YOUR GARDEN IN AUGUST After the heat of July, the weather usually continues to be very nice giving us time to simply enjoy our gardens and all the hard work we’ve put into them. Don’t worry too much about doing endless jobs – just remember to keep everything watered. If you are going away, you may need to enlist the help of friends and family to look after the garden. If you are at home and feeling energetic, there are still a few gardening tasks for August that will keep your gardens going longer, as well as opportunities to get a head start on next year’s garden plans.
TAKE HERB CUTTING
August is the ideal month to take cuttings woody herbs such as Rosemary and Lavender. To do this, simply take new growth that hasn’t flowered this year cut a piece 10cm long just below a leaf joint, remove the lower leaves and dip the end in a rooting hormone before planting in a gritty compost. If you have lavender in the garden, now is also the ideal time to give it a trim. This will encourage new bushy growth in the spring and will prevent it becoming bare and woody.
36
PRUNING AND TIDYING
Most long flowering perennials will finish flowering this month so cut them down to the ground. Don’t forget about them though – continue to water them, as this will encourage a second flush of foliage and generally prevent the garden looking frazzled and messy. Although weeds will be growing more slowly now than in the spring it’s a good idea to continue to hoe the soil to keep them down.
