Jackie's Tips

MONTH OF AUGUST

·      Deadhead Dahlias and all other perennials to encourage a constant display lovely bloom.

·      Time to prune lavender once it has flowered to maintain a compact and bushy shape. Avoid cutting into old wood.

·      Sow hardy annuals in sunny spots of the garden to provide early summer colour next year.

·      Plant your autumn bulbs, colchicums, sternbergia and nerines, in pots and borders.

·      Look out for potato and tomato blight – must remove affective plants immediately to prevent spreading.

·      Plant well-rooted strawberry runners into new beds.

·      Cover blackberries and autumn raspberries with netting to protect them from birds.

·      Remember to feed your Lemon trees (and other citrus fruit trees) with a citrus fruit fertiliser.

·      Harvest fresh herbs in ice cubes or dry out in store to use in winter.

·      Plant blueberry bushes in acid soil.

·      Plant cold-stored potato tubers in large tubs in your green house.

·      Water your fruit and veg plants daily.

·      When the weather is hot – pour water over the greenhouse floor every morning to help increase humidity.

·      Begin to water cyclamen to bring them back into growth after their summer rest.

·      Regularly check greenhouse plants for pests and disease, and immediately treat once you find any.

·      Shade delicate plants in the greenhouse to avoid sun scorch on sunny days.

·      Clear up fallen leaves and flowers to prevent disease.

·      Feed all house plants once a week through to the autumn.

·      As the weather is warm and temperatures may increase, water houseplants regularly (check the soil first). Also, regularly wipe down all house plants to help them to breath.

·      Check if any houseplants have become top heavy and need re-potting into larger containers.

·      Place large houseplants in the garden and hose them down to remove accumulated house dust.

·      Unless you want to collect their seed, keep deadheading border plants.

·      Cut laurel hedges with secateurs, not a hedge trimmer, to avoid half-cut or broken leaves turning brown.

·      Give your hedges a final trim this month before they stop growing.

·      Your lawn growth slows down in late summer so raise the cutting height of your lawn mower to cut the grass better.

·      If you have ant nest in your lawn, brush them out on a dry day. Always do this before mowing.

·      Your lawn may look a bit brown now, but the autumn rain will bring it back into colour.

·      Turn all compost to help speed decomposition.

·      Select and order your perennials plants on-line now ready for autumn delivery.