Want more blooms? Prune these 5 garden plants in August

Lavender plants tend to look straggly and woody by late summer if left untouched, and August is the ideal time to trim them back into shape. Once the flower spikes have faded, cutting the plant back by about a third, trimming into the soft green growth but avoiding old woody stems, encourages a compact, bushy form rather than leggy growth. This timing matters: pruning too late in the season, closer to the first frost, can leave the plant vulnerable, while an August trim gives it enough time to recover before winter sets in.