August Gardening Advice and Tips

August Gardening Guide: Nurturing Your Garden Through Summer's Peak

August often brings some of the warmest weather of the year, making thoughtful watering and consistent care crucial for a thriving garden.  While enjoying the sunshine, remember to keep an eye on your plants and provide them with the attention they need to flourish.

Essential August Watering Tips

With higher temperatures, efficient watering becomes even more important.

• Conserve Water: If your water butts are running low, consider using "grey water" like dishwater (as long as it's free of harsh chemicals) to hydrate your plants.
• Optimal Timing: Water early in the morning or late in the evening.  This minimises evaporation and allows plants to absorb moisture more effectively.
• Targeted Watering: Always water at the base of your plants.  This directs water straight to the roots, preventing waste and ensuring your plants get the hydration they need.
• Container and New Plants: Containers and recently planted additions tend to dry out quickly in August's heat, so they may require daily watering.

Your August Garden To-Do List

August is a fantastic month for deadheading, taking cuttings, and preparing for the seasons ahead.  Here's a comprehensive list of tasks to keep your garden tin top shape:

• Achilleas: Deadhead spent flowers to encourage a fresh flush of blooms.
• Aucuba japonica: Take semi-ripe cuttings from healthy, current-year shoots that are just starting to go woody.
• Ballota pseudodictamnus: Propagate by taking cuttings of short, non-flowering side-shoots and rooting them in a propagator.
• Bluebells: Now is a good time to divide overcrowded bluebell clumps.
• Camellias: For the next six weeks, ensure potted camellias are well-watered.  This helps prevent bud drop next spring.
• Corncockle: Sow seeds directly into the soil.
• Cranesbill Geranium: Collect seeds and sow them immediately in seed trays.
• Deadheading: Regularly deadhead all flowering plants to promote continuous blooming and redirect plant energy.
• Erigeron karvinskianus (Mexican Fleaband / 'Profusion'): Collect fresh seeds and sow them directly into seed trays.  Fresh seeds offer the best germination rates.
• Euonymus: Give them another prune to maintain their desired shape.
• Evergreens: Take semi-ripe cuttings from your favourite evergreen varieties.
• Fatsia japonica: Take semi-ripe cuttings.
• Foxgloves: Sow seeds in pots or directly in the soil.  These can be planted out in September or next spring.
• Fuchsia: Take softwood cuttings (about 6-8cm long) from fast-growing stems.  You can start them in water on a kitchen windowsill before potting them up indoors.  Plant them outdoors next year after the risk of frost has passed.
• Hellebores: These can be planted any time of year if available at garden centres.  August is also an ideal time to sow hellebore seeds.
• Iris: Gently lift and divide overcrowded clumps.  Remove any dead or damaged rhizomes, keeping the healthy ones with at least two leaves each.  Plant them on the soil surface in a sunny spot, as iris rhizomes prefer to be "baked" by the sun.  (If your garden is exceptionally hot, like mine, you might find lightly covering the rhizomes with soil helps them flower better).
• Lavender: Trim back your lavender plants after they've finished flowering to maintain their shape and encourage bushier growth.
• Montana Clematis: Take cuttings.
• Musk Mallow: Sow seeds.
• Penstemons: Take cuttings of 5-10cm in length.
• Potted Plants: The nutrients in your potting compost will likely be depleted.  Feed your potted plants with a tomato or seaweed feed to give them a boost.
• Rosemary: Take cuttings from side shoots off a main stem.  Strip a few lower leaves, then place each cutting around the edge of a pot filled with a compost and grit mix.  Keep the pot in a cool, well-lit spot and ensure the cuttings stay well-watered.
• Salvia: Take cuttings.
• Seeds: Many plants will have mature seeds ready for collection.
• Shrubs: Prune your summer-flowering shrubs after they've finished blooming.
• Skimmia: Take cuttings from semi-ripe stems.
• Soil: If you don't have a wild garden, now is a good time to replenish soil nutrients with manure or other fertilisers.
• Strawberry Tree: Select healthy, non-flowering shoots from the current season's growth, taking cuttings approximately 10-15cm long.  Remove the lower leaves and plant in a well-draining potting mix.  Keep cuttings in a warm, sheltered spot with indirect sunlight, watering regularly until roots develop.
• Thyme: Cut back after flowering.
• Wallflower (Perennials, e.g., 'Erysimum Walberton's Fragrant Sunshine' & 'Erysimum Bowles's Mauve'): Take cuttings.
• Wallflower: Plant perennial wallflowers now.
• White Campion: Sow seeds.
• Wisteria: Prune your wisteria.
• Yellow Rattle: Sow directly into the soil.

Happy Gardening!