#YouShouldDoThis: Lyndon Penner's Top 3 garden tips for Aug. 12

CBC gardening columnist Lyndon Penner explains what you should do in the garden in the final weeks of July:

Be Picky

Keep those beans well-watered and picked! The more you pick, the more they will produce.

Beans are best when picked small, thin, and tender. New gardeners especially don't realize how quickly the pods will plump up, and then it's likeeating plywood.

Pick every morning for best results!

You say tomato, I say 'Feed me'

Tomatoes and peppers are heavyfeeders, especially in containers.

Do notskimp out on fertilizing them!You can buy actual tomato food if you like, but the important thing is that theyare well-watered and well-fed!

Vine time

Pumpkins and squash willhavefruit developing on the vines by now.

Some gardeners like to limit the number of fruits to one to threeper vine. This helps them achieve maximum shape and size. Some folks will also slide a piece of cardboard or wood underneath the developing fruit to help keep disease organisms from finding them.

Findinga pumpkin that has rotten or succumbed to a bacterial infection is no fun at all. This helps to prevent that.

• Read Lyndon Penner'sarticle on why you should grow coneflowers in your garden

Did this work for you? Have more questions? Let us know on Twitter @CBCSaskor Facebookand use the hashtags #YouShouldGrowThis and #YouShouldDoThis.