Late-summer gardening tips from Ann McCulloh, curator of plant collections at the Cleveland Botanical Garden:

¢ Remove diseased leaves and stems to reduce the spread or recurrence of plant health problems.

¢ Keep the vegetable garden clear of spent plants and dying foliage.

¢ When possible, avoid watering plants from above. Many fungal diseases thrive on wet foliage. A better method is to lay a soaker hose at the base of the plants to soak the root zone slowly and conserve water.

¢ Put a simple rain gauge in your garden to make sure it’s getting about 1 inch of water per week. Check and empty it weekly, and give your plants additional water if warranted.

¢ Collect seeds from flowering plants to plant next year. Leave seed heads on perennials to reseed and to feed songbirds.

¢ This is a good time to move or divide many spring-blooming perennials, including iris, peony, Oriental poppy and Shasta daisy. Replant with added compost, humus or manure, and water well for the rest of the season.

¢ Reseed bare spots in the lawn to give grass seedlings time to develop before winter. Seed according to package directions, scatter straw lightly over the seeds, and keep them watered.

¢ More gardening tips and information are on the botanical garden’s blog, “The Garden Variety,” at www.cbgarden.org/blog.