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| AUGUST Chrysanthemums, remove the growing tips( less on spray and pompom varieties) to encourage bushy growth. Dahlia stems should be staked and plants fed. Bromton Stocks can be bedded out now for your spring display. Hanging Baskets should be kept well watered!. Weed. perennial borders and rose beds on a regular basis. Stake tall plants such as Delphiniums, cut dead heads to encourage second show. Divide primroses and irises (only if the latter has been undisturbed some years). Roses. Spray regularly with a systemic insecticide and with a fungicide( to protect against mildew and black spot). Apply rose fertilizer. Remove any suckers and dead heads. Burn any fallen leaves infected by blackspot. Cuttings can be taken of rose and lavender. About nine inches, with heel of old wood, remove lower leaves and place in a trench of shallow sand. Also fuchsia, petunia and geranium, to name a few, can be cut across the stem, below a leaf joint removing lower leaves. Place pots in the greenhouse, in a loam and silver sand mixture. Clematis between joints. Insert three inches into good quality loam. and leave undisturbed for 6/9 months. Dip all cuttings in Hormone Rooting Powder to speed up the process. Slugs, slugs, slugs. are very partial to new shoots on any plant, especially Hostas and Dahlias. Scatter slug pellets around any susceptible plants. Vegetables. Tomato plants- Pick side shoots out regularly. Feed regularly with a good liquid fertilizer to encourage ripening. Continue sowing some lettuce for cold frame propagation. Any marrow, cucumber or courgette plants should be given liquid manure. Pruning clematis differ according to variety. In general those flowering before June only need a general tidy up. For those after, cut right back 12 inches. For an excellent container clematis choose 'Josephine' which will flower May-September and each bloom can last for five weeks. Fruit. Protect soft fruit bushes against birds by covering with netting. Pick and enjoy. Bulbs. Can be planted now, twice as deep as their height. Sweet Pea seeds should be soaked in water for 24 hours prior to sowing outside in a well drained trench. Plants should withstand the winter to produce excellent flowers early next year. Hedges can be trimmed now that growth has slowed down. Use secateurs for large leaved hedges such as holly, laurel and bay. Electric/Petrol trimmers for small-leaved, such as privet. Lawns should be raked, aerated and dressed with a selective weedkiller/mosskiller prior to rain. Mow every week if possible. Lay turf, but keep well watered. Ponds. Fish should be fed regularly now as live food decreases and winter is around the corner. Thin out overgrown plants. Promptly scoop off any algae/blanket weed that appears on the surface, and add appropriate chemical preparation to the water, to avoid the pea soup effect (available from most Garden Centres). Plant aquatics and marginal plants now, deep-water plants until September. | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER Chrysanthemums, remove the growing tips( less on spray and pompom varieties) to encourage bushy growth, plants can be left in the garden over winter. Dahlia stems should be staked and plants fed. The tubers should be lifted once foliage is blackened by the first frosts, left to dry and stored in newspaper in a cool shed for the winter. Brompton Stocks can be bedded out now for your spring display. Hanging Baskets should still be kept well watered!. Weed. perennial borders and rose beds on a regular basis. Stake tall plants such as Delphiniums, cut dead heads to encourage second showing. Divide primroses and irises (only if the latter has been undisturbed some years) Roses. Spray regularly with a systemic insecticide and with a fungicide to protect against mildew and black spot. Apply rose fertilizer. Remove any suckers and dead heads. Burn any fallen leaves infected by blackspot. Prepare new beds, digging in manure. Cuttings can be taken of rose and lavender. About nine inches, with heel of old wood, remove lower leaves and place in a trench of shallow sand. Also fuchsias, petunia and geranium, to name a few, can be cut across the stem, below a leaf joint removing lower leaves. Place pots in the greenhouse, in a loam and silver sand mixture. Clematis between joints. Insert three inches into good quality loam and leave undisturbed for 6/9 months. Dip all cuttings in Hormone Rooting Powder to speed up the process. Slugs, slugs, slugs. are very partial to new shoots on any plant, especially Hostas and Dahlias. Scatter slug pellets around any susceptible plants. Vegetables. Tomato plants- Pick side shoots out regularly. Feed regularly with a good liquid fertilizer to encourage ripening. Continue sowing some lettuce for cold frame propagation. Any marrow, cucumber or courgettes still hanging should be cut and stored. Plant winter lettuces and spring cabbages. Pruning clematis differ according to variety. In general those flowering before June only need a general tidy up. For those after, cut right back 12 inches. For an excellent container clematis choose 'Josephine' which will flower May- September and each bloom can last for five weeks. Fruit. New trees should be planted now in well prepared and manured soil. Choose cordon for the small garden, or bush for the medium garden. Prune soft fruit trees, blackcurrants cut away old wood only, gooseberries cut the short new spurs back to 1 inch and new leader side shoots back by a third. Bulbs. Can be planted now, twice as deep as their height. Sweet Pea seeds should be soaked in water for 24 hours prior to sow outside in a well drained trench. Plants should withstand the winter to produce excellent flowers early next year. Hedges can be trimmed now that growth has slowed down. Use secateurs for large leaved hedges such as holly, laurel and bay. Electric/Petrol trimmers for small-leaved, such as privet. Plant new hedging now. Lawns should be raked, aerated and dressed with a selective weedkiller/mosskiller prior to rain. Mow every week if possible. Lay turf, but keep well watered. Ponds. Fish should be fed regularly now as live food decreases and winter is around the corner. Thin out overgrown plants. Promptly scoop off any algae/blanket weed that appears on the surface, and add appropriate chemical preparation to the water, to avoid the pea soup effect (available from most Garden Centres). Aquatics and marginal plants should be planted by now, deep-water plants until mid October. | |||||
| Derek Parkhouse Email:gardeners@aol.com Copyright © Derek Parkhouse 2008 | ||||||
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