Theres a reason why some plants are called perennials. There is no off-season in gardening.

August means harvest time for those who planted vegetables around Victoria Day, and that means the first batch of ripe tomatoes, tender greens, radishes and even the first new potatoes have made their way from the vines and the ground onto the dinner table. It also means watering to keep gardens from drying out in Winnipegs hot summer days.

Theres also a visual harvest, especially for those who have transformed their yards into a oasis of native plants and flowers from the usual patch of green grass.

Rachel Andrushuk planted her first garden in May, joining a wave of new gardeners who put extra time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic to good use.

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Rachel Andrushuk planted a garden for the first time in May and she is going to have a larger garden next year.

"It was very rewarding to eat something I grew myself," Andrushuk says. "I only planted a small garden to see how it went, and it was fairly successful, so Im going to expand next year and hopefully be able to share some of my vegetables with others."

She is not alone among gardeners thinking about 2021. August is high time to begin planning for next years garden, says Jan DuBois, the vice-president for growth and development at Ron Paul Garden Centre, and her colleague, greenhouse manager Ryan Stupak.

The pandemic is playing a role in those plans.

"I think that while we want to be optimistic and say everyone may be able to travel more next year or do more things, if were realistic about it, people are looking at it and saying, We might be home next summer too," DuBois says. "So theyre doing projects or planning for next year to make their yards an oasis should they need to be there next year."

That means August and the fall are busy times for landscapers and for homeowners finishing up summer projects.

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The weather can be a temptation for a second season of quick-growing vegetables such as lettuce, spinach or kale, but a September frost can ruin those plans, says Jan DuBois.

"Anything from a tree or shrub variety, whether that be deciduous or evergreens, those can be done up until we get the hard freeze-up of winter," she says. "Right up until the trees have gone dormant and lost their leaves you can put them in. They wont know any different as long as you can continue (to) water right until that hard frost time."

DuBois adds the same goes for perennials, which also can be planted between now and freeze-up, but they need to be watered continually to build their roots before they go dormant for the winter. Beware of fertilizing trees, shrubs and perennials at this time of year, though.

"Try not to overfertilize at this time of year, because trees and shrubs, specifically, you want them to go naturally into dormancy and if we fertilize were asking it to push growth," DuBois says. "You can sometimes make tender shoots that can get affected by frost."

Planting bulbs like daffodils and tulips are a project more suited to the fall.

"Those have to go in when the ground is quite cold. You dont want them to sprout in the fall. You want to put them in when the ground is cold and almost too difficult to dig," DuBois says.

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Ryan Stupak prunes different varieties of perennials at Ron Paul Garden Centre.

The hot weather were having is a temptation for those looking for a second season of quick-growing vegetables such as lettuce, spinach or kale. But DuBois says theres a risk.

"Its just a matter how long in September before we run into frost," she says. "Those crops are very susceptible to frost. They have a lot of water in the leaf. So by their nature, once we hit a period of time when theres frost, unless you pick it, you run a big risk of losing it. Fortunately lettuce seed is fairly inexpensive."

Instead, she suggests growing late vegetables in containers so they get the best of the warm weather now but can be tucked inside a garage to avoid the frost in September.

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@AlanDSmall

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Jan DuBois waters trees and shrubs in the landscaping area at the Ron Paul Garden Centre.

Alan SmallArts and Life Editor

Alan Small was named the editor of the Free Press Arts and Life section in January 2013 after almost 15 years at the paper in a variety of editing roles.

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Always on the grow - Winnipeg Free Press