Gardening Tips in August

August 19, 2012

Gardening Tips in August

August is traditionally the month when most people take their holidays, but for those who cannot get away it is a great month to do practically nothing in the garden except harvest your fruit and veg and do a little tidying up here and there. It is my favorite month to sit back, throw some shrimps on the Barbie and suck on a can of beer. 

Preparation

If you’re planning a new lawn, prepare your ground now – HOW???

Progagation

Early summer flowering plants will already have ripened seeds, so start collecting them – clean off any extraneous plant material and store them somewhere cool and dry. You could try putting them in brown envelopes inside a biscuit tin and then store in the fridge. This way they will keep fresh until next year.
Take heel cuttings of box.
This a good month to layer shrubs like rhododendrons, magnolias, pinks and clematis.
Take cuttings of tender perennials such as penstemons.
Also take cutttings of alpines now.
Continue to take semi ripe cuttings of shrubs and herbs.

Pruning

Wisteria can still be given its summer prune.
Remove old flowering shoots of rambling roses after they have flowered. They should be cut out completely close to the ground. Tie in any new branches to replace them.
Lavender, santolina, and artemesia can start to look a bit scruffy once the flowers have faded, so use a good sharp pair of shears to trim them back.
Topiary and hedges can be continually trimmed to keep their shape.
Cut down spent raspberry canes.

Planting

You can start planting bulbs for the winter and next spring now. Sow late salad crops of lettuce, radishes, spring onions and wild rocket.

Edibles

It’s the beginning of harvest time, and vegetables such as sweetcorn, marrows, squashes and pumpkins will be ready.
Pinch out the tops of outdoor tomatoes when three trusses of fruit have developed and continue to remove side shoots (except on bush tomatoes).
Provide support for branches of plum treess as the weight may break brittle branches, this applies to any heavily laden fruit trees.
Lift and dry onions and garlic. 
You can begin harvesting apples, pears and other like fruits.
Harvest your beans and freeze them.
This the last month to sow salad crops.
A crop of parsley can be sown now to last through out the winter.

Lawns

If there has been a lot of rain in your area, your lawn may need trimming, however don’t cut it too short as this will encourage it to grow even faster Leave grass cuttings on the lawn in hot dry weather this will help retain moisture. Apply a high phosphate fertiliser to the lawn to promote root growth thus toughening up the grass for the coming winter.

Indoors plants/Glasshouses

As it is the holiday month, many indoor plants find themselves left on their own in the house so there are a few steps we should take to help them through your absence. Give them a good water, move them away from sunny windows, and group them together. Put them on trays of wet gravel or capillary matting. I often put mine in the bath (empty of course)

Maintenance

To keep container plants looking their best keep feeding with a weak solution of liquid fertiliser by applying it weekly.
Try and keep ahead with all those routine jobs that I hope you have been doing over the last few months such as dead-heading; weeding and watering.
With the hot weather we have been having it is best to work either early in the morning or late afternoon or evening. That goes for your watering as well.
Make sure birds and other wildlife have enough fresh water and keep those ponds topped up.
Its not too late to spray for Blackspot on roses.
You can start dividing your perennials at the end of this month.
Prop up or cut back perennials that have collapsed or spread over the lawn or other plants.
Remove spent flowerheads, this will encourage new flowers over the coming weeks. These will emerge from shoots further down the stems.

Plants that look good this month

• Cosmos atrosanguineus
• Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’
• Aconitum ‘Bressingham Spire’
• Lobelia ‘Bees Flame’
• Monarda ‘Mahogany’
• Lavatera ‘Barnsley’
• Clematis ‘Jackmanii’
• C. ‘Perle d’Azur’
• C. ‘Ville de Lyon’
• C. ‘Hagley Hybrid’
• Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’
• Rhodochiton atrosanguineus
• Euryops pectinatus
• Scabiosa Butterfly Blue
• Tropaeolum speciosum
• Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’
• Kniphofia ‘Green Jade’
• Cotinus coggygria
• Geranium psilostemon
• Penstemon ‘Stapleford Gem’
• P. ‘Burgundy’
• P. ‘Apple Blossom’