Looking back on the last few years of August notes to you, I have written that plants might be looking a little parched, tired and frazzled around the edges. This year, read most definitely parched! I know some of you across the country might have had 5 minutes of rain but here in Essex, there has been a whopping two drops. Or maybe I dreamed it.
There are some surprises, plants that are thriving nevertheless and others I am hoping have gone to the ground and will emerge again in the autumn, or next spring.
Staking doesn’t seem to be much of an issue this year - those plants that are growing are holding on to the ground with a will not seen in a moist year when growth is fast, flimsy and fragile.
This is a good month to put this year down to experience and look towards the next, despite still being only in early August! A look forward does ground one in the present, asking ‘what can I do now to thank for later’? The garden is a sum of many parts, each in its own unique chapter of its growing season.
Dead head and cut back tired growth.
This year, expect plants to tire quickly. I have noticed that plants that were thriving are starting to look, well, worn. I have two choices. Cut these back and feed - they might flower again or at least stop trying to produce seed and concentrate on roots and leaf growth. Or let them go to seed and leave them to provide some food, shelter and winter structure.
Sow Perennials & Hardy Annuals
There are perennials that if sown now will be flowering plants next summer. Let them grow on for another year and you’ve got a whole bed of plants that will repeat flower and return each year with little attention. Some of my favourites to sow now are echinacea, campanula and scabious. Annuals to later this month are corncockle and orlaya (this being far more reliably sown the year before and will flower very early in the tunnel or outside)
Save Seeds
Save the seeds of plants that are coping this summer - these parent plants will produce plants better prepared for drought. So far I’ve collected aquilegia, bupleurum, calendula, wallflowers, foxgloves. I’ll take my chances with sowing these too. I wrote how your own saved seed is superior to any bought here and how to do it.Take cuttings
Faster than growing from seed and probably easier to do too. This month, take cuttings of rosemary, lavender, salvia, penstemon, pinks and dianthus take well. Here is a guide to semi-ripe cuttings, pretty much follow this but a proper guide will be out next week. Hold tight.
Green Manures
It’s a great month to sow green manures. Either for long term, growing and cover over winter, or a shorter, over few weeks before clearing for autumn planting. They germinate easily with a little watering can sprinkle and will really help. These are great fast growing plants that bring nutrients up, open up the soil, add organic matter and suppress unwanted weeds. They also activate the soil biology if the ground has been bare by making food. Use this handy download chart to stick on your wall to sow the ones for your soil and conditions. There is one for everyone.
Feeding and Staking
Some plants, tomatoes, sweet peas and dahlias will enjoy a weekly feed, the rest of the garden will get a monthly spray of a very weak feed. I spray directly onto the leaves, in the cool of the evening. A little goes a long way. Here are my feed recipes. If you haven’t made your own feeds, I recommend this and this.
Cutting back
Delphiniums, poppies, lupins, geraniums and other herbaceous plants that have finished flowering need cutting back to allow late summer perennials to rise despite the drought. I’m cutting these back after a feed (see above) and leaving the wet stems chopped up on the ground as a bit of a mulch and retain some of the dew or whatever drop of moisture there is.
Have a good look
Make some notes. Take pictures - of it all! Have you noticed that we tend to only capture either good bits or those we are proud of. It is one of the best points of the year to journal how the garden is looking. What do you remember of the spring (if you don’t, set an alarm every month to make some notes on the 1st or whenever suits you) what worked? what delighted and what combinations didn’t. Right now, which plants look great? Would have sowing little and often given you more chance to fill in gaps or was it going to be tricky with the drought anyhow? Could you do with more shrubs and really versatile (wet or dry plants) to create a backbone? This is exactly the time of year to make notes and start thinking about what planting you might want to lift, divide and move about in the autumn. Every single year I think I will remember but I never do. And plants in the winter seem to take no room up at all yet explode, elbowing everything around them come the summer months (looking at you echinops).
oh and order spring bulbs
I know! It’s August! But trust me the best ones will be gone by September. I love Avon bulbs - I just got their catalogue today in the post (I know! actual good post!) and it’s full of goodies.
Harvesting
Shrubs - Physocarpus, berry foliage, branches of apples and plums. I also have long thornless arched Boysenberry branches which come into their own right now and through the autumn with turning leaves. Plant one!
Perennials - Persicaria, rudbeckia, aster, gaura, salvias, thalictrum, mints, helenium, verbena, agastache and grasses especially this year, panicum and pennisetum.
Annuals - Zinnia, sunflowers and rudbeckia sahara’s, nicotiana, achillea, cosmos, snap dragons, scabious, coreopsis, calendula, nasturtiums, cerenthe, nigella, feverfew, dianthus. Keep cutting and dead heading to prolong flowering. Atriplex has turned to seed (the perfect time to cut for arranging), panicum bursting with its fibre optic spurs and nicandra are about to flower before developing to black lanterns. And of course, Dahlias. Armfulls of Dahlias.
Watering: How to reduce the time and resource to water effectively and efficiently.
Going away? Prepare your garden and plants to return to a thriving space.
Mid Year Review - why it’s helpful to reflect on your growing (not just in the garden?) as I look towards the other half of the year - this is from 2024 so weird to read back, but the idea of reviewing is useful nevertheless. And inspired me to do so this weekend.
Why your own saved seed is best (and it’s not just because it’s free. It really is better!)
Why your cut flowers don’t last - top tips on cutting flowers and how to prepare them for a long vase life with some special notes for plants such as zinnias, cosmos and dahlias.
Narcissus shopping list now is the perfect time to put in spring bulb orders. A list of all my favourites narcissus and why you should be growing them.
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I write about, teach and design productive and sustainable gardens.
Much more help for your growing can be found by visiting the hundreds of articles in the library Floral Index here or why not call me to discuss a consultation - either online or I can come to you.
Have a great month in your garden!
With love,
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