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Must do's for this monthJobs that just cant wait Organise basic care for your garden if you are going to be away o holiday. Watering and harvesting are the tasks that will most need attention if you are away for more than a few days.  Check
watering requirements daily. In hot, dry weather plants in containers
may need watering more than once a day. Even if it does rain many
containers in sheltered positions, windowboxes and hanging baskets
in particular, may not receive sufficient water to keep them flourishing.
If there is a drought, concentrate on providing water for trees and
shrubs planted this year. There are usually expensive pants to buy
and if they dry out before rooting into the surrounding soil they
may die.Harvest
fruit and vegetables when they are ripe. Don't forget to harvest culinary
herbs as well as freeze or dry for winter use.Maintain
a regular programme of weeding and checking for pests and diseases.Feed
those plants that require it.Deadhead
regularly to encourage more flowers unless you want seeds to form.
If you are saving seed from your own plants, check regularly to make
sure that you harvest when the seeds are ripe but before they begin
to shed.Disbud
according to the requirements of the plants you are growing. Chrysanthemums
and dahlias may need attention this month.Pinch
out the growing tips of wallflowers. The sooner you do this, the bushier
the plants will be by the time they have to be moved to their flowering
positions.Remove
the growing tips from greenhouse tomatoes by the middle of the month,
to encourage the fruit to develop more rapidly.Take
the last crop of cuttings this year from pinks. Pinch
out the growing tips of fuchsias to increase the number of shoots
available for cuttings.Plant
strawberries as soon as possible so the plants become well established
before next year.Sow
Japanese onions to overwinter Timing is critical for this crop.
  Information in this section comes from Reader's Digest New Gardening Year - a month-by-month guide to success in your garden |
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August Planting guide with Avon Mill Garden Centre In August, the garden usually looks after itself, and you can take time out for a holiday. If you arrange for a neighbour to pick crops that will spoil, such as runner beans, courgettes and lettuces, and organise watering for the house and container plants, there should be few problems on your return. In a wet year the grass may need an urgent trim if it hasn't been cut for a week or two, but in a dry summer, with a period of drought, there may be little or no growth. Now is the time to relax and enjoy your garden. Although there is still work to be done, the jobs are generally light and undemanding and, with a few exceptions, they can wait until early September if necessary. |