Things to do in the AUGUST garden

• Tomatoes picked within five days after full coloring will be at their peak of flavor and nutrition. Cucumbers, snap beans and summer squash will continue producing fresh young edibles if the plants are picked often.

• Early in the month TIP-PRUNE tomatoes, winter squash and pumpkins so that the fruits already formed on the plants will size up and mature fully. Make the cuts immediately above the first leaf stem growing beyond the last formed fruit or fruit cluster.

• SEED lettuce, spinach, radishes and corn salad early in the month for fall salads. Around mid-August sow the seeds of spring cabbage and overwintering onions.

• Continue to keep the garden clear of weeds, before they can form and shed seeds.

• Take ROOT CUTTINGS of geranium, coleus, impatiens and fibrous begonias for strong young plants to winter in the house at a bright window.

• When cane fruits such as blackberries, tayberries and loganberries finish fruiting, CUT OLD CANES to the ground. Cut summer-bearing raspberry canes that have borne fruit down to just below soil level.

• Brush the soil away from the tops of the ONION BULBS to assist them in maturing.

• Prune LAVENDER bushes by cutting off this year's flowerstalks. If you don't they'll become leggy and unattractive. Also, be sure you don't over-water lavender. That's a sure-fire way to kill the plant. They need good drainage especially in our soggy climate.

• To help toughen trees, shrubs and perennials for winter, STOP FERTILIZING this month.

• Allow selected flowers and vegetables to GO TO SEED if you wish to save some of your own seeds. Or, leave the seeds to feed the birds in the fall.

• Gather everlasting flowers, ideally freshly opened ones, and hang them in a dim, dry, airy place upside down, tied in small bundles at the stem ends with elastic bands.

• Gather herbs for freezing and drying.

• Towards the end of the month clean up HOUSE PLANTS that have spent the summer outdoors. Wash them well, spray thoroughly with insecticidal soap, and place in some sheltered area for seven to 10 days. Then repeat the cleaning and spraying before bringing them back indoors in September, before night temperatures dip much below what they will be in the house.

• Late in August carefully LIFT SELECTED PLANTS FOR OVER-WINTERING (wax begonia, coleus and impatiens) to pot and have as winter house plants. Cut the plants back to stimulate fresh young growth, and follow the same cleaning process as for house plants before placing them indoors.