August Gardening Tips

It is high summer and the garden is at a crossroads. On the one hand there is still an abundance of flower but harvest is also very much in evidence and I am truly thankful for the plentiful blackcurrants that have been staining my hands as I pick them and are now safely stowed in the freezer. Runner beans, tomatoes, salad leaves and courgettes are in abundance and the sheer bounty and generosity of nature is on full display.

Here are just a few easy tasks for pottering in the garden this August

Continue to water and feed hanging baskets & containers regularly.

Don’t forget to dead head faded flowers of perennials and annuals to encourage the production of new flowers.

Trim Lavender bushes once they have finished flowering. Do not cut down into the wood.
Take cuttings of tender perennials such as Pelargoniums, Fuchsias and Salvias.

Stop feeding Roses so as to discourage soft growth. Prune rambling and shrub Roses cutting only the old stem that flowered this year.

Sow Lettuce, spring Cabbage and winter Spinach.

Pinch out the tips of Runner Beans.

Take cuttings of woody herbs, e.g. Lavender, Rosemary and Sage.

Cut down Raspberry canes that have fruited and support new canes.

Plant Strawberry runners which have rooted.

Continue to feed Tomato plants.