Gardening

Edition Twenty nine - August 2008

I try to pass on to gardeners any useful information that appears in the newspapers or on TV, and in July there were two such items to which you can link to below for the full story:-

• Farmyard manure contaminated with weedkiller residue is causing abnormal growth of vegetable crops throughout the country... Gardeners buying this manure to apply to vegetable crops and gardens are coming across abnormal growth particularly on tomatoes, potatoes and legumes, although ornamental plants such as delphinium, phlox and roses may also be susceptible - See full story

• And from the BBC News we had the story of aphids killing off leylandii conifers which explains why I have seen so many dead looking hedges locally - BBC News video

Jobs for the month - August

Patios and other garden areas

Our love of flower tubs, garden furniture and barbecues can sometimes lead to accidents. Make sure outdoor living spaces are not too cluttered, especially when entertaining. Make sure your pond, if you have one, is safe especially when young children visit.

Use a spot weedkiller such as Pathclear for patios to eradicate stubborn weeds.

Lawns

New lawns which have been either turfed or seeded will need to be kept watered during dry spells. Don`t bother watering established lawns, even though they might look awful. They will soon recover once the weather turns wetter and cooler. Remove weeds from lawns and keep the edges neat. This seems to have been a good year for clover, but an application of Verdone Lawn Weedkiller will soon get rid of it along with many other persistant lawn weeds.

Greenhouse

Ventilate tomatoes to guard against leaf-mould. Take cuttings of geraniums (Zonal pelargoniums) and fuschias. Although this is the correct month to take cuttings of pelargoniums, I have always found that overwintering the stock plants and taking uttings in the spring, produces much stronger plants and I have a 100% success rate! Allow cucumbers to grow horizontally underneath the staging, in the cool..

Hedges

If you have a lavender hedge it can be trimmed now, but take care not to cut it back to the old wood because it will not regrow.. Cut off the dead flowers and new growth only.

Roses

Spray against black spot and start cutting out old wood from established ramblers. Remove suckers at source.

Herbaceous plants

Continue to remove faded flowers from all plants including bedding plants, to encourage new growth. Hoe around the plants to remove weeds and freshen up the borders.

Sow annuals directly in the borders for an early and easy colourful display next year. I am doing this more and more, rather than growing the expensive and labour intensive bedding plants. I love the annuals such as godetia, larkspur, cornflowers, nigella etc., which can also be found sold in packets where the flowers have been colour co-ordinated, all ready to 'throw and grow' .. Gardening made easy!

Vegetables and salad

Allotments are back in fashion and with the price of food rocketing many people are now growing their own fruit and vegetables.. We haven't bought any veg or salad for weeks now and next door's tortoise Tommy was the first to sample our home grown cucumbers! It is the first year for our fruit bushes but nevertheless we have enjoyed several pies and crumbles with the blackcurrants, gooseberries and rhubarb. The veggies seen on the left were picked at the end of last month and all our produce tastes so fresh and chemical free.

Keep runner beans well watered. Shallots and (last) autumn sown onions are now ready for lifting in the dry weather. Lift and store beetroots. Make another sowing of lettuce. If you grow parsley and it is getting straggly, cut it right back to get some new young growth for the autumn. Did you know you can freeze parsley and mint to use in the winter months? Don't forget to either sow, or buy from the garden centre, parsnip, brussel sprouts, swede and cabbage to see you over the winter months.. Potatoes that have been harvested should be stored in a cool dark place until needed.

Ponds and water features

If you see aphids on the aquatic plants, give them a blast with a hose jet. The fish will love to eat the aphids and you will also have introduced extra oxygen into the pond.