Your Garden Tasks For August
July saw the passing of Dorothy Miller at her home in Grange Avenue. Dorothy was, at the time, the oldest resident born in Wenvoe. She worked at Anstee’s Nurseries, now Pughs Garden Centre, where they propagated roses and sold the cut flowers. Dorothy was known there as the rose queen. Dorothy had an allotment for many years and believed that most ills could be kept at bay by using herbs and plants found in hedgerows. This belief certainly worked for her as she was 97 when time finally caught up with her.
RHS tips for August.
- Prune wisteria.
- Don’t delay Summer pruning of fruit trees trained as restricted forms.
- Dead head flowering plants regularly.
- Water regularly, particularly new plants and those in containers.
- Collect seeds from plants.
- Harvest sweetcorn and other veg as it becomes available.
- Continue cutting old fruit canes on raspberries.
- Lift and pot up strawberry runners.
- Keep ponds and water features topped up.
- Feed the soil with green manure.
Slugs and snails are well known enemies of gardeners. The old slug pellets are to be banned from use next year because they contain metaldehyde which is water soluble and pollutes water courses and is harmful to wildlife. The new pellets contain ferric phosphate which will degrade harmlessly into the soil. There are numerous tricks that people who tend the soil have been using to deal with these pests. Egg shells around plants do not work, the same goes for copper foil strips. You would need a strip of copper 6” wide for it to work, then some scallywag would, no doubt, relieve you of it. If you decide to catch the molluscs alive don’t just throw them over into next door’s garden as they will be back. Apparently you have to take them at least 20 metres away as their homing instincts only cover short distances. Trials have shown that beer traps work well but you should empty regularly as they smell awful if left. A piece of wood or slate left on the soil will allow cover during daytime, check underneath before dusk then dispose of the little blighters as you see fit. When watering the borders you should only water the ground close to the plants as slugs and snails find it harder to cross dry soil.
Our milder climate means that we have a longer flowering season, especially with Roses. When dead heading your Rose bush or climbing Roses don’t be afraid of cutting back a bit further on spent stems to a healthy bud and you will get more flowers this year. Rambling Roses are different and will only produce flowers next year on this season’s growth. All side shoots that have flowered can be cut back to one or two buds.
August is a good time to take cuttings of your favourite perennials, over-winter these young plants
under glass if you can. One of the RHS star plants for this time of year is the Japanese Anemone. They say it can be invasive but is easy to control. Don’t believe it. You will be pulling up offshoots from this plant for ever.
We must continue to weed around our plants. While doing this look out for self seeded plants and pot them up. They may not come true to the original but will help fill the borders next year.
Take care and happy gardening.