I would like to refer you all to Alan Caswell’s gardening feature in July, as his advice on watering and dead heading still applies in August.
Wherever there is a drainpipe taking the rainwater off your property, whether it’s your house, greenhouse or garden shed there is an opportunity to save rainwater for using on your plants both in the garden and in the house. Water butts do not need to be expensive or ugly and will save on your tap water which never gets cheaper.
There are many different colours, shapes and sizes. We recently found one with a planter on the top which is fun to plant up each season. Fitting is not difficult and here is a small tip. Make sure the butt tap is high enough to get your watering can under it by mounting the butt on blocks if necessary. A mistake we made when we first fitted one years’ ago not to be made again!!
Now is the time to collect seeds in your garden or from friends. Choose a dry day and collect from plants such as sweet peas, love-in-a-mist and aquilegias. Most seeds will store for a year or two but make sure they are thoroughly dry before putting them in paper envelopes. Remember to write on the envelope what the seeds are and the date collected. Seeds are best kept in the fridge or in an airtight container in an outside shed.
Keep on top of the deadheading and keep up feeding especially any plant that is not in the ground. Use a tomato feed regularly. If you have camellias or rhododendrons now is when they are forming their buds so keep them well watered.
Lavender needs a trim after flowering to maintain a compact shape but avoid cutting into the old wood. Take some cuttings and have a go at propagating some new plants not only of the lavender but any woody herb or softwood cuttings e.g. penstemons. There are some very helpful video instructions that you can watch on line.
Lastly, late August into early September is a good time to seed bald patches in the lawn or lay new turf.
We have been so incredibly lucky with the wonderful weather during lockdown and personally it has been a joy to have time to spend time in my own garden with any plants that I could get hold of some of which I have never grown before it’s been so exciting. I do hope you have savoured the time to enjoy nature over the last few months.
Stay safe and love your space.
The Tidy Gardener
Wherever there is a drainpipe taking the rainwater off your property, whether it’s your house, greenhouse or garden shed there is an opportunity to save rainwater for using on your plants both in the garden and in the house. Water butts do not need to be expensive or ugly and will save on your tap water which never gets cheaper.
There are many different colours, shapes and sizes. We recently found one with a planter on the top which is fun to plant up each season. Fitting is not difficult and here is a small tip. Make sure the butt tap is high enough to get your watering can under it by mounting the butt on blocks if necessary. A mistake we made when we first fitted one years’ ago not to be made again!!
Now is the time to collect seeds in your garden or from friends. Choose a dry day and collect from plants such as sweet peas, love-in-a-mist and aquilegias. Most seeds will store for a year or two but make sure they are thoroughly dry before putting them in paper envelopes. Remember to write on the envelope what the seeds are and the date collected. Seeds are best kept in the fridge or in an airtight container in an outside shed.
Keep on top of the deadheading and keep up feeding especially any plant that is not in the ground. Use a tomato feed regularly. If you have camellias or rhododendrons now is when they are forming their buds so keep them well watered.
Lavender needs a trim after flowering to maintain a compact shape but avoid cutting into the old wood. Take some cuttings and have a go at propagating some new plants not only of the lavender but any woody herb or softwood cuttings e.g. penstemons. There are some very helpful video instructions that you can watch on line.
Lastly, late August into early September is a good time to seed bald patches in the lawn or lay new turf.
We have been so incredibly lucky with the wonderful weather during lockdown and personally it has been a joy to have time to spend time in my own garden with any plants that I could get hold of some of which I have never grown before it’s been so exciting. I do hope you have savoured the time to enjoy nature over the last few months.
Stay safe and love your space.
The Tidy Gardener
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