Paul GarganAs we approach August, your garden enters a time of transition. It is a link between the high days of summer and the onset of autumn. Many of the early and midsummer flowers are going over and the late ones are still to come.
Containers and hanging baskets are at their peak. They are packed solid with roots and it is more important than ever to keep them fed and watered frequently. If possible, water them after sunset to give them the longest time possible to soak it up. Hot dry weather encourages annual bedding to set seed and die so dead heading is very important to keep them flowering throughout autumn.
Remember to feed and water permanent plants in tubs such as shrubs and small trees.
Flower buds
Camellias and rhododendrons start to grow their flower buds for next year now, so feed them with a high potash feed such as tomato feed and keep well-watered. Trim all the new growth of pyracanthas with secateurs now to expose the berries which are just starting to swell and ripen. Trim the new growth just beyond the berries for autumn and winter display.
If you have been away and returned to a hayfield rather than a lawn, don’t try to reduce it all in one cut – you’ll just cut into the thick brown stems and be left with stubble. Raise the mower to its highest level for the first cut and lower it a notch with each cut until it is at the normal height. This encourages the grass to produce leafy growth again.
When the flowers of Oriental poppies have died down, severely cut back foliage to the ground – this will produce a second showing of attractive summer leaves.
Dead head aquilegias and alchemilla mollis as soon as they start to set seed. If left to self-seed they can soon take over a bed. You can encourage plants such as foxgloves and poppies to self-seed where you want them to grow by cutting the seed heads off when ready and shaking them over the chosen area. The seeds are ready if you give a gentle shake and the little black seeds drop out.
Trim lavender, rosemary and santolina this month. If they are stand-alone shrubs or dwarf herb hedges, the process is the same. You are just clearing off the dead flower heads and re-shaping the plants.
Clip the plants back just beyond the base of the old flower stem using shears. As long as you do this every year from the time they are planted, they will never look leggy.
They will make a bit of regrowth before winter so they will look neat and natural.
Don’t cut hard back into old wood as they may not regrow.