August Gardening By Ewshot Gardener
In the vegetable garden, carrots, lettuce, spinach can still be sown and harvesting soft fruit, early potatoes, peas, broad beans and courgettes gives me great pleasure. However, the prolonged hot, dry spell has prevented soft fruit from swelling, so I shall have to wait for the autumn-fruiting raspberries.
The other effect of drought at this time is that rain is needed for next year’s flower buds to form on Rhododendrons and Camellias, so we are likely to get fewer flowers than this spring (remember the wet July in 2017?)
I tend to plant out broccoli and other brassicas in the space cleared when I dig up the early potatoes. On the light gravelly soil of my garden, the organic matter left over by the potatoes helps to retain moisture. I add some lime as well, since the cabbage family likes a more neutral soil. Oh yes, net against pigeons and squash caterpillars… aahh, the wildlife!
Church Crookham Garden society has moved their show from the August bank holiday weekend to September 8th, hoping that more young people will be able to put in an entry. There are many open classes and entry is free. You can find the handbook on the website.
In August you can harvest runner beans, sweet corn and main crop potatoes. Autumn planted shallots, onions and garlic can be harvested from July.
If you have a wildflower meadow, mow or strim it at 7.5cm at the end of August; leave the cuttings for a few days to let the seeds drop, then rake up the ‘hay’.
The apples you thinned out in July, will start to ripen at the end of August, or earlier this year, and can be stored in a cool dark place on racks or in newspaper.
Although the perennials that flowered in July may be past their best, there is an extensive palette of late-flowering plants to see us through to the autumn, including asters, Hesperantha, sedum (Hylotelephium) and hydrangeas.
This is a popular plant with bees – Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’
Gardens open for charity
5th August Dipley Mill, Hartley Wintney
19th August The Thatched Cottage, and Berry Cottage, Church Rd , Upper Farringdon, Alton (joint entry)