TINA WOODHAMS GARDENING NOTES FOR AUGUST
August is often considered as high summer with hot sunshine and sticky temperatures whilst cooling off later in the month as we head towards autumn. Heat and humidity can not only affect our working ability out in the garden but also creates a favourable environment for insect pests.
Continued watering is an essential task this month along with regular deadheading to keep pots and perennials in tip top condition. Don't forget to treat them to a fortnightly liquid feed!
Next year's flower buds on camellias and rhododendrons will be forming during late summer so ensure to keep these well watered throughout dry periods.
In the borders some of the early summer flowering plants may be looking past their best, so boost colour in the garden by planting up containers with new fuchsia, dahlia or tall late perennials which can then be strategically placed into any empty gaps. Once finished, the pots can be emptied and dug directly into the border for colour next year.
Now is the time to prune wisteria, climbing and rambling roses as well as wall shrubs such as pyracantha.
August is a busy time for harvesting edibles: beans, potatoes, carrots and beetroot together with tomatoes and cucumbers. Remove the bottom leaves from your tomato plants to ensure good air circulation and allowing the sun to ripen the fruits. After harvesting summer fruiting raspberries, the spent canes may be cut to soil level leaving the new canes to develop for next year. Sow crops of lettuce, rocket and winter salads as well as spring onion and radish.
Our gardens would not be complete nor function without wildlife.
During August, solitary leaf cutter bees may still be nesting. Plant late summer species such as aster, sedum, salvias and Verbena bonariensis and keep some longer grass in areas of the lawn to provide some shelter from the sun. August is a key month for butterflies and plants such as buddleja, dahlia, erysimum and geranium offer a valuable source of nectar.
So fingers crossed for some glorious, hot and sunny days! We appear as humans to be naturally disappointed when it rains however the well-known phrase "it's good for the garden" springs to mind, and indeed maybe we should view it as a positive in that it makes our gardens green and lush, and our flowers, fruit and vegetables flourish.
And please...if you enjoy the hot and dry summers do not moan that your lawn has turned brown!