Well August is here, seemingly a little too quickly. It's been a strange year so far promising to turn to summer on many occasions before dropping back into something much more dull. In horticultural outcomes this has meant that vegetable crops such as sweetcorn, gourds and beans have struggled to get growing, whilst the dahlias and tomatoes seem much further behind than this time last year.
Without substantial water and rainfall over the last few months various plants and borders including the roses have required extra boosts to get them through. We have reduced the number of pots over the years to cut-back on water consumption. Those pots that remain require a lot of care at this
time of year as they cannot access what they need from the surrounding soil.
They are fed once a week with a mixture of feeds, generally high in Potassium for a good show of flowers, and the Citrus plants receive a dose of Iron to prevent chlorosis (yellowing of the leaves).
Dead-heading is important for the wider garden, but most especially for the pots. This keeps the flowers looking fresh and abundant, and prevents the plants from running to seed. All the cut heads are good 'food' for the composts.
To prevent water loss in the Vegetable Garden crops are grown successionally so that as some are harvested, others go straight into the ground, covering the soil and leaving less surface area exposed to the hot sun. It also of course ensures a good supply of fresh vegetables into the autumn.
This month has brought the start of the box-cutting. Always quite a milestone in the year as the first plants are clipped into their structural shapes. These shapes they will retain through the winter so it's important to take time to get them right.
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