Yes, it's a good habit to get into during the entire growing season. I love to 'lift the skirts' of the bushes about a foot off the ground in Aug/Sept, which provides better circulation, avoids pests from crawling up plants easily, makes it much easier to fertilize around the root-line, and gives room to spray horticultural oil up into the plant when Powdery Mildew, white flies or aphids starts to be noticeable.