August
August brings the sheaves of corn, Then the harvest home is borne.
— Sara Coleridge, The Garden Year (1834)
Make the most of late summer
August is often one of the garden's most productive months. Borders are full of colour, fruit is ripening and wildlife remains busy.
Regular watering, deadheading and a few timely pruning jobs will keep the garden looking its best while preparing plants for the seasons ahead.
Prune wisteria
August is a good time to give wisteria its summer prune. Regular pruning keeps vigorous growth and size under control while helping to improve the flowering display.
Cutting back the long, whippy shoots produced during summer also helps keep established plants tidy and manageable.
Summer prune trained apples and pears
Summer pruning is particularly important for apples and pears trained as cordons, espaliers, fans, pyramids and stepovers.
Removing excess leafy growth allows more sunlight to reach and ripen developing fruit. It also helps encourage the formation of fruiting growth for a good crop next year.
Keep the flowers coming
Deadhead flowering plants regularly by removing faded blooms before they set seed.
This keeps borders and containers looking tidy and can encourage many plants to continue producing flowers well into late summer.
Keep plants watered
Containers and newly planted plants can dry out particularly quickly during warm August weather.
Water them regularly, preferably using stored rainwater or recycled grey water where suitable. Concentrate water around the roots rather than giving the whole garden a light sprinkling.
Collect seeds for another year
August provides plenty of opportunities to collect seed from garden plants.
Choose healthy plants and collect mature seed on a dry day. Allow it to dry thoroughly before storing it somewhere cool and dry, ready for sowing at the appropriate time.
Look after your strawberries
Established strawberry plants often produce runners during summer.
Lift and pot up rooted strawberry runners to create new plants. Once established, these can be grown on to provide future crops or shared with other gardeners.
Keep an eye on ponds
Warm weather and evaporation can cause the water level in ponds and water features to fall.
Keep ponds and water features topped up when necessary. Stored rainwater is particularly useful where available.
Wildlife to look out for
August gardens can be exceptionally busy with insects. Bees, hoverflies and butterflies visit late-summer flowers, with species such as peacocks, red admirals and small tortoiseshells among those you may see.
Dragonflies and damselflies can be particularly noticeable around ponds, while frogs, toads and newts may be found in damp, sheltered areas nearby.
Look out for young birds as the breeding season draws towards its end. Gardens also provide valuable feeding places for birds beginning to prepare for autumn and, for some species, migration.
Hedgehogs remain active after dark, feeding extensively during the warmer nights. A shallow dish of fresh water can be particularly useful during dry weather.
One last tip
August is a month for enjoying the garden as well as maintaining it. Keep watering, deadheading and harvesting, but take time to notice what's thriving around you.
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