Garden almanac

🐞 The Garden this Week (August 12)

There are a few pests making the rounds in gardens and flowerbeds in the garden this week.

First up — flea beetles. These tiny black beetles hop when disturbed, and they leave little holes in plant leaves that look like they’ve been hit with buckshot (called the shothole effect). If they get bad, you can knock them back with Malathion, Sevin, or insecticidal oils.

Then we’ve got carrot rootworms. These little troublemakers tunnel through carrots, leaving a mess inside. Unfortunately, if they’re already there, there’s not much you can do. A soil drench with Malathion or Sevin might help, and for the future, crop rotation is your best friend.

Squash bugs are also out and about. These grayish bugs suck the juices right out of your plants, causing wilting and twisted leaves. Since they like to gather around the base of plants, a well-timed spray of Malathion can work—if the damage isn’t too far gone.

Leaf-cutting bees

I found out that Leaf-cutter bees like Vinca flower petals. Notice the round cuts in the petals. They are really not a pest, so do not worry about them.

Over in the sweet corn patch, rust has been spotted. You’ll see orange-red spots on the leaves. Once it’s there, there’s nothing to be done, but the good news is it won’t affect the ears if you’re close to harvest.

Wild violets growing around my shrubs

🌿 Lawn Care Notes
As the weather starts to cool, it’s a perfect time to reseed any dead patches in your lawn. Rake the bare spots down to the dirt, toss in some seed, and keep it watered. Some folks add white clover to fill in stubborn spots where grass struggles, while others go all-in with a clover lawn—it’s tough, needs less mowing and fertilizer, and it’s great for pollinators. I let wild violets grow in my lawn. They thrive in shady spots around shrubs where grass just won’t take, and they make a beautiful groundcover.

🌸 A Weed to Watch
All those white, trumpet-shaped flowers popping up in lawns right now? That’s field bindweed. The best time to spray for it is late September into October, when perennial weeds start sending nutrients from their leaves down to their roots for winter storage, making treatments much more effective.

Real Estate (Farm & Ranch Land)

In the Garden this Week (Aug. 6)

In the garden this week, there are very few insects that eat the tomato fruit itself, but the tomato fruit worm is one. This brownish worm, also called the corn earworm, burrows through the fruit. Remove and throw away any infected fruits. Insecticides do not work well with these insects.

Keep your garden and flowerbed weed free. This is usually the time we forget or give up, but those weeds do not. Remember, one crabgrass plant can produce 100s of seeds. Also, give the plants plenty of water to get through the hot parts of August. Most of the plants, like melons and cucumbers, require the most water during the fruiting process.

August is the best time to dig and divide iris. Rinse off the rhizomes and cut the foliage to around 6 inches. Replant and water until they are established.

Giant Flowering Allium
Siberian Squill
Foxtail Lily

This is the time to order your spring blooming bulbs like daffodils and tulips for early spring bloom. If you have not tried giant alliums (flowering onions), give them a chance. They grow up to 3 feet with giant purple flower heads. Foxtail lilies grow up to 6 feet with yellowish upright blooms. One of the earliest bloomers is the Siberian Squill. It blooms with the crocus, with a height of 6 inches, with blue flowers.

If you have space left in the garden and seeds you have left, like radish, lettuce, spinach, or kale, this is the time to plant for a September harvest. They can be grown in a shady area of the garden.

Greenhouse still offers shrubs and trees for fall planting. Fall is a great time to plant these because the temperatures are cooler, resulting in less stress on the plant. Plant by mid-September to get the roots starting to grow before the soil freezes. It is good practice to place a straw or hay mulch over the soil after the soil freezes to prevent heaving.

Garden almanac

In the Garden this Week (July 30)

In the garden this week, you’ll start hearing the buzzing sound of summer. Dog Day cicadas are about to emerge from the ground! Once they hatch, they’ll climb up trees and start their loud, raspy mating calls. Thankfully, these guys don’t do much damage to trees, so just sit back and enjoy their soundtrack to late summer.


With cicadas come their predators: the Cicada Killer Wasps. These are the largest wasps you’ll see in South Dakota, but don’t panic, they look intimidating, but they’re not aggressive. Their sting isn’t strong enough to hurt humans. They’re actually hunting caterpillars, paralyzing them and dragging them underground where they lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the caterpillar. Yep… nature can be brutal—it’s like a mini horror movie in your backyard.


If you’re seeing little round brown patches in your lawn about the size of a silver dollar, that’s Dollar Spot, a fungal disease that’s common this time of year. It can be treated with a fungicide if caught early. And don’t forget, early September is the perfect time to give your lawn some fertilizer to promote healthy fall and winter growth.


Noticing your garden is at a bit of a standstill? That’s totally normal. When temperatures soar above 95°F, many plants stop setting fruit or ripening. But hang in there, once the weather cools, your garden will start producing again like it should.