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August is typically one of the hottest months of the year which makes watering almost an essential for the next 31 days. Whilst most of us are going away this month too, automatic watering or enlisting the help of friends and neighbours may be required.
As well as keeping your plants healthy, you can also expect a number of pruning, harvesting and new planting/sowing tasks of which some are looking ahead to the unfortunately approaching colder months.
To help you manage your workload or skip certain sets of tasks that may not be relevant to you, this month’s jobs have been split into four categories:
August may be a dry and warm month but there is still plenty to do before September comes around. Ensure all of your plants, flowers & produce are kept watered to allow them to burst out before things really begin to slow down ready for autumn and winter.
We recommended completing as many of these maintenance tasks as you can before moving on to the rest of this month’s gardening jobs. All of your hard work is more than worth it in the long run, well done so far this year and keep it up!
To fill any bare ground around your garden you should sow green manure
Wisteria plants long sideshoots should be summer pruned down to about 20cm
Unless you want to collect their seeds, keep deadheading border plants
Avoid half-cut leaves that turn brown by cutting laurel hedges with secateurs, not a hedge trimmer
Before they can establish themselves, clear all weeds from cracks in your paving and driveways
You should tackle problem lawn weeds by digging them out and/or applying a lawn weedkiller
From roses and around the bases of trees be sure to remove any suckers you find
Stop flopping by using canes and string, or twiggy sticks to prop up tall border plants
Collect the seeds and ripe seed pods from all of your favourite flowers and vegetables
To speed up the decomposition process, turn over your compost regularly
For September & October, prepare your soil for sowing a lawn or laying turf
To reduce snail populations, regularly go on hunts especially on damper evenings
With regular heat and sun in August, as well as regular watering ensure your greenhouse is kept clean and well ventilated which will prevent poor growing conditions. Follow the steps below to ensure your growing efforts are timed perfectly and your rewards will be more than worth the effort you are putting in!
Keeping your greenhouse in the best condition possible is crucial to ensure all of your growing efforts come to fruition:
For fragrant indoor Christmas displays plant up pots with ‘Paper White’ narcissus bulbs
Let more light & air reach your cordon tomatoes by removing low leaves to the lowest truss
Start taking leaf cuttings from plants such as succulents, such as echeverias, crassula and sedums
To bring them back into growth after their summer rest, start watering dormant cyclamen
For autumn & winter colour, in pots indoor, plant flowering bulbs, such as nerines, lachenalia & veltheimia
Check for disease and pests on greenhouse plants and treat any you find immediately
If going on holiday, set up a capillary matting system to ensure plants have enough water
For Christmas harvest, plant cold-stored potato tubers in large tubs in a greenhouse or cool porch
During hot weather, water the floor of your greenhouse each morning to increase humidity
Avoid sun scorch to plants on hot days by shading your delicate plants in your greenhouse
Take leaf cuttings from your houseplants such as begonias, African violets & Cape primroses
To encourage more fruits to form harvest tomatoes, cucumbers and chillies regularly
Water pots with a solution of biological control nematodes, to tackle vine weevil infestations
August’s warm ground can be the perfect condition to begin growing a wide range of flowers and plants, don’t miss out on the opportunity to grow these by skipping this section of tasks! As well as planting new, keep your existing plant and flowers healthy with regular watering and any bits of general care that could be required.
Not all of the jobs below will be relevant to your outdoor space, browse all of the tasks and ensure you complete the right ones for your area.
Choose non-flowering shoots of woody herbs like lavender and hyssop and take cuttings
To provide you with early summer colour next year, begin to sow hardy annuals in sunny spots
If going on holiday, set up an automatic watering system for pots and hanging baskets
On a dry day, collect seeds from plants such as aquilegias, sweet peas and love-in-a-mist as they ripen
To encourage a constant display of blooms continue to deadhead your dahlias and other perennials
Through late summer while their flower buds are forming, keep your amellias & rhododendrons well watered
Once flowering is over, trim your lavender to maintain a compact, bushy shape but avoid cutting old wood
Rambling roses need pruning, removing up to a third of stems that have flowered & tie the rest to supports
Regularly water & deadhead whilst adding tomato feed fortnightly to keep pots & hanging baskets flowering
If you don’t want hardy annuals to self-seed, remove all of the spent plants
Into pots & borders, plant autumn bulbs, such as colchicums, sternbergia & nerines
Now the plants have now scattered their seeds, strim or mow areas of wildflower meadow
From penstemons, choosing healthy, vigorous, non-flowering shoots, take softwood cuttings
Who doesn’t love growing their own produce? August can be an incredibly successful month for harvesting and forward planning. From picking fresh herbs to summer pruning to sowing or planting new crops, there is a variety of tasks to keep you busy!
All of the growing tasks for the month of August can be found below:
Pinch out tops of outdoor tomatoes, it is unlikely that further flowers can produce fruits that have time to ripen
So you can harvest your saffron this autumn, order saffron crocus bulbs (Crocus sativus) to plant next month
For protection against birds, use netting or a fleece to protect your blackberries and autumn raspberries
Once their tops die down, lift onions and shallots, then leave to dry in the sun
On your grapevines, begin to cut back the leaves to let the sun ripen the fruits
For winter pickings, sow hardy crops such as land cress, rocket and corn salad
Watch for signs of tomato and potato blight & immediately remove affected plants to prevent spreading
To encourage good fruiting in future years, summer prune both free-standing and trained apple trees
To freeze in ice cubes for winter use, or to hang up and dry then store in jars, harvest your fresh herbs
During hot weather, water your crops regularly
Into new beds, plant well-rooted strawberry runners
Into some acid soil, plant your blueberry bushes
To climb over a trellis, fence or arbour, plant a kiwi plant
