August

Gardening tasks are few and far between for the month of August. The hotter temperatures for the month make it harder to spend much time working in the garden, so on cooler days take advantage of the lower temperatures to take care of any grooming or weeding that the garden may need.

• Watering can be the biggest task for this month particularly if the weather gets hot. When possible water in an evening so the moisture stays in the ground for longer allowing the plants chance to soak up the moisture into their root system.

 • Perennial and biennial plants can be started from seed sown directly into the garden this month.

 • Now is the time to for Yew, Leyland and other evergreen hedges to be clipped to shape. Those with large leaves like Laurel are best cut with secateurs to save mutilating the foliage.

This is the ideal month in which to take cuttings of your plants. Start with some easy subjects such as Fuchsia, Pelargoniums, Weigelia, Hydrangea, Ceanothus and other early flowering shrubs. These do well in pots and should all root in a couple of weeks, giving you extra plants to pot up for planting next Spring.

Get out those bulb catalogues, have a look and start deciding which bulbs you would like to order or purchase at the garden centres so that you can start planting in late August / September.  There are many kinds available including daffodils, snowdrops, crocus and tulips which all give you a burst of colour early the following year.

Plant of the Month

Verbena bonariensis

Verbena bonariensis is a perennial with clusters of small, purple flowers from summer to late autumn.

A tall and slender-stemmed perennial. It can grow to 4 ft (120 cm) tall and can spread to 3 ft (90 cm) wide. At maturity, it will develop a woody base. The stem is square with very long internodes. Leaves are ovate to ovate-lanceolate with a toothed margin and grow up to 4 in (10 cm) long.

Plant in amongst perennial grasses or alongside such perennials such as Echinacea or Rudbeckia.