AUGUST

In the Edible Garden

• Sow radish, lettuce, spinach, beet and turnip seed late in the month.
• If you have an empty area in the garden, consider planting a green manure crop. Sow seeds of oats, rye or buckwheat. When dug or tilled into the soil in the spring, green manure crops improve soil structure and add nutrients.Plant a final crop of beans in early August. Keep germinating seeds moist.
• Control cucumber beetles on cucumbers, squashes, melons and gourds. The striped beetle is one-fifth of an inch long with striped yellow and black wings; the spotted beetle has 12 black dots on its wings. Their feeding spreads a bacterial wilt. Spray or dust weekly (late in the day) with rotenone or carbaryl.

In the Ornamental Garden

• Brown areas in the lawn could be a sign that grubs have eaten the grass roots. Lift the turf and see if you can roll it up like a rug. If you find 8 to 12 grubs per square foot treat with a recommended insecticide and water it in immediately. (Call your local Extension office or visit www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/lawnchallenge for more info.)
• Do not apply rose fertilizer after mid-August, as this will encourage new growth that will be susceptible to winter damage.  Divide iris. Cut back the leaves to about one-third the original length. Separate rhizomes with a sharp knife. New transplants should have a fan of leaves with white roots. Plant just below the soil surface.Cut back straggly annuals to promote new growth.Take cuttings of coleus, impatiens, wax begonias, rosemary, thyme and oregano to start indoors for a winter window garden.Control aphids with a strong blast of water or insecticidal soap.
• Order spring flowering bulbs.