowing to be ready in time.

February has always been a prime transitional month and a busy one for a gardener. As plants start to stir, you can set yourself up for success by getting certain key tasks done now. Here are five February gardening jobs to never skip that you need to get done before the window closes. You’ll see what to trim, sow, plant in February, and more.

1. Prune Wisteria

Regular pruning keeps any wisteria looking and performing at its best. For a glorious plant, you need to prune wisteria twice a year, in summer and winter.

This keeps it compact, healthy, and flowering profusely. If you grow wisteria and haven’t done it yet, the window for winter pruning closes at the end of February.

Thankfully, the actual method for winter pruning wisteria is very simple. It just involves cutting the previous summer’s growth back to two or three buds with a pair of sharp pruning shears.

I have used a trusty pair of Felco F2 pruning shears (available at Amazon) to do this task for many years.

Getting it done before the end of the month is important. An unpruned wisteria produces fewer flowers, as trimming encourages the growth of flowering spurs.

Any flowers that do appear can end up obscured by lots of leaves and stems, and the vigorous growth habit can lead to stems getting out of control.

2. Prune Fruit

Winter pruning is important with fruit trees such as apples and pears. It keeps them healthy and will encourage a better crop of fruit this season. The best time to prune fruit trees (including apples, pears, quince, and figs, but NOT stone fruit trees) is in winter, during dormancy, before the new growth starts in spring.

Not pruning can lead to increased health issues, especially if you are not removing dead, damaged, or diseased wood, and over time, cause overcrowded canopies that are more susceptible to disease. Yields and the size of the fruits are also affected when pruning is skipped.

Also, when you grow raspberries, February is a prime month for pruning fall-fruiting types that fruit on new wood. This type of raspberry pruning is super-simple; just cut all the canes down to ground level. It wants to be done in late winter – I have always had these as plants to prune in February on my to-do list – before any new growth starts.

If you don’t cut them down, the new growth coming through can get swamped. A lack of air and light stunts their growth, and you’ll not get many berries to pick. The patch will look messy and crowded. It can only take a few minutes to cut them down, so get it done this weekend.

3. Plant Bare-Root

Bare-root plants are a great option for any gardener. You can get ornamental trees, fruit trees, shrubs, roses, hedging plants, and perennial plants bare-root during dormancy. They are a cheaper alternative to container-grown plants and offer a cost-effective way to boost flower beds or overall backyard ideas.

They are available during dormancy and want to be planted before the plant starts actively growing.

Once the buds start to break, it is too late. While some gardeners in colder climates can plant in early March, for most gardeners, the window to plant bare-root trees or shrubs closes at the end of this month.

Certainly, the clock is ticking to purchase bare-root plants (see a wide range of bare-root plants available at Amazon). You may be able to act fast and find bare-root roses, trees, or shrubs, but you will need to plant them straight away when you get your hands on them.

To get bare-root plants off to a good start in their new home, it can help to add compost or bone meal to the soil when planting. You can get organic bone meal at Burpee that will help to promote strong root development.

4. Chit Potatoes

Chitting potatoes isn’t essential, but I highly recommend it, and I do every year to boost my harvests. In a nutshell, it is a method of sprouting seed potatoes indoors to extend the season, and it can improve your yield and help to grow bigger potatoes.

The classic types of potatoes to chit are early potatoes, and February makes the perfect time to start them off indoors. Set them into egg boxes or seed trays, with their ‘eyes’ facing upwards, and place them somewhere bright and cool, such as a windowsill that gets lots of indirect light.

Chitting takes 4-6 weeks, and early potatoes are planted between mid-March and mid-April. First earlies ideally want to go into the ground in March, while second earlies are planted early to mid-April.

To give them enough time to chit for a good period, they want to start before the end of February. Given the right conditions and time, the shoots should be around an inch when you plant potatoes.

If you want to grow potatoes, see the range of potatoes at Burpee. If you miss the boat for earlies, maincrop potatoes are planted in April after the second earlies and don’t necessarily require chitting due to their longer growing season.

5. Sow Sweet Peas

Sweet peas are perennially popular cottage garden flowers. Whether adorning trellises in flower beds or being grown as cutting garden flowers, these nostalgic plants deserve a place in any garden to bring glorious blooms and sweet fragrance in summer.

Midsummer is the prime season for most sweet pea varieties. If you want yours to be blooming in full splendour at that time of year, you need to plant sweet peas by the end of February.

You can start growing sweet peas in the fall or late winter/early spring. As they can take three to four months from sowing the seeds to starting to bloom, seeds planted by the end of February can be expected to bloom in June.

Sowing sweet peas has always been one of my own February gardening jobs to never skip, and I make sure to have them planted before the end of the month. Realistically, you can sow into March, but the downside is later blooms and a shorter overall season of flowers to enjoy.

Another trusted tip is to pinch the tips of the plants when they reach around four inches tall. This develops a bushier plant, with more side shoots and more blooms. If you sowed sweet peas in fall or earlier in the year, add pinching out plants to your list if they have reached that size.

See the range of sweet pea seeds to sow at Amazon

See the range of sweet pea seeds to sow at Walmart

See the range of sweet pea seeds to sow at True Leaf Market

See the range of sweet pea seeds to sow at Botanical Interests

Do you fancy discovering another of those February gardening jobs to never skip? An honorable mention must go to lifting and dividing snowdrops in the green. The term ‘in the green’ basically means the plant has flowered, but the green leaves are still growing.

It is a reliable way to lift, divide, and plant snowdrops, and is best done when the blooms start to fade. This can be February for many gardeners, but it may be early March for those in colder climates whose snowdrops bloom later.

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Over my years as a horticulturist, I have spent many late winter days out in the garden with pruning tools in hand. It is a great time to trim, tidy, and train. Pruning needs to feature prominently on your list of February gardening jobs, as trees, shrubs, climbers, and perennials want trimming.

But it is important to know what and what not to prune this month, as cutting anything that blooms on old wood simply removes the flowers. Consider the weather, too, as the ideal timing will depend on your US hardiness zone. Those in warmer and milder climates are good to go in February, but delay if the days are frosty, and those in colder areas are best to wait until at least late February to prune.

1. Hydrangeas (Some)

Knowing when to prune hydrangeas can be confusing for many gardeners. It all comes down to the type of wood that they bloom on, so you must know if your hydrangea variety flowers on old wood or new wood.

Those that flower on new wood can be pruned this month, whereas a hydrangea that flowers on old wood should be left alone, as trimming now removes this year’s flowers.

Late winter is the time to prune panicle hydrangeas, such as ‘Limelight’ hydrangeas and ‘Bobo’ hydrangeas, and smooth hydrangeas, including the ever-popular ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea.

Only ever prune hydrangeas with clean and sharp pruning tools, including pruning shears, loppers, and a pruning saw (such as this Felco folding saw at Garden Goods Direct). This ensures clean cuts, which reduces the risk of pests and diseases, and prevents the spread of diseases around the garden.

2. Rose of Sharon

You don’t need to prune a Rose of Sharon yearly, but as this hibiscus variety is a fast-growing shrub, regular trimming, at least every two or three years, keeps it controlled and healthy. If you plant a Rose of Sharon and don’t prune, you’ll risk a spreading shrub that flops under the weight of its own flowers – not the most attractive look.

Prune a Rose of Sharon during dormancy, just before new growth starts. As the shrub flowers on new wood, pruning directs energy into creating new shoots to carry flowers. It is better to trim earlier than later, as leaving it too late is a pruning mistake that risks cutting off developing buds.

Remove any dead, diseased, or damaged branches, and weak, crossing, or undesirable stems. You can then shape the shrub and trim the tips of some branches to encourage bushy growth.

A word of warning, Rose of Sharon is classed as an invasive plant in some US states. As it is notorious for self-seeding, regular deadheading throughout the blooming season will prevent the shrub from spreading.

3. Crepe Myrtle

Crepe myrtle is a flowering shrub that needs pruning each year if you want a great display of blooms every season. If you grow a crepe myrtle and don’t prune, the risk is of a dense, overgrown shrub. So plan to prune a crepe myrtle every late winter, with the window opening in February in most climates.

It is another shrub that flowers on new wood, so it needs pruning before it starts growing. If you have wondered why your crepe myrtle isn’t blooming, it can commonly be due to gardeners pruning too late and removing the developing buds.

As for how to prune crepe myrtle, start by removing dead, damaged, and diseased stems. It is also advisable to cut out any weak stems thinner than a pencil and any branches growing inward. You can selectively remove a few larger branches to thin the crown and lower the canopy, which is better than topping the shrub to one height.

4. Trumpet Vine

Trumpet vines (also called Campsis) are among the fastest-growing climbing plants, making them a necessary choice for pruning in February if you have one.

Regular pruning is essential to keep these vines in check, as they can cause damage to structures if allowed to grow uncontrolled. There is no need to panic, though. Pruning a trumpet vine keeps it in check and rewards you with lots of its warm, long-lasting flowers.

Prune in late winter to remove any dead, damaged, or diseased stems, and cut back lateral shoots off the main stems to 2-3 buds. However, when required, you can be more aggressive with trumpet vine pruning. This can even involve cutting all the growth back to 12 inches to rejuvenate the climber.

When working with trumpet vines, it is advisable to wear gardening gloves and long sleeves (you can get gardening sleeves at Amazon for protection) as the stems can bleed sap, which can cause skin irritation to some gardeners.

5. Wisteria

Wisteria is another vigorous flowering climber that demands attention. Indeed, when you grow wisteria, it needs pruning twice a year, once in winter and once in summer. This double-pronged approach keeps it looking fabulous and under control.

The good news is that pruning wisteria in winter is surprisingly simple. It is a good time to thin the plant, shape the climber (which is easier to do when the leaves have dropped), and train and tie in wisteria shoots for the growing season ahead.

Cut out any dead, damaged, or diseased stems, weak growth, and crossing branches. Then, simply cut back last summer’s growth, which should be long and whippy, to two or three buds from the main framework of branches. Cut back to a healthy bud to encourage a great display of spring flowers.

6. Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susans bring glorious warm shades to flower beds in the summer and fall, with the backswept petals standing out against the dark center, which gives them their moniker.

While black-eyed Susans have a long blooming season, lasting up until the first frosts, you don’t want to rush out too quickly to chop them down. They rank alongside coneflowers and globe thistle as perennials not to cut back in fall, as they provide valuable food for birds in winter and shelter in a beneficial wildlife garden.

It is better to cut back black-eyed Susans in late winter. This timing is also relevant for cutting back coneflowers, too, along with any other perennials and native plants that can feed birds in winter. Foodscaping for winter wildlife is vital for supporting birds, insects, and small mammals, and leaving seedheads is a simple way to do this.

To cut back black-eyed Susans in February, simply head out with a pair of clean and sharp pruning shears or hedge shears and cut the stems back to 4-6 inches above the ground.

7. Russian Sage

Russian sage is another of those great plants for pollinators that you don’t want to be too quick to cut back once they finish flowering. While it can be done in the fall, it is preferable to leave the seed heads in place for local wildlife to enjoy. A bonus is that the untrimmed stems will provide structure in flower beds, and they look beautiful when tinged with a winter frost.

It is, however, important to cut back Russian sage each late winter. A trimmed plant will have strong, upright stems covered in lovely blue-purple flowers in summer, whereas one left to its own devices can flop over, which can be an eyesore in the garden. A well-maintained Russian sage is bushy, open, and has lots of new growth, rather than being congested and full of woody stems. Good air circulation and light penetration help keep the plant healthy.

To prune Russian sage, cut the stems back to the lowest set of leaves or around 12-14 inches from the ground. Always cut to a healthy bud to promote the growth of lots of flowers to enjoy.

If you grow ornamental grasses in your garden, these are also ideal plants to prune in February. Late winter is the perfect time to cut back ornamental grasses, and it is simple to do.

The only thing to remember is that deciduous and evergreen grasses require different techniques. To help you prune correctly, this guide to ornamental grasses to cut back in February contains both types, along with tips for how to prune them properly.

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The crops here are all easy to grow, reliable, and quick to mature. It means you can enjoy spring harvests without huge effort. I always advocate for getting ahead and enjoying earlier harvests, which is why planting in February, when the opportunity arises, checks all the right boxes for me.

This is where cold frames and cloches come to the fore. They offer an ideal way to warm the soil in late winter, which opens opportunities to sow seeds outdoors earlier. They provide an ideal protected environment for early crops that thrive in cooler temperatures, and free up space by giving an alternative place to start plants rather than doing it all in a greenhouse.

1. Lettuce

Lettuce is available in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and tastes. For the earliest lettuce harvests, it is best to sow butterhead or loose-leaf types of lettuce in late winter under cold frames (such as this wooden portable cold frame from Wayfair) or cloches.

To grow lettuce in this early way, prepare the soil before sowing by weeding thoroughly and placing the cold frame or cloche in place two weeks before to warm the soil ready for the seeds. Thinly sow the seeds around a half-inch deep into drills or individual holes and keep the soil moist.

You should thin the seedlings in early or mid-spring to give the plants sufficient space to develop, and remove the cloche or lift the cold frame lid on warm days to provide air circulation. As the weather warms, you can remove the cover, though you may need to take precautions against slugs and snails.

Harvest the cut-and-come-again lettuce by removing the outer leaves first and allowing the inner ones to continue to develop.

'Salad bowl' is a perfect loose-leaf lettuce variety to plant in February, and you can get packs of 'Salad Bowl' lettuce seeds at Burpee.

2. Arugula

This spicy salad leaf grows quickly and thrives in cooler conditions. If you want a reliable vitamin-rich crop that adds peppery notes to winter and spring salads, then arugula is a top contender. Going from sowing to picking in little over four weeks, you can enjoy fresh harvests as early as March.

Growing arugula under the protection of a cold frame or a cloche (or something like this portable mini greenhouse from Amazon as a cloche alternative) lessens the risk of slugs and snails nibbling on seedlings as they develop. Plus, as arugula doesn’t respond well to being transplanted, directly sowing seeds outdoors guarantees the best results. So sow the seeds into shallow drills and cover lightly.

Keep the plant moist and remove the cover on warm days to allow air to circulate and keep the leaves healthy. Harvest arugula as a cut-and-come-again vegetable once the leaves are large enough to use. Simply snip off the largest, outer leaves with clean scissors or pruning snips.

You can get packs of arugula seeds at Botanical Interests that can produce tender leaves to pick in 20-28 days.

3. Carrots

Homegrown carrots simply taste much sweeter than store-bought ones. If, like me, you use a lot of carrots throughout the year, then don’t just grow them in summer; start early and enjoy a longer season.

The earliest crop of carrots can be enjoyed by sowing them in February under a cloche or in a cold frame. Warm the soil for a few weeks before sowing the seeds, and then remove any stones to ensure straight roots and rake the ground level.

The best types of carrots for early sowings are fast-maturing varieties, like 'Nantes' (you can get Nantes carrot seeds at Burpee) or 'Amsterdam', or circular carrots, such as 'Paris Market' (you can get Paris Market carrot seeds at Amazon). For any of these, sow the seeds in rows four inches apart, and leave an inch between each seed.

You can add compost to the soil before sowing, but not manure or any high-nitrogen fertilizer. This will encourage lots of green growth, rather than the roots, which is what you need when growing carrots.

If you do want to fertilize carrots, use a low-nitrogen, higher-phosphorus and potassium fertilizer (such as this 5-10-10 vegetable fertilizer at Amazon) or bone meal, applied just before sowing or as the seeds germinate.

4. Radish

A super-early harvest of radishes can be the reward for being bold and sowing early. The first sowings of radishes can be made in late winter under the protection of a cloche or cold frame, and this can be the first of many successive plantings of radishes for a long, productive season.

Plant radish seeds directly into the soil, spacing them about an inch apart and half an inch deep. You may need to thin seedlings as they develop to the right spacing for the best roots.

Radishes are among the fastest-growing vegetables; they germinate in under a week and can go from sowing to harvesting quickly. While early sowings do take a bit longer than those done later in the season, you should still expect to be harvesting in around six weeks from a February sowing.

You can get 'French Breakfast' radish seeds at True Leaf Market, which are renowned for their speedy growth and tender roots

5. Fava beans

You can start growing fava beans in a cold frame in February. As fava beans germinate at lower temperatures than many other crops, you can plant them into deep pots in a cold frame to start them off, and then plant them outside after around six weeks.

I have sown indoors in February and found it a more reliable way to plant fava beans than doing it in the fall. You’ll certainly get earlier pickings than waiting till the ground is suitable for spring planting. The harvest time for fava beans can potentially be advanced by four to six weeks through the use of covers.

The cold frame route is a good option as seeds can rot outdoors in cold, damp soil, and also gives the beans protection from mice, which are renowned for nibbling on them as they search for food in winter.

'Aquadulce' is the variety I have always sown in late winter. It is very reliable, heavy-cropping, and can survive cold. You can get packs of 'Aquadulce' fava bean seeds at Amazon.

6. Peas

Peas are a very versatile crop to grow, and the earliest sowings can be made in February. This gets them off to an early start and provides you with harvests by May or early June.

Just as with fava beans, the seeds can rot in cold, wet soil, and mice are fans, so the protection offered by cold frames and garden cloches can be crucial to successful germination and raising healthy seedlings.

Sow early pea varieties two inches deep into pots, recycled toilet rolls, or deep modules. To avoid root disturbance when transplanting seedlings, biodegradable pots like these at Amazon are great for peas, as you plant the pot with the seedling.

Another common way gardeners grow peas is to sow them along a length of guttering filled with seed compost, then slide the seedlings and soil from the tube into a trench.

A great compact variety of shelling pea to grow is 'Little Marvel', and you can get seeds at Botanical Interests for plants that grow just 18-24 inches tall.

7. Salad Onions

Spring onions, green onions, and scallions are thrown together under the tag ‘salad onions’ here, as they are immature onions harvested at different stages, harvested with or without a small bulb forming. No matter what you call them, these onions will reliably germinate under a cold frame or cloche.

The seeds want to be sown in narrow drills 4-12 inches apart, and the seeds need to be spaced two inches apart for good-sized onions to use for salads, seasoning, or in cooking. If you sowed thickly, thin these seedlings to a good spacing as they develop.

Keep the soil moist, but not waterlogged, as this risks the spring onions rotting. If you sow in February, you can start harvesting in April. Once the stems reach 8-12 inches apart, start harvesting them as required.

'White Lisbon' is a variety of bunching onion that has always worked for me. You can get packs of 'White Lisbon' bunching onion seeds at Burpee to sow.

February can be a busy time as you try to get the garden ready for the new season. To help you get organized, this guide to February gardening jobs features lots of useful tasks to do this month. Plus, if you want to do a bit more sowing, see this guide to flowers to sow in February so your beds and containers will be full of blooms come summer.

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