Tips For Gardening in Late Summer (Plus a Garden Tour)
We’re going to do something a little different today. I’m going to give you some tips on spiffing things up around your gardens and when we’re done we’ll have a little garden tour.
Let’s be honest, towards the end of Summer things start looking a little rough and ragged in the gardens. Some plants have been enjoyed a little too much by bugs. Some are just done. And, others are tired of the hot weather. Can you relate?
Although our gardens aren’t at the peak of summer beauty, there’s still lots of color and pretty flowers. Come along for some Tips For Gardening in Late Summer and a relaxing virtual stroll through my gardens.
Here at Gingham Gardens, we have a lot of helpful posts about fall gardening, but we aren’t going to give tips here for the upcoming fall season. We are going to focus on and enjoy the last weeks of summer. For those of us who garden in northern climates, we need to embrace the late summer heat before the inevitable winter weather sets in.
This time of the year, in late summer, is a great time to get things done in the garden. Usually, by now, there are lots of vegetables to be harvested and flowers to cut for bouquets.
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Tips for Gardening in Late Summer – Let’s Tidy Up The Gardens
Grab a bucket (or a grocery bag), a pair of gardening shears and gloves. The links are to my favorites. Just take a quick pass through the perennial gardens and deadhead (cut back spent flowers and foliage) and clean up dead leaves. See those ugly daylily scapes, cut those all the way to the ground. Dried up hosta flowers, those too. If there are spent plants that are completely brown, go ahead and cut them down to a couple of inches. And, don’t be surprised if you see some new growth in the next few weeks from those plants.
Now, pull those weeds while you’re at it. This is an important time to make sure your garden doesn’t get overrun with weeds. If you don’t get a handle on perennial weeds now, they will come back next spring and will continue to haunt you all season. Just in case you need some more tips for How to Deal With Weeds In Your Gardens, many have found this post very helpful.
Save this pin to your favorite gardening board on Pinterest so you can remember it later:
Do you have a flower border or containers of annuals that are looking sad? If your average first frost date is a couple of months away, go ahead and prune them back by 1/3 – 1/2. Then fertilize them and keep them watered well and you’ll get a fresh new wave of flower buds in a week or so.
Have you had really dry weather this summer? We have and I’m really tired of lugging around hoses. It’s important though to make sure your gardens are getting plenty of water throughout the end of summer and into fall. For some excellent tips on watering your gardens, check out this post.
If you have a bunch of flower beds like me or a really big garden, just pick one flower bed or area a day. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can tidy things up.
When you’re deadheading the flower gardens, it’s a good time to save seed pods from your favorite flowers. If you haven’t ever saved seeds, just do it. It’s such a fun and frugal way to get a head start on next spring’s gardens.
What to Do in the Vegetable Garden in Late Summer
Give the veggie beds some attention too. I just have 4 raised beds, so not much to tend to. I go through and do a quick weeding. To keep down weeds, I use dried, untreated grass clippings around the veggie plants. Now, cut all the yucky-looking leaves off the bottom of the tomato, cucumber and squash plants. There are too many green tomatoes, so I’m going to give them another dose of some organic fertilizer. If vegetable plants are taken care of, some will just keep producing right up until the first frost.
After you harvest the last of your vegetables, its the perfect opportunity to do a second planting. Many fall vegetables can be planted and harvested before cold weather sets in. Did you know that cooler weather makes some vegetables sweeter?
Some cool-season crops that can be planted in mid to late August (and even early September) for an October harvest and all the way through late fall, depending on what gardening zone you are in. These include radishes, peas, leafy greens (like lettuce and spinach) broccoli and many others. Many of these crops can also take a light frost. Learn more about planting a fall garden.
Late Summer is the Perfect Time To Plan Next Year’s Gardens
Take the time, at the end of the season, while everything is still fresh in your mind to do some Garden Planning for next season. Garden Planning – How to Plan Next Year’s Gardens is an excellent article that takes you through the steps of planning out your gardens for next year while the garden is at its peak. Now is the best time to plan next yearās garden. Take some time to check it out. There’s a printable guide available too that is super helpful.
Your best gardening tool is your Garden Journal and Planner! In case, you’ve never kept a Garden Journal, this article will tell you how and why to keep a Garden Journal. As an added bonus, all the forms, charts and lists to put together your own Garden Journal and Planner are available in our Gardening Resources Library.
Starting somewhere around the middle to late August, local garden centers will start reducing the price of their perennial plants. The end of the growing season is a great time to snag some deals on new plants. I have a little collection of perennial plants hanging out in a shady spot just waiting for cooler temperatures, so I can plant them.
Late Summer Garden Tour
This sloped flower bed is a bit of a crazy mess, but every year it is getting better. I made some changes this spring and I’ve got some more to make this fall. My goal is to have consistent three-season color in this perennial bed with perennials in mass plantings. Want to know more about designing your own 3-season perennial garden, be sure to check out: Designing with Perennials for 3 Seasons of Bloom.
This flower bed has come a long way over the years and I’m loving the progress so far. If you haven’t already seen the makeover of this garden, check it out when you’ve finished up here. Right now, it’s pretty much all about the coneflowers, black-eyed Susan, phlox, balloon flower, coreopsis and the last of the daylilies.
Here’s a cute little vignette with tall garden phlox and birdhouse stakes. Got to love the photo bombing lily.
In the same tiered flower bed are my favorite coneflowers – PowWow Wild Berry, along with Irish Wedding Daylilies and a few little Kobold Liatris that the bunnies didn’t eat.
Next up, is a sweet little garden area beside our deck. There’s Viking Magic daylily, False Sunflower and a pot of mandevilla. I like to add in a few annuals around the border to keep consistent color going throughout the summer.
This shade border garden that runs along our back fence has come a long way since last year. Here it is last summer.
Despite the fact that most of the shrubs were eaten to the ground by rabbits last winter, the plants are starting to fill in and this year it’s one of my best gardens.
I recently did an updated post on this Shade Border Garden and included some of my junk garden vignettes in it. This is one of my favorite posts and I think you’ll enjoy it! Here’s a different angle, but it’s easy to see the progress in just one year.
Below is a section of the made-over shade garden that I refer to as hosta hill. Every year I rearrange and add more plants. Itās filling in nicely for now. I have more plans in my head, so we’ll see what the future holds for hosta hill.
Aren’t impatiens amazing! They are such an underrated annual flower. They require so little care and they let you know when they need a little drink. Plus, they do not require deadheading to offer up continuous blooms the entire season. Impatiens are a perfect annual flower for the shade.
I’ve shown this cute little tipped pot of impatiens before. Now look at it – a Pinterest project on steroids. Whereās the pot? These impatiens went wild. Ha ha, oh well, at least they are pretty. See what I mean about impatiens!
Let’s not forget about the vegetable beds. Here’s one of my tomato plants – Super Sweet 100.
Lots and lots of banana peppers. I give lots away and we like them chopped up in taco meat and other Mexican dishes. They are also wonderful in salsa.
More Late Blooming Flowers
I can’t get enough of tall garden phlox. It has such a subtle sweet smell. Pollinators love it too. The picture below includes Thai Pink Jade Phlox, Beautiful Edgings Daylily and Becky Shasta Daisies.
Helenium is a perennial that makes my list of fall perennial flowers. It seems to be a little early this year and I’m hoping it holds out until the mums in front of it bloom.
Late Summer Blooming Daylilies
Daylilies are amazing! There are early, mid, late and re-blooming varieties and I would like to add more late blooming varieties to my gardens.
I just can’t stop until I show you more of my Daylilies. I have over 80 different varieties. South Seas is putting on a show this year. I recently saw a picture of South Seas Daylilies with Shasta Daisies and balloon flowers. The color combination is stunning and I’m going to replicate it in my gardens.
Cedar Waxwing was a freebie in an order from Oakes Daylilies last year. It’s gorgeous!
Another later blooming daylily is Cherry Cheeks. This one is a real stand-out in the garden.
I’ve shown Gaudy Gaudy off before, but she’s just so pretty and intense. Gaudy Gaudy Daylily is one of the last daylilies to bloom in my gardens, so when most of the others have pooped out, Gaudy Gaudy is still cranking out the blooms every day.
Dahlias Are Awesome Late Summer Flowers
It just wouldn’t be a Late Summer Garden Tour without sharing my lovely Dahlias with you. I don’t have a good, flat sunny area to grow dahlias, so I decided to grow them in containers this year.
These beauties are about 7 – 8 feet tall, and even though I put a tomato cage around them and staked them, the wind has damaged them a couple of times. They are doing fine now though and are setting lots more buds.
Here’s a shorter variety that doesn’t require staking. I started these early in my pop-up greenhouse.
This is the second summer for these dahlias. They overwintered beautifully and are a bit bigger this year. We’ll definitely try for a third year.
If you don’t grow dahlias, just give them a try. You won’t be sorry. The tall varieties need staking and if you live in colder climates the tubers need to be lifted in the winter. Despite that they are gorgeous and worth their trouble. Learn how to overwinter dahlias and other tender perennials in this post.
There are many varieties of alliums and many that bloom in late summer. They are adored by gardeners and bees alike. The variety in the photo below is millennium.
Pollinators adore late summer blooming agastache (a/k/a anise hyssop). It’s not my favorite because it doesn’t bloom very long, but the bees love it after the bee balm has finished its bloom, so I keep it in my gardens for them.
Love your gardens, there so beautiful and creative ideas, so cute! Do you use a drip irrigation? Was thinking of installing one. What are your thoughts? Always look forward to your new posts.
Thanks, Michelle in Georgia
Hi Michelle, thanks for stopping by Gingham Gardens and for your sweet compliments! I highly recommend drip irrigation. It cuts down on lugging heavy hoses around all summer. That being said, I have the drip irrigation system that I talk about in Flower Garden Maintenance, but I have never taken the time to install it. After our exceptionally dry summer, it’s high on my project list for next summer. Happy gardening, Joanna
Beautiful gardens! As always, thanks for sharing!
Just wanted to add to the mosquito post. If you want to sit on your porch or patio, get a fan to blow where you are sitting. Mosquitoes are weak flyers and canāt fly against a strong breeze.
Doris, that’s a great tip! Thanks for sharing, Joanna
Hi, I wanted to let you know I found your article about Tips For Gardening in Late Summer very helpful. Thank you, Richard
Thanks for this post, Joanna, Your gardens look amazing despite the heat & drought You certainly have the touch with using re-purposed garden ornamentation in unique ways.
In central Md. we’ve had a month of 90+ &temps & dry weather. The hurricane came thru last week & dropped about 6 in. of rain. Your cone flowers are outstanding this year. In my area the crape myrtles,cone flowers,rudebeckia, cleome, ,tall phlox & lime light hydrangea are in full bloom now. A few of the crapes as well the Limelight tree hydrangeas are bent over due to the winds & heavy rain but they will spring back. Good luck,I,m looking forward to seeing your gardens in the fall,Joe
Hi Joe, always good to hear from you. We could really use some rain. Although I water the gardens there’s just nothing quite like a good rain shower. The lawn is looking really awful because we don’t water it. Happy gardening, Joanna
Beautiful gardens! The only thing I seem to be able to grow is hostas not much color there. I’ve tried other things but without success. Guess I’ll have to live vicariously through your posts.
Hi Joanna:
Love your spindle bird houses. That gives me an idea for my garden. I have spindles and a red hat lady my friend made from a spindle. I should put her in my garden. We both like gardening.
I also saw some little houses made out of blocks of wood and painted. Simple but very cute and adds some colour as well as dimention.
Thanks so much for sharing. You do a lovely job.
All the best.
Happy gardening to everyone.
Shirley in Canada
. Hi Joanna:
Your gardens look lovely. Always like seeing your vintage finds. I have a few but need to spruce some of them up a bit. I am a senior so hard to get out to get paint etc. to work with.
Do we ever get tired of gardening? I don’t think so to me it is relaxing not a work. Love to be out there first thing in the morning. The birds are singing and the dew is so nice got to love it.
The bugs got into my liliies not sure what they are. Black and red. I used diatinaciour powder on them and that helped some.
Our days are cooler 24 degrees yesterday instead of 32. A welcome change for me. I know winter is coming but I love the nice bright snow. It is the ice I do not like.
Keep up the good work. All the best for a great fall.
Shirley in Canada
Hi Shirley – it’s always good to hear from you. I’m sorry to hear about your lilies. Pretty sure you’ve encountered the lily beetle. Here’s a good article to tell you how to get rid of them. https://blog.longfield-gardens.com/how-to-control-red-lily-leaf-beetles/ Gardening will keep us young, friend. Happy gardening, Joanna
Love your post. Easy common sense way of taking care of our gardens. Sad to see gardening season slowing down. My garden, my passion.
Hi Patri – thank you so much! I so get you, my garden is my passion too. Happy gardening for a little while longer. Joanna
Thanks, I will try the raised beds.
I live in the desert/mountains of California where the soil is like hard clay and very rocky. I can use the rocks for landscaping but cant plant anything in the ground because it is too hard to dig holes. I had to have someone drill holes for four fruit trees and hope they will grow and produce but can’t do that for plants. I would love to have a garden with flowers but not sure what to do. Should I just put some potting soil down and put plants on top or make a raised bed or what? Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Carol – thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Yes, if you would really like to have a garden, I would highly encourage you to give raised beds a try. Start small and see how it goes. Just make sure your raised beds are at least 8 inches deep and fill them with some rich compost. Manageable bags of compost can be purchased at big box stores for fairly inexpensively. Best of luck to you.
Your garden is beautiful and I so love your wide assortment of daylilies. Great tips, too!
Hi Sandra, thanks so much for stopping by.
Joanna, your garden still looks so beautiful and your tips very helpful. Thank you for sharing with us.
Thanks so much, Dianne and thanks for stopping by.
Your garden is adorable and inspiring!Hugs!
Thank you so much, Maristella!
Joanna, you have amassed a stunning collection of daylilies. Your gardens are just beautiful and your tips are always so helpful. Thank you for sharing with Gardens Galore and Happy Gardening!
Thanks, Pam! And, again thanks so much for hosting Gardens Galore. I really look forward to visiting everyone’s gardens.
Wow, everything looks so healthy and your beds are weed free! Just lovely.
Enjoyed the tour very much.
Thanks, Bonnie, I’m so glad you enjoyed my August garden tour. If you look really close, I’m sure you can find a few weeds. Happy gardening!
I have found the mulch really helps with cutting down on weeds and when they do appear they are much easier to pull.
Thanks Joanne of this tip a long while ago.
What is the name of the large leaf plant with a tinge of pink? It is lovely.
I have a beautiful white lily the ones the bugs liked. Has stayed nice for a couple of weeks. I think it is a star gazer.
All the best to everyone for a lovely fall of gardening. Spring will come.
Shirley
I love the bird house poles! Next Summer I’ll have to try this!
Thanks for stopping by.
My gardens are looking a little tired. Some plants at thinning out and some a little dieing back. I did just what you recommended- took scissors and trimmed out some of it to freshen the look. Hard to accept that weāre nearing the end of the growing season. Iāve been critiquing my garden beds and feel a little frustrated with them. I have an idea to move some big hostas but I will need help. Thereās always something isnāt there! A gal I know in Virginia has morning glories growing and sheās still waiting for the blooms too. I just looked up some of my older posts and it looks like anywhere from the last week of August through the middle of September before they bloomed for me. So beautiful though- worth the wait! Your impatiens are very happy!
Hi Liz, thanks for stopping by. Really now is the best time to make plans for next year. Gardening is definitely not for wimps. Good luck with those hostas.
Such beautiful pictures, and thanks for the great tips. Thanks for sharing on To Grandma’s House We Go!
Thanks Chas for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
I loved the tour and appreciated the tips. The decorations are so cute. I have been trying to add more things to the garden but lack creativity and need ideas from others.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Jeannie
Hi Jeannie – thanks for stopping by. Pinterest is a goldmine of creative ideas for the garden. Good luck and happy gardening!
I’m so glad I found your site. This summer has been so-o-o-o trying. We are about 20 miles west of Lake Michigan in Chicagoland, and it’s so good to see a Midwest gardener with similar issues. Though your garden looks fabulous. With the late spring and then crazy heat—my flowers skipped spring, and the vegetables have just started to go nuts this last week. It will be great to get some tips—as we must adapt to this new weather patterns which seem to be a real cycle now.
Hi Sandi – I’m so happy you found me too. It has definitely been a challenging gardening year. Like I always say, “gardening is not for wimps.” Come back soon! Happy gardening.
Beautiful! Thanks for the tour. I used to plant morning glories every year and stopped about two years ago because I got lazy ( I had them trailing up the porch but in the fall when the blooms started to drop it was always a mess to clean up ) I have volunteers every year though š
You have such a lovely variety of blooms and it all looks lovely and I am sure your morning glories will kick in š
Hi there Deb. Thanks for stopping by. I have a bunch of morning glories in different parts of the yard, so weāll see. I hope youāre doing better and itās not too hot for you.
For August your garden looks lovely. Just a comment on the non-flowering Morning Glory. You probably have ‘Heavenly Blue’ which doesn’t bloom till late August. I usually combine ‘Heavenly Blue’ with ‘Grandpa Ott’ on my trellis’. Grandpa starts blooming end of June. That way I can enjoy blooms most of the summer.
Good to know, thanks Michelle!
Love the idea of the spindles turned into birdhouses. I have some spindles,just need to get the husband to cut me some blocks..lol…everything is so pretty
Thanks so much, Eva.
Were it my garden, I would wait another year before ripping out the first border shown. It will grow in and be wonderful. Having ripped out just such a border and never been satisfied since, I know the perils. What a fine blog. Glad I signed up.
Thanks so much, Gaye, for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Thatās really good advice. I know plants really fill in by year 3. I will probably just stick with doing some rearranging. Are we gardeners ever satisfied. Happy gardening!
The first year they sleep…the second year they creep….the third year they leap!!!
So true, Dorothy. Thanks for stopping by. Happy gardening, Joanna