Never fear if you haven’t gotten your fall broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts planted out. These dates can be pushed into early August as well.

Check local greenhouses for transplants!

THE Resource for Home Vegetable Gardens in Kentucky

It’s vegetable gardening season so keep up the good work.  Click below to access UK’s great Extension publication ID-128, Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky

Basil’s Bane

• Basil downy mildew can spread rapidly and result in complete plant loss.

• Infection starts on the lower leaves and moves up. It causes pale yellow areas on the upper leaf surface with velvety gray fuzz on the underside.

• The pathogen can be transmitted on seed, transplants, or fresh leaves.

• Resistant varieties are the best way to prevent basil downy mildew.

NOW TAKING APPLICATIONS

2023 Master Gardener Program

If you’d like to become an Extension Master Gardener, sign up today! Completed applications and payment are due by August 18.  The program will begin in September.

You Might Be A Master Gardener IF…

• You love to talk about the weather — and probably have a rain gauge

• You base vehicle-buying decisions on how many plants/tools/bags of stuff it can hold.

• You have a whole refrigerator dedicated to seed storage

• You’ve saved more than one clearance rack plant

• You tell everyone they should get a soil test

• You have a decorative compost bucket on your kitchen counter

• The only pictures of your gardening friends includes their butts (weed-pulling!)

• You plan vacations around nearby botanical gardens and arboreta

• You know the best way to remove the dirt under your fingernails

• Your yard is much neater and cleaner than your house

Important Time for Turf Care

August 15-September 30 is the best time to either establish a cool-season turfgrass lawn or to renovate an existing lawn in Kentucky.

August Garden To-Do List

Divide peonies late this month and into early fall. Iris should be divided this month.

Continue to remove old withered flowers (deadheading) to keep plants looking good while also encouraging new blooms

Grub damage may show up in lawns in August and September although grubs prefer bluegrass or well-irrigated turf.

If you don’t know how to preserve (or maybe you need a refresher) summer fruits and vegetables, be sure to call the Pulaski Co Extension office (606-679-6361) and see when the next one will be taught!  

Plan for next year’s garden by placing small stakes in the garden where there’s room for alliums, daffodils, lilies, tulips, and other spring-flowering bulbs that can be planted in the fall.

Watering is high priority in the summer but water judiciously. Watering early in the morning is best. Mulch helps retain the water you’ve applied so be sure that plants have 3 inches of the good stuff.

Start planning for a winter vegetable garden. Get supplies like rebar, PVC pipe, and plastic sheeting. Or build yourself a cold frame. And don’t forget to order seeds!

Free Native Plant Garden Designs

Somerset is not a big city but the city of Lexington has posted free native plant garden designs online for anyone to use. They’re called Plant by Numbers.

They have many designs to offer from full sun to full shade and in between. In addition, they include front yard, street side, and stream side. Check it out here!