The Lawn in August
Thinking of sowing a new lawn? August is the ideal time to prepare the site for sowing in late Aug/early Sept!
Mow lawns twice a week for optimum results.
Keep your eyes open for establishing weeds and remove immediately. Fill the hole with compost and sprinkle fresh seed on the surface.
If August is hot and sunny, raise the cutters on your mower to prevent scorching of the grass.
The Flower Garden
We are now in the full heat of summer, so its essential to keep up to date with watering and plant feeding for optimum flowering performance.
Sow hardy annuals like Californian poppy and calendulas for early flowering next year.
Some perennials like the Siberian wallflower can also be sown, as can some wild flowers such as primrose and cowslip (best sown in trays)
Tall perennials may be susceptible to ‘wind-rock’ at this time of year, so support with bamboo canes.
Now’s the time to take cuttings of your favourite fuchsias. Cuttings taken now will produce sturdy young plants for next year.
Time to think about your spring bulb displays for next year.
‘Dead-head’ both annual and perennial flowering plants to prolong the flowering period.
Lavender plants can appear quite scruffy late in the season, so trim the plants for neatness after flowering.
Cut back old flowers and foliage on perennial plants when flowering has finished.
The Vegetable Plot
Make regular sowings of quick growing seeds such as salad leaves, radishes, rocket, spinach and baby turnips. Spring cabbage too can be sown now.
When your tomato plants have produced 5-6 potential trusses of fruit, remove the growing tips. This will encourage existing fruit to grow on and ripen.
Plant up winter brassica plants for late winter/spring cropping.
Stop aubergine plants when they have set 5-6 fruit, to swell them to full size.
Second-early potato lifting should be completed now and it’s time to lift maincrop potatoes as the foliage colour changes to yellow.
Crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and sweet corn, will benefit from high potash liquid feeds to improve cropping potential.
The Fruit Garden
August is known as ‘top fruit’ month, when plums, cherries, peaches and nectarines can be harvested.
Early apples too will become ripe for picking.
Soft fruit may be mainly in, but there is still plenty to do!
Cut down raspberry canes when they have finished fruiting. Blackberry canes can be pruned at the same time.
Extending your strawberry patch? Propagate further plants by pegging down strong shoots from your patch. These will root and produce new plants.
Shrub Borders
Prune rambling and climbing roses (but not the more recent repeat flowering types), when flowering is over.
Be aware of the symptoms of ‘clematis wilt’, where the leaves and stems blacken with the infection. Cut out and destroy infected material.
Trim your hedges for the last time this year, whilst the shoots are still growing.
Now they have finished flowering, it’s time to prune Wisteria on your house or garden walls. Cut back side shoots growing out from the main stems to around five leaf joints to strengthen subsequent growth.
Do you have plants of camellia or rhododendron in your garden? Time then to make sure they are well watered as this will aid the formation of flower buds for next spring’s displays.
