As we head towards the main holiday month of August it is time to take it easy and relax in your garden having hopefully put in the effort in the proceeding months ! After the very hot weather of most of July despite ending with rain it is likely that your garden will need refreshing following the very dry conditions and lack of rain.
Start by looking around the garden and seeing what needs tidying up. There are bound to be flowers that need deadheading to encourage additional growth especially roses. Hedges might need a quick trim with a cordless battery operated hedgetrimmer - useful lightweight and reasonably priced if you do not already have one.
Some shrubs need more water than others which are drought resistant. If you do not give enough attntion to hydrangeas (hydra - Greek for water) they will quickly start to wilt and may be difficuly to revive. Make sure you water the roots preferably with a hose and not the leaves.Agapanthas and Nerine Lillies which are late flowering bulbs also need generous wtaering to make them flower.
In the greenhouse continue to feed tomato plants each week with Liquid Tomato Feed also good for cucumbers and pick out surplus tresses from the tomatoes to encourage better fruiting.Train cucumbers and cut back sideshoots.August is a good time of year to take cuttings from perennial plants shrubs or houseplants. The bases can be brushed with rooting powder before placing in trays or Roottrainers.This is not a good idea if you are going on holiday or do not have someone to keep up the watering on a regular basis !
Your vegetable garden should be coming into its own this month with several foods becoming ready for harvesting.Early potatoes should be ready now as runner beans broad beans and cabbage.Pinch out the tips of the climbing shoots of the runner beans once they reach the tip of their supports.Sow lettuce winter cabbage and purple sprouting brocoli.In your fruit cage prune raspberries and goosberries and tie in new shoots.
In summary the No 1 tip for August is keep on top of the watering but otherwise sit back & relax this month perhaps on your new garden furniture and enjoy the hot summer days and warm evenings that are hopefully on their way !
