Things To Do In August In Your Garden

August is a time to sit back and enjoy your garden. It is a time when you will (quite literally) enjoy the fruits of your labours earlier in the year. While there is always lots to do for a keen organic gardener, August is mostly about harvesting, watering and enjoying what is left of the summer. Here are just some of the jobs you might be getting done this month in the various areas of your garden:

Jobs In The Vegetable Garden

• Feed peppers, cucumbers and aubergines with a high-potassium organic feed when fruits start to form.
• Pinch out growing tips of runner beans and tomatoes.
• Harvest maincrop potatoes as leaves begin to yellow and die back.
• Harvest spring sown carrots, beetroot and other root vegetables.
• Harvest French and runner beans little and often.

Jobs in the Fruit Garden/Orchard

• Plant out rooted strawberry runners.
• Cut back summer fruiting raspberry canes after harvesting.
• Prune blackcurrant bushes after harvesting.
• Harvest cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots, perhaps even some apples towards the end of the month.
• Freeze gluts of fruit for later use.

Jobs in the Flower Garden

• Stake tall flowers such as lilies and dahlias to prevent wind and rain damage.
• Continue to deadhead flowers and encourage flowering into autumn.
• Trim lavender plants after flowering.
• Collect ripened seed and store it for next year.
• Take cuttings of tender perennials such as pelargoniums and fuchsia for use next year.

Jobs Under Cover

• Tidy up dead or diseased plant material around plants in your greenhouse or polytunnel to keep things healthy.
• Continue to ventilate well and water daily in hot weather.
• Damp down the greenhouse or polytunnel on very hot days.
• Monitor plants grown under cover carefully for pests and/or disease.
• Plant salad and other winter crops under cover for winter use.

General Garden Jobs

• Cut back, divide and harvest in the herb garden.
• If you are planning on laying a new lawn this autumn, prepare the ground now to give it time to settle.
• Order perennial plants and spring bulbs for autumn delivery.
• Keep bird baths/small ponds topped up in hot, dry weather.
• Consider employing natural, organic methods to control big pest problems.