August with a little luck brings us the best of the summer weather but being the classic holiday month it can be hard to keep on top of your garden.
- If you must, apply a pesticide spray during the coolest parts of the day and follow label directions closely.
- Harvesting fruit before peak ripeness helps minimize problems with yellow jackets and sap beetles. Yellow jacket bottle traps are commercially available and can help reduce their infestation of your fruit.
- Remove and dispose of all rotted or fallen fruits and foliage from trees, vines and bushes.
- Spider mite populations can soar during hot, dry weather. You’ll notice yellowing leaves that look dusty or dirty on the underside.
- Mites are pinpoint size sucking pests that can be observed on leaf undersides with the unaided eye. Keeping plants’ foliage hosed down periodically during hot dry weather can help control them.
