It is August, children are still on school holidays and so this month we focus on getting out in your garden, maintaining what you have and most importantly enjoying the great outdoors.
HERE IS A BRIEF OUTLINE OF SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES YOU MAY WANT TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN THIS AUGUST:
Although we have had a few showers your plants may need a bit of watering if it has been hot so keep an eye on fruit and vegetable plants in particular.
Whilst you have your watering can out don’t forget to top up your pond, water features and bird baths too.
If your summer flowering shrubs have finished flowering, now is the best time of year to give them a prune. Make sure your secateurs are nice and sharp and carefully clean the blades when you have finished using them.
If you have any camellias or rhododendrons, we suggest giving them extra watering as they will be setting their buds for next year.
Keep dead heading the flowers on your perennials and summer bedding plants to get the most from them.
Trim your lavender plants after they have finished flowering to prevent them getting tall, leggy and woody.
Get children involved in weeding and clearing away any diseased and dead parts of plants. Maybe they could earn some pocket money for each bucket they fill? We have a lovely range of children’s gardening gloves in stock to help with the job.
Give your crops a feed with a high-potash fertiliser (such as Tomorite) crops to feed will include sweetcorn, cucumbers, tomatoes, aubergines and peppers.
Start harvesting your maincrop potatoes and store in hessian sacks that exclude light but allow air to flow through.
Replace any colour gaps where your summer bedding may have ended. New season autumn bedding plants are arriving weekly to include our gorgeous home grown cyclamen as well as violas, pansies and garden mums (Hardy Chrysanthemums).
If your onion and garlic foliage is yellowing and flopping over it is time to lift them and dry them.
Pick your beans regularly to prevent them becoming stringy and from going to seed.
Turn the compost in your composting bin.
Get children involved on a pest hunt. What beneficial and non-beneficial insects will you find? If you find any ‘nasties’, come and visit us as we have lots of control methods (mechanical, biological and chemical) in stock and can help advise. Particular nasties to watch out for include slugs, aphids, lily beetles and vine weevils.
From your sunlounger you may want to start thinking about what spring flowering bulbs you would like next year. We will soon be receiving our supplies and you need to get planting them in September to October for best results.
