John’s August jobs for the garden…
After the successful Summer we’ve had, full of sunshine and much-needed rain, August is an important time to not only plant, but cut back, take cuttings, deadhead, harvest, and tidy up all beds, pots and gardens in general, after you’ve (hopefully) been enjoying spending time in them this Summer.
Here’s what you can do this month…
Deadheading – Remove old flowers from bedding plants to help encourage long lasting blooms.
Partial Cutbacks – Cut back perennials to encourage fresh new growth and maybe even flowers, depending on the plants.
Fruit trees – A great time of year to enjoy your harvest, or plant up established fruit trees like we have at the nursery, so that you can get their roots established and enjoy the fruit next year.
Topiary Feed – Apply a high nitrogen feed to help encourage fresh green growth through Autumn / Winter.
Hedge Cutting – It’s most probably time to give your hedges a trim after a spurt of summer growth, to keep them in shape for the seasons ahead.
Build a pond – An easy way to help prevent greenfly and white fly as ponds attract and support their natural predators like ladybirds, lacewings, and hoverflies, which feed on these pests.
Weeding – Hoe when the weather is dry and apply a mulch to help reduce weeding.
Green manure – In between vegetable crops you can grow your own ‘green manure’, fast growing crops that are cultivated specifically to dig into the bed to provide nutrients, organic matter and even to help prevent weeds.
New Flower Beds – There’s less maintenance in a well implemented bed, than looking after and watering a lawn. Plus, you get the benefits of colour, scents and interest with all the flowers and foliage.
Semi-Ripe Cuttings – Take cuttings from perennials and shrubs this month. Semi-ripe means taking from stems that are starting to firm up but are still somewhat flexible. Plants include Hydrangea, Lavender, Sage, Salvia, Rosemary, Fuchsia, Honeysuckle, Mint, Rose, Spirea, Viburnum, Butterfly bush, Star jasmine, Forsythia, Gardenia, Pelargonium, Hebe, Box, Laurel, Camellia, and more.