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The month of lush growth and abundant harvests including gluts of courgette and runner beans plus vases filled with cut flowers and never ending herbal teas. August is full of deadheading and watering while enjoying the fruits of your labour. It’s a good month to sit back and observe what is growing, what worked well, what you might not do next year and make a note of what you have enjoyed up until this point. We can often get carried away with the changes of each month but observation in the garden is key and can fully enhance your wellbeing experience of gardening and growing your own food. So take some time to enjoy the summer sun and take a good look around at what you have achieved. Breathe it all in.
August is usually the driest month of the year, although as we know the weather in the UK is ever interchangeable! Mostly be prepared for frequent watering and the possibility of hosepipe bans in some places. This is when rainwater harvesting throughout the year is really helpful! Use your saved water, grey water can be used and always water in the morning or evening when it’s not too hot to avoid evaporation. Don’t forget your pots, containers and hanging baskets which will all need regular watering in dry weather.
It’s also really important to remember to water your evergreen shrubs such as Camellia because if they stay dry, buds won’t form for next years flowers.
It’s better to give plants a really good soak in one go rather than just a little frequently, which can actually cause the plants stress.
Pruning at any time of year depends on the plant. Different plants require pruning at different times of the year to help them thrive, keep them in shape, aid flower formation and ultimately fruits. Some ‘bleed’ in summer and therefore need winter pruning so it is really important that you know what plant you have in order to find out when the best time for pruning is.
Summer flowering perennials are either pruned back during autumn or left with seed heads on until the following year. Preferably leave these because not only does the old growth protect new growth at ground level but the stems and seed-heads give plenty of winter interest and homes plus food for wildlife over winter.
Established hedges can be trimmed once or twice a year between spring and summer, but know which hedge you have to be sure. These can be trimmed up to mid summer. There is plenty of helpful information on the Hopes Grove Nursery website for when to prune various hedging species, so take a look if you are unsure which hedge you have.
As a rule deciduous hedges can be trimmed in mid to late summer but as with all plants there are exceptions to that! Hazel for example should be trimmed from late winter to late spring.
Stone fruit trees can be pruned into summer but only remove branches without fruits. Other fruit trees are generally pruned over winter. So hold off pruning most fruit trees and in the heat of the summer, enjoy the harvests.
To prolong flowering and to help plants thrive throughout often the hottest month of the year, continue feeding plants that are flowering and fruiting. Same advice as in my July gardening tips, give them a high potash feed and if needed and when the weather is hot, mulching around plants will not only help to retain moisture but also feed the soil if you use some well rotted organic material. Comfrey and nettle tea can be used to help plants along as can seaweed.
I wouldn’t generally recommend planting trees, hedges or shrubs in the heat of summer. Instant impact hedges and potted hedging plants can be planted but you will need to be available to water regularly and most likely every day during hot, dry spells. Mulching will help to retain moisture in the soil and if you are keeping new plants in pots or containers, consider standing them somewhere with part shade and water daily until the weather cools down a little because the compost will dry out really quickly.
Keep trees and shrubs well watered during dry spells and just as with hedging a mulch can really help. If you have shrubs such as Rhododendron and Camellia, they do need to be watered so the buds form for flowers next year. I am often asked why a winter or spring flowering shrub hasn’t flowered and very often it is simply because it was watered the year before. It’s easy to forget the plants that aren’t currently flowering, but it’s essential to keep these as part of your watering regime as well.
At this time of year, it’s time to stop feeding the lawn if you are. Feeding usually means new growth but that might not be established enough to cope with the colder months ahead. It’s a good idea towards the end of the month and into the next month to cut on a higher setting gradually so the grass is a little longer for autumn and winter. If you have any mounds brush them down before mowing and get the crass clipping in the compost bin.
If your lawn is brown, simply leave it to regrow in the more rainy autumn.
There could be any number of pests and diseases at this time of year, including most of the pests mentioned in previous calendar months.
It’s that time of year when the squash plants are especially susceptible to mildews especially if the weather is warm and wet. I remove foliage as soon as I can see it but it does spread and without wanting to remove all foliage, I tend to let it take it’s course. You’ll notice it as the leaves will look like they have a grey or white dusting on which eventually wilts and dies. If this happens before the fruits have fully formed, then the harvest will be impacted. Growing resistant varieties really can help and as mildew likes humidity, planting with plenty of space for plants to grow helps with air flow. When you’ve harvested your crops, remove the plant and take to the green waste at your local recycling centre. If you compost them yourself, the spores will still spread.
There are plenty of ants at this time of year, of which do very little damage. I generally leave them but will brush away the ant hills on a lawn before mowing. If ants are a problem, mix some peppermint oil with water in a spray bottle and spray around the boundary edges which can work. Keeping your soil moist is also helpful because they tend to prefer dryer soils and don’t forget the best way to help is to create a biodiverse garden so natural predators do the job of controlling ants for you.
I wouldn’t specifically mention Wasps as a pest because they are beneficial and incredibly interesting to watch building a nest. But, if you do have rotten fruit such as fallen apples, they will soon come in to feed on the sweetness. So just watch your step and let them be. You can remove fallen and diseased apples which can be composted, taken to the green waste at your local recycling centre or even dug into a trench in the ground. The key is to collect them before they have rotten and make something delicious with them! If composting, make sure you have a mix of materials including green and brown so the apples don’t provide too much nitrogen and turn into a mush, which can happen if you have a lot of apples.
The ever popular Dahlia may need staking if they become top heavy which is likely especially with the taller dinner plate varieties. This is the same for any plant that is starting to lean over.
Bedding plants and perennials will need deadheading frequently to keep them producing more flowers for as long as possible. If perennials are starting to look a bit messy, give them a light prune but remember to keep some for seedheads and winter interest in the garden.
Lavender plants will need trimming back after flowering which will stop them getting woody and keep them compact. Using shears, secateurs or even a hand trimmer will do the job.
If you have Bearded Iris, congested clumps can be divided now and not much later. This will give them more space to grow, and more free plants! They need to establish and form buds before the weather gets colder so they flower next year. Iris ‘Florentina’, ‘Tropic Night’ and ‘Superstition’ are some of my favourites!
Carry on weeding. Yes, those weeds are enjoying the weather! To me weeds are simply plants growing where I don’t want them which is typically in my cultivated beds competing for nutrients and water. My allotment has a lot of Musk Mallow which is superb for wildlife and I keep it in specific areas but it self seeds everywhere! So, I hand weed mostly when plants are still young a they are easier to remove and hoe gently around the cultivated beds.
Climbing and Rambling Roses should be pruned after flowering. However, if they repeat flower – don’t prune!
Cut flowers are one of the biggest joys and that includes herbs. Many herbs will go to flower and you will notice how much insects love them. My herb patch is the most vibrant area in my whole growing space, not just with textures and colours but wildlife. To keep them growing, I frequently cut some not just to use in the kitchen but also to gift as a bunch of flowers to friends. Those along with some other cut flowers can really bring a coffee table alive! I grow many cut flowers and even provide some for weddings but you don’t need many for a small vase. Just a few stems of flowering perennials in a glass jar is a great way of bringing the outdoors inside.
Throughout the summer always make sure your greenhouse has plenty of ventilation at by opening vents and doors. If you want to keep butterflies out (such as the cabbage white if you have brassicas growing) hang up some netting across the door. Spraying inside the greenhouse with a hose can help to increase humidity and provide shade to plants if needed. Always remove fallen foliage, dead, damaged or diseased plant material to avoid the spread of diseases and pests in the greenhouse.
Keep turning that compost! Get a garden fork and mix the compost pile up and if needed sprinkle some water in as well. This will help to speed up decomposition and improve aeration.
If you have a pond, keep removing blanket weed or any debris and top up with rainwater if needed. When removing anything from a pond, let it sit at the side for a few hours or even a day or two so mini creatures can find their way back in to the pond. Having a shallow area in the pond filled with stones can be really useful for insects that need water and keeping bird baths topped up with fresh water as often as possible will keep your garden birds happy. Create plenty of spaces for wildlife to shelter from the weather and predators and include lots of native plants, hedging and trees.
Keep disease at bay in the greenhouse by removing the lower foliage on tomatoes and cucumbers. This allows for better airflow. It can be helpful to pinch off the top of the plant so the energy goes into forming and ripening fruits rather than growing more foliage. Feed with a tomato feed or seaweed feed.
If you haven’t had enough Runner Beans already (my freezer is full), chop of the top of your plants which will encourage more growth beneath and possibly more beans.
Keep harvesting beans – all beans including Runner beans, French beans and Climbing beans of any sort. This prevents them from setting seed and getting too big as well.
If you haven’t already netted your brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, kale sprouts etc), check on the undersides of all leaves for the cabbage white butterfly eggs. Once you have the all clear, cover over with butterfly netting so they don’t get destroyed either by caterpillars or pigeons over winter.
Hang up your onions, garlic and shallots by tying the foliage into a plait and hanging somewhere cool and dry to use over winter. You’ll know when they are ready to harvest as the foliage will turn yellow and dry.
Happy August!
