August is when the garden is at its peak – but proper care is still key to keeping it beautiful and productive.
What should you focus on?
🌸 Flowers: Sow biennials like pansies, daisies, forget-me-nots, and hollyhocks. Plant bulbs such as colchicums, crocuses, snowdrops, daffodils, and lilies. Keep beds well-watered and weeded.
🌳 Trees & Shrubs: Last call for hedge trimming. Also a good time to prune conifers and take semi-woody cuttings. Smaller trees and shrubs can be transplanted now.
🍎 Orchard: Support heavy fruit-laden branches. Harvest summer fruits like apples, pears, plums, and peaches.
🥬 Vegetable Garden: Sow fall and spring crops such as butterhead lettuce, spinach, dill, kale, or kohlrabi. Keep harvesting ripe vegetables and herbs.
🌿 Lawn: Water regularly, ideally in the afternoon. Mow less aggressively – keep grass at least 6 cm tall during hot spells.
💡 AUGUST REMINDERS:
– Start planning next year’s garden.
– Mulch if drought continues.
– Prune hedges and shape fruit trees after harvest.
– Remove dead, damaged, or diseased wood.
– Make nettle fertilizer as a natural tonic.
– Sow green manure where crops have been harvested.
– Cut back faded perennial flowers to encourage reblooming.
– Feed vegetables every two weeks with organic nutrients.
– Take cuttings – it's a great time for propagating.
– Trim lavender after flowering to promote bushy growth.
