August garden advice and maintenance

General gardening

• Prune Wisteria back to 6 or 7 buds on long growths
• Don’t delay summer pruning restricted fruits such as Fans, espaliers and cordons grown against walls and fences.
• Deadhead flowering plants regularly
• Don’t forget to water containers, and new plants. Where possible use recycled water or stored rainwater
• Collect seed from favourite plants
• Harvest summer vegetables as they become ready
• Cut any old canes on raspberries, once they have fruited
• Mow the lawn frequently. You could leave the cuttings on the lawn to provide protective moisture-retentive mulch. Raise the blades on fine lawns to help prevent scalping
• Deadhead roses to prolong the display into Autumn.
• Feed roses with a specialist rose fertilizer
• Deadhead plants such as Dahlia to maintain their displays into Autumn
• Keep containerised plants well-watered throughout summer
• Clip evergreen hedges now to give them time to grow new leaves before winter
• Pick any remaining raspberries then prune the stems down to soil level. Tie in new shoots and remove excess ones
• Peg down strawberry runners
• Dead head Sweet Peas to increase the flowering season
• Water containers twice a day during the hot weather, even if there has been some rain

In the greenhouse

• Damp down greenhouses on hot days to increase humidity for the plants and control red spider mite
• Pinch outside shoots on tomatoes and feed with a tomato food regularly
• Shade plants to prevent scorching. Use netting or shade paint on the outside of your greenhouse

Wildlife gardening

• Remember to change the water in your bird bath frequently as stale water is unhealthy for the birds
• Top up bird feeders and put out food on the ground and bird tables
• Plant marigolds around the vegetable patch to attract hoverflies
• Watch out for adult frogs and toads leaving the pond
• Trim hedges less frequently so that wildlife can feed and shelter there
• Summer meadows may be ready for cutting