Gardening tips by month
August gardening tips: what to prune, feed & protect
An August garden checklist built from our plant care guides. Garden jobs depend on your local frost dates, so tasks are grouped for cold, moderate and mild climates. Find yours below, then tap any plant for full step-by-step instructions.
August in cold winters (zones 3–5)
Pruning in August
- Apple tree: summer pruning: remove water sprouts (Aug 2–30)
- Apricot tree: main prune after harvest (Aug 2–30)
- Asian pear: summer pruning: remove water sprouts (Aug 2–30)
- Black-eyed Susan: deadhead for more flowers (Jul 19 – Aug 2)
- Blackberry: summer tipping of new canes (erect types) (Jul 5 – Aug 2)
- Blackberry: remove fruited canes after harvest (Aug 30 – Sep 27)
- Butterfly bush: deadhead through summer (Aug 2–16)
- Cherry tree: prune after harvest (Jul 19 – Aug 16)
- Climbing hydrangea: prune after flowering (Jul 12 – Aug 2)
- Climbing rose: prune after the first flush of flowers (Jul 12 – Aug 2)
- Coneflower: deadhead for more flowers (Aug 2–16)
- Daylily: deadhead for more flowers (Aug 2–16)
- Daylily: refresh tired foliage (rebloomers) (Aug 16 – Sep 6)
- Garden mum: pinch back for bushy plants (Jul 19 – Aug 2)
- Hazelnut / filbert: remove suckers (Aug 2–16)
- Hybrid tea rose: stop deadheading, let hips form (Aug 20 – Sep 3)
- Kiwi vine: summer pruning (Aug 9–23)
- Lavender: main trim after flowering (Jul 26 – Aug 16)
- Mint: midsummer cut-back (Jul 19 – Aug 2)
- Mulberry: trim after fruiting (optional) (Aug 2–23)
- Oakleaf hydrangea: prune right after flowering (only if needed) (Jul 26 – Aug 23)
- Pear (European): summer pruning: remove water sprouts (Aug 2–30)
- Perennial salvia: shear after each flush (Aug 16–30)
- Raspberry: remove fruited canes after summer harvest (Aug 16 – Sep 13)
- Rose of Sharon: remove seed pods (Aug 20 – Sep 17)
- Spirea: shear after first flush for rebloom (Jul 19 – Aug 9)
- Strawberry: renovate June-bearing beds after harvest (Jul 12 – Aug 2)
- Tomato: remove suckers and lower leaves (Jul 26 – Aug 2)
- Tomato: top the plants for the final crop (Aug 27 – Sep 3)
- Walnut tree: prune in summer (not late winter) (Aug 2–30)
- Wisteria: summer prune of long whips (Jul 19 – Aug 16)
Fertilizing in August
- Azalea: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 6–20)
- Bigleaf hydrangea: feed hydrangeas (Jul 19 – Aug 9)
- Bigleaf hydrangea: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 6–20)
- Climbing rose: feed climbing roses (Aug 2–16)
- Climbing rose: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 6–20)
- Hybrid tea rose: feed roses (Jul 19 – Aug 2)
- Hybrid tea rose: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 6–20)
- Panicle hydrangea: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 6–20)
- Shrub / landscape rose: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 6–20)
- Strawberry: feed after renovation (Jul 19 – Aug 2)
- Tomato: side-dress when fruit sets (Aug 2–16)
Spraying & disease prevention in August
- Apple tree: codling moth and curculio protection (Jul 19 – Aug 2)
- Azalea: check for lace bugs (Aug 9–23)
- Climbing rose: preventive spray for black spot (Jul 26 – Aug 2)
- Hybrid tea rose: preventive spray for black spot (Jul 26 – Aug 2)
- Peach / nectarine: brown rot protection before harvest (Aug 2–23)
- Tomato: preventive spray for early blight (Aug 2–9)
- Walnut tree: husk fly protection (if needed) (Jul 23 – Aug 6)
Frost & winter protection in August
- Grapevine: net ripening clusters (Aug 16 – Sep 13)
Other care in August
- Asian pear: harvest Asian pears (Jul 9 – Aug 20)
- Bearded iris: divide crowded clumps (every 3–5 years) (Jul 9 – Aug 6)
- Chestnut tree: harvest chestnuts (Aug 20 – Sep 24)
- Daylily: divide crowded clumps (every 3–4 years) (Aug 20 – Sep 10)
- Hazelnut / filbert: harvest hazelnuts (Aug 6 – Sep 10)
- Kiwi vine: harvest kiwis (Aug 20 – Oct 1)
- Mulberry: harvest mulberries (Jun 21 – Aug 2)
- Pecan tree: water during nut fill (Jul 9 – Aug 20)
- Shrub / landscape rose: check for rose rosette disease (Aug 2–16)
- Walnut tree: harvest walnuts (Aug 20 – Oct 1)
August in moderate winters (zones 6–7)
Pruning in August
- Almond tree: main prune after harvest (Aug 16 – Sep 13)
- Apple tree: summer pruning: remove water sprouts (Jul 8 – Aug 5)
- Apricot tree: main prune after harvest (Jul 8 – Aug 5)
- Asian pear: summer pruning: remove water sprouts (Jul 8 – Aug 5)
- Black-eyed Susan: deadhead for more flowers (Aug 5–19)
- Blackberry: remove fruited canes after harvest (Aug 5 – Sep 2)
- Butterfly bush: deadhead through summer (Aug 5–19)
- Coneflower: deadhead for more flowers (Jul 29 – Aug 12)
- Crape myrtle: snip spent blooms for a second flush (Jul 22 – Aug 12)
- Daylily: refresh tired foliage (rebloomers) (Jul 22 – Aug 12)
- Daylily: deadhead for more flowers (Jul 29 – Aug 12)
- Kiwi vine: summer pruning (Aug 19 – Sep 2)
- Pear (European): summer pruning: remove water sprouts (Jul 8 – Aug 5)
- Perennial salvia: shear after each flush (Jul 22 – Aug 5)
- Pomegranate: remove suckers (Jul 22 – Aug 5)
- Raspberry: remove fruited canes after summer harvest (Jul 22 – Aug 19)
- Walnut tree: prune in summer (not late winter) (Jul 8 – Aug 5)
Fertilizing in August
- Azalea: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 30 – Sep 13)
- Bigleaf hydrangea: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 30 – Sep 13)
- Climbing rose: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 30 – Sep 13)
- Hybrid tea rose: feed roses (Jul 29 – Aug 12)
- Hybrid tea rose: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 30 – Sep 13)
- Panicle hydrangea: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 30 – Sep 13)
- Shrub / landscape rose: stop fertilizing for the season (Aug 30 – Sep 13)
- Tangerine / mandarin: citrus feeding: early & late summer (Aug 5–19)
Spraying & disease prevention in August
- Hybrid tea rose: preventive spray for black spot (Jul 29 – Aug 5)
- Peach / nectarine: brown rot protection before harvest (Jul 15 – Aug 5)
- Tangerine / mandarin: check for scale, mealybugs and aphids (Jul 22 – Aug 5)
- Tomato: preventive spray for early blight (Aug 5–12)
- Walnut tree: husk fly protection (if needed) (Jul 19 – Aug 2)
Frost & winter protection in August
- Grapevine: net ripening clusters (Jul 22 – Aug 19)
Other care in August
- Almond tree: harvest almonds (Aug 2–30)
- Asian pear: harvest Asian pears (Aug 2 – Sep 13)
- Bearded iris: divide crowded clumps (every 3–5 years) (Aug 2–30)
- Hazelnut / filbert: harvest hazelnuts (Aug 30 – Oct 4)
- Pecan tree: water during nut fill (Aug 2 – Sep 13)
- Pistachio tree: harvest pistachios (Aug 2–30)
- Pomegranate: water evenly as fruit swells (Jul 19 – Sep 13)
- Shrub / landscape rose: check for rose rosette disease (Aug 19 – Sep 2)
- Strawberry tree: summer watering (first 2 years) (Aug 5–19)
August in mild winters (zones 8–10)
Fertilizing in August
- Macadamia: low-phosphorus feeding (Aug 26 – Sep 9)
Spraying & disease prevention in August
- Tangerine / mandarin: check for scale, mealybugs and aphids (Jul 29 – Aug 12)
- Walnut tree: husk fly protection (if needed) (Aug 25 – Sep 8)
Other care in August
- Pomegranate: water evenly as fruit swells (Aug 25 – Oct 20)