This Month in Your Garden - August

Summer’s lease hath all too short a date. William Shakespeare.

August is officially the last month of summer and we want to cling to our enjoyment of the garden in the warmth it brings. There is certainly plenty to get on with as we soak up the sun and, at the end of the day, we’re allowed to be languorous as we admire our work. 

Dead-heading annual bedding plants and perennials is high on the list to promote more growth and colour into autumn and to stop the plants from seeding. However, you can leave some to run to seed which you can collect to store to sow next year or let them self-seed. 

Cutting back herbs will encourage new flushes you can use, freeze and dry before the first frosts. Taking cuttings of tender perennials such as fuchsias and pelargoniums will give you a supply of new plants for next year and save the cost of replacing any that don’t come through the winter. You can encourage penstemons to flower again by cutting them back to just above a leaf. Lavender plants need trimming back when they finish flowering. Prune rambling and climbing roses, but not the repeat-flowering types.

Remember to keep containers and hanging baskets well-watered and give them a fortnightly feed with liquid fertiliser. Now sit back and enjoy the garden.    

• Deadhead dahlias, roses and Penstemon for more growth and colour into autumn
• Prune wisteria after flowering
• Take rose cuttings such as Bourbon China
• Remove faded flowers from aquatic and marginal plants in the pond
• Water evergreen shrubs like camellias
• Re-pot Azaleas when necessary
• Propagate pinks and carnations by layering or take cuttings
• Trim hedges