SERIES: Jobs in the Garden - August 2022

The last official month of summer is the ideal time to enjoy your garden at its best. With children off over the school holidays why not spend some time in the garden together. Here are a list of jobs to keep on top of this month:

Think about bringing in any houseplants that have been outside. Some plants get a shock if they are moved to quickly into a warm home so try to acclimatise them slowly.

As always make sure to keep watering! Particularly containers and new plants. Try and use recycled water or stored rainwater if you can.

Plant foxgloves, sweet rocket, sweet Williams and other perennials, this gives the roots time to establish themselves.

Sow basil, marjoram, chives, coriander and dill in pots outside. You can also cut back your current herbs t encourage a new flush of leaves.

Prune summer flowering shrubs and long-flowering perennials after the blooms go over.

Collect seed pods from plants that you’re planning to reseed.

Trim back your lavender to stop it from going leggy.

Plant out your leeks and brassicas if you already haven’t.

Continue to feed tomatoes and watch out for blossom end rot. This can be first spotted on the fruit as a brown or black spot.

Continue mowing but reduce frequency and raise blades if the weather is hot and dry.

Mow wildflower meadows. Leave what you’ve cut for a couple of days to dry out and drop seeds.

Lift and pot up rooted strawberry runners.

Potatoes and onions will be ready for harvest as soon as the plants’ foliage turns brown and falls over. Carefully dig around each plant and lift the crop from the soil.

August is the time to get busy with weeding. As the growing season winds down, both annual and perennial weeds start to produce thousands of seeds that will germinate in your garden next spring. If left unchecked, these invaders become extremely difficult to eliminate.