What Jobs To Do In The Garden In August

It is the last of our summer months and you may be thinking about what jobs to do in the garden in August. Schools are out, holidays are close and you have lots on your plate but you need to do some basic garden maintenance too, to keep everything ticking along nicely.

Hopefully you will find time to relax and enjoy your outdoor space as well.

If you are going away on holiday then please check my article on Essential Garden Tasks Before You Go On Holiday for tips on how to keep your garden in great shape whilst you are away.

What Jobs To Do In The Garden In August – Beds and Borders

Stake tall, top-heavy plants such as lilies, dahlia, echinops to give them support and prevent damage from wind or heavy rain.

Continue dead-heading perennials and annual bedding plants to encourage a longer flowering season.

Dead-head hemerocallis daily to keep them producing more flowers.

You can cut back perennials to keep the border tidy, alternatively leave some to die back naturally as this provides autumn shelter and habitat for wildlife.

Cut back faded penstemon flowers to just above a leaf node to encourage new flowers.

Take cuttings from tender perennial plants such as fuchsia for propagating new plants for next year.

Continue to split any clumps of Bearded Iris to propagate and keep the plants healthy. Splitting them prevents over crowding too.

Continue picking sweet peas to encourage more flowers. There is nothing nicer than a vase full of these pretty, fragrant blooms.

Water rhododendron, azalea and camellias to ensure strong, healthy buds for next year.

If you’re planning to sow a wildflower garden, prepare the area now. This allows for it to settle and you can clear any persistent weeds before sowing wildflower seed in autumn.

Protect your plants from slugs using environmentally -friendly slug nematodes.

What To Prune In August

Wisteria, cut back the long whippy side growth to about 20cm from the main branches.

Summer prune fruit trees

Prune climbing and rambling roses after flowers have finished, unless they are repeat flowering varieties.

Trim herbs now to keep shrubs looking tidy and in good shape. This regenerates new growth of fresh shoots, that can be harvested.

Cut back lavender shrubs after flowers are finished to keep the shrub compact.

It’s time now to give hedges a trim to keep them neat. In some climates this may be the last cut required. In warmer regions they will continue growing well into autumn so another trim may be needed later in the year.

General Maintenance

Top up bird baths and ponds with rain water.

Scoop off floating, surface weeds from ponds.

Keep on top of weeding, on paths, driveways and patio area. I have an ideal tool for this, that works a treat. Electric weed burner.

Also, clear unwanted weeds from beds and borders and the vegetable garden.

In the hot weather they are competing for the nutrients and water that your garden plants need. So get rid of them.

Tip…you can use boiling water or salt to kill weeds on paths.

Turn your compost each month to help it break down quicker and to aireate it.

Lawn Care

Raise the cutting height on mowers to help reduce drought stress. As grass growth slows down through late summer, there is no need for a close cut.

Don’t be to concerned if it is looking brown and dry, lawns soon green up again, after it rains.

Trim lawn edges for a neat look.

Prepare new areas for lawns this month, this will give time for it to settle before laying the turf in Autumn.

If you find your lawn has lawn chafers or leather jackets treat with nematodes.

Wildflower gardens or wild grassed areas can be mown now to help distribute the seeds.

Lawn maintenance

Watering the Garden In August

Use water from your water butts for all your plants, they much prefer rain water.

Install water butts if you haven’t already done so, on the house, greenhouse and outbuildings down pipes where possible.

Water plants thoroughly when they need it. A good dousing is far more beneficial and keeps plants hydrated for longer, rather than a small amount everyday. Small amounts of water only serves to encourage weeds and surface roots. Place containers in trays or saucers so as not to waste the water that drains through.

Water container plants and hanging baskets twice daily and feed once a week with a general liquid fertiliser.

7 Best Ways To Drought Proof Your Garden

What Vegetables and Fruit To Grow In August

Remove any large leaves from squash plants that are shading the developing fruit. The more sunshine they get the better they ripen.

Harvest courgettes when they are about 8 to 10 cm long, this helps to keep the plants productive.

Lift onions from the soil when leaves have died. If the weather is good leave them on the soil to dry for a couple of weeks or bring them indoors if there is rain. Store them in crates or baskets somewhere cool and dry. A garage, out building, shed is ideal, providing the onions have some airflow and are kept cool and dry they will last well in to the winter months.

Sow winter salad onions, spring cabbage, turnips and carrots.

Summer prune, espalier, fan and cordon trained pear and apple trees. Cut back this seasons shoots that are growing from side branches to one leaf. New shoots from a main branch should be reduced to three leaves.

Cut out fruited raspberry canes.

Pot up strawberry runners.

Veg seeds to sow now

Autumn harvest

Beetroot
Endive
Lettuce
Salad onions
Shallots
Turnips
Carrots
Chard
Radish

Spring harvest

Spring cabbage
Winter lettuce
Spinach

Future Planning

Now is the time to order your bulbs for planting from September through to November for a fabulous, colourful spring display.

Order perennial plants now.

Collect seeds from your favourite plants to sow for next year.

Prepare a wildflower bed/garden now ready to sow in autumn.

Seeds to sow now

If you’re wanting to continue sowing seeds for future blooming lovely displays then here is a selection that you can start to grow.

Cornflower
Astrantia major
Nigella
Calendulas
Queen Anne’s Lace
Sweet Cicely
Forget-me-nots
Papaver
Salvia viradis
Scabiosa atropurpurea

There is always something to do in our gardens, this is a guide of the main August gardening jobs that need our attention this month. Some feel like chores, I know, but to maintain a healthy, productive garden they have to be done.
Mostly though the jobs here are not a hardship, they are what make us grow as gardeners, turning our outdoor space into our own little Eden by doing the things we love. Nurturing, growing, producing and caring for our plants, trees and nature.

If you’re looking for things to do with the kids in the summer, while they are off school, get them in the garden. Let them help you on the allotment, give them some pots, soil and seeds and teach them to grow plants. They love it. Gardening is great fun for children and they learn about nature, flowers, plants and wildlife…keeps them occupied for hours.

Staying at home this August? Here are some projects to help make your Gardena fabulous, fun place to be for your staycation. What to do on a Staycation

We are now able to visit more parks, gardens and forests, enjoy some time out with friends and family.