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Seasonal jobs for the month: August

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August
1.

Use a range of defences against slugs and snails: half grapefruit skins placed cut side down on soil or beer-baited slug traps (pictured). Biological controls for slugs work well now in the warm soils.

  
2.

Divide bearded irises, ensuring each fan of leaves has a section of rhizome 10cm (4in) in length and good roots.

  
3.

Short-lived Penstemon and tender Salvia may not overwinter– take cuttings to guarantee young bushy plants.

  
4.

Harvest onions when the foliage collapses. Dry off in a shed or greenhouse before storing.

  
5.

Harvest sweet corn – it is ripe when the juice from the kernels is milky when tested with a fingernail.

  
6.

Plant Colchicum, Lilium candidum and daffodils, as they all put out roots now.

  

Kitchen garden

  • Sow a crop of parsley to take you through to spring, and basil indoors to grow on a sunny windowsill.
  • Plant out transplants of broccoli, cabbages and kale as soon as possible.
  • Raise ripening pumpkins and squashes off the soil to prevent rotting.
  • Plant new strawberries now, either as bought plants or detached runners.
  • Prune out fruited canes of summer raspberries.

Pests, disease and disorders

  • Use vine weevil nematodes this month to control larvae in pots and borders, and chafer grub nematodes on lawns.
  • Protect carrots with insect mesh to prevent attack by carrot root fly.

Ornamental Gardens

  • Thin oxygenating plants from ponds, and rake out blanket weed.
  • Cut out one in three stems of rambler roses and shorten new shoots.
  • This is the last chance to cut conifer hedges, to avoid the risk of die-back.
  • Trim lavender plants to deadhead and take off 2.5cm (1in) of growth (see p31).
  • Collect seed as pods brown. Dry and sow fresh, or store in airtight containers at the bottom of the fridge.

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