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Monthly Tips >
August
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Gardening tips from William Sinclair Holdings PLC.
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August weather is often similar to that of
July. However days are getting noticeably shorter. By the end of
the month there's often a distinctly autumnal feeling in the air.
As August is the month when most people go away, try to arrange
for a neighbour of friend to water your containers and greenhouse
plants. It's a good idea to move containers out of full sun while
you're away. Why not use your holiday to visit one or two gardens
– you might get some good ideas for your own plot.
ESSENTIAL JOBS CHECKLIST FOR
AUGUST
- Take cuttings of shrubby herbs and tender
perennials
- Water all containers every day and feed
regularly
- Trim hedges
- Treat vine weevil with biological control
- Pinch out tomato sideshoots
- Prune raspberries and gooseberries
- Mow the lawn before going on holiday
Last Chance To…
Take cuttings of rock plants and shrubs
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TOPICAL TIPS FOR AUGUST
- Take cuttings of tender perennial, such
as verbenas, argyranthemums, fuchsias, salvias and
pelargoniums. Dip the cuttings into a hormone rooting compound
before inserting them into small pots of half and half peat
and perlite or peat and silver sand. Water in well and keep
the cuttings in a cold frame or even on warm windowsill out of
direct sunlight. They should root within eight weeks and can
then be potted up in J Arthur Bower's Multi-Purpose compost
and overwintered in a heated greenhouse or on a bedroom
windowsill
- Trim lavender bushes once the flowers are
past their best. If you like to attract wildlife to your
garden you may prefer to leave the seedheads as goldcrest
adore the seeds and may visit in early autumn
- If you have camellias, azaleas or
rhododendrons water them well in dry weather otherwise the
flower buds for next year may not develop properly. To boost
growth feed them with J Arthur Bower's Liquid Ericaceous Feed.
If you have lime in your soil you may find that the foliage of
these particular plants is turning yellow. The lime in the
soil stops the plants taking up trace elements, particularly
iron. You can alleviate the condition by applying J Arthur
Bower's sulphate of iron. In severe cases it is probably
better to grow lime-hating plants in containers using one of
the J Arthur Bower's Ericaceous composts.
- Late-flowering bulbs such as nerines,
agapanthus, schistylis and sternbergia will appreciate
watering at this time of year. .The reason is that all these
plants come from parts of the world with summer rains. If they
go dry they may not flower well
- This is the month to plant the lovely,
but temperamental madonna lily. It prefers limy soil and
should be planted not more than 5 cm (2 inches) deep
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- Stop feeding roses now. Feeding will
encourage soft growth that won't have a chance to ripen before
the winter. It will then be prone to diseases.
- Rambler roses that have finished
flowering can be pruned now. Cut the long old stems that
flowered this year, but leave non-flowering shoots as these
should bloom next year
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- Vine weevil has become a common pest in
greenhouses and containers in recent years. The adult weevil
is dull dark grey in colour, slightly mottled. It comes out at
night and chomps away at the margins of leaves. But it is the
larvae that cause the real damage by burrowing down into the
compost and devouring the roots of plants. By the time the
gardener spots that the plant is not flourishing it may well
be too late. If you see wilting leaves remove the plant from
its pot and have a look. The grubs are about 1 cm (1/2 inch)
long, curved and creamy white in colour with brown heads. They
should be destroyed on sight. Biological control by nematodes
is now available and should be used this month. Follow the
instructions carefully.
- Continue to mist plants and check shading
- Continue to feed tomato plants each weeks
with J Arthur Bower's Liquid Tomato Feed
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- Before you go on holiday try and arrange
for a friend or neighbour to come round and water your
containers. If they can't come every day, take steps to cut
down on watering requirements by moving all containers and
hanging baskets out of the sun as far as possible. Clay pots
can be stood on trays filled with wet gravel. If you have a
very elaborate summer display with window-boxes and hanging
baskets, you should consider installing an automatic watering
system controlled by a timer.
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- Pick courgettes regularly while they are
small
- Pinch out the tips of the climbing shoots
of runner beans once they reach the tip of their supports
- Sow lettuce, winter spinach, spring
cabbage and Chinese cabbage out of doors
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- Continue to take cuttings of woody herbs
including hyssop, lavender, rosemary, curry plant, rue and
sage. Dip the cuttings into hormone rooting compound before
inserting them into small pots of equal parts peat and silver
sand or peat and perlite.
- It's a good time of year to divide
congested clumps of chives. Dig them up and divide in small
clumps of about five or six bulbs. Replant with a handful of
your favourite J Arthur Bower's planting mixture (see Quick
Guide)
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- Plant rooted strawberry runners now to
ensure a good crop next year. If you leave this much later the
crop will be severely reduced
- Continue to prune raspberries and tie in
new shoots
- Prune gooseberries, shortening the main
stems and side shoots to five leaves
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- It's OK to cut off waterlily leaves if
they are hiding the flowers
- Continue to thin heavy growths of
oxygenating plants from ponds
- Ask a neighbour to feed any fish while
you're on holiday. Ornamental fish need to feed heavily in
late summer and autumn to help them get through the winter
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- There's still time to take cuttings of
alpines
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NEED MORE HELP?
Look at our information pages. The aim is to
cut out the mystique that surrounds many common tasks, and to
explain in a simple way, why and how to do them. This way, we hope
to help you enjoy your garden more, and get the best out of it.
Under each topic, you'll also find a guide
to the wide range of J Arthur Bower's products available to help
you with that particular task. The choice is yours.
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