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| Tiger Swallowtail on blue Veronica |
Planning
• Optimal time for establishing a new
lawn is late August through mid-September. Consider ecolawn and keeping the lawn to a minimum to reduce maintenance and water use. Click here to read an article by OSU's Tom Cook for ample information on ecolawns.
• Dampwood termites begin flying late
this month. Make sure your home is free of wet wood or places where wood and
soil are in contact.
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| Termite |
Maintenance and Clean Up
• Make compost of kitchen waste and yard debris. See this article about composting. Don't use lawn clippings if lawn has
been treated with herbicide, including "weed-and-feed" products. Those clippings are best left on the lawn. Don't compost diseased plants unless you are using the "hot compost"
method (120 degrees to 150 degrees Farenheit).
• Fertilize cucumbers, summer squash, and
broccoli to maintain production while you continue harvesting.
• Clean and fertilize strawberry beds.
• Use mulch to protect ornamentals and
garden plants from hot weather damage. If needed, provide temporary shade,
especially for recent plantings.
• Camellias need deep watering to develop
flower buds for next spring.
• Prune raspberries, boysenberries, and
other caneberries after harvest. Check raspberries for holes made by crown
borers, near the soil line, at base of plant. Remove infested wood before
adults emerge (approximately mid-August).
• Monitor garden irrigation closely so water is not wasted and crops don't dry out too much.
• Prune out dead fruiting canes in
trailing blackberry and train new primocanes prior to end of month
• Prune cherry trees before fall rains
begin to allow callusing in dry weather. This will minimize the spread of
bacterial canker.
Planting/Propagation
• Plant winter cover crops in vacant
space in the vegetable garden
• Plant winter kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts,
turnips, parsnips, parsley, spinach, peas (enation-virus-resistan varieties) and Chinese cabbage.
Pest Monitoring and Management
• Remove cankered limbs from fruit and
nut trees for control of diseases such as apple anthracnose and bacterial
canker of stone fruit. Sterilize tools before each new cut.
• Check apple maggot traps.
• Control yellowjackets and wasps with
traps and lures only as necessary. Keep in mind they are beneficial insects and help
control pest insects in the home garden.
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| Weevil |
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| Scale insects |
• Check for root weevils in ornamental
shrubs and flowers; codling moth and spider mite in apple trees; scale insects
in camellias, holly and maples. Many can be removed by hand or with a blast from a hose.
• Watch for corn earworm on early corn.
• For mite control on ornamentals and
most vegetables, hose off foliage. It's best to do this when foliage will dry before nightfall.
• Check leafy vegetables for
caterpillars. Pick off caterpillars as they appear. Use Bt-k, if necessary.
• Continue monitoring peaches, plums,
prunes, figs, fall-bearing raspberries and strawberries, and other plants that
produce soft fruits and berries for Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD). If SWD
are present, use an integrated and least toxic approach to manage the pests.
Learn how to monitor for SWD flies and larval infestations in fruit.
Sustainable gardening
The Oregon State University Extension Service encourages sustainable gardening practices.
Preventive pest management is emphasized over reactive pest control. Identify and monitor problems before acting and opt for the least toxic approach that will remedy the problem. The conservation of biological control agents (predators, parasitoids) should be favored over chemical controls.
Use chemical controls only when necessary and only after thoroughly reading the pesticide label. First consider cultural, then physical and biological controls. Choose the least-toxic options (insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, and botanical insecticides).
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