What to do in your garden in August
| Vegetables - Grow Your Own | |
|---|---|
Harvest for storage as well as eating fresh Keeping picking to keep the crops coming Sow green manure cover crops Read more about growing your own veg. |  |
| Fruit Garden | Herb Garden | Ornamental Garden | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pick, Pick, Pick Take cuttings from soft fruit Prune plums and damsons after fruiting |
 Trim shrubby herbs to keep them in shape Try some edible flowers Pot up plants for the winter Harvest seeds for sowing and eating |
 Collect flower seed to sow next year Keep watering tubs and baskets Propagate clematis by layering |
- August - the time for holidays and harvesting? There's still
plenty to do in the garden, especially if you are planning on leaving it for a couple
of weeks. Just look through these pages for ideas and jobs to be done to keep your
garden at its best through the remainder of the summer.
- To find out if you are likely to suffer blight on your potato crop, sign up
for blight watch alerts from the British potato council.
Are you missing out on key information that may help you improve blight control decisions?
By signing up for this free service you can receive email and text message alerts for Smith Periods and confirmed outbreaks for up to 10 postcode districts.
To register for Fight Against Blight and Blightwatch alerts go to www.potato.org.uk/fab_blightwatch
See also BPC blight maps at www.potato.org.uk/blight - National Allotments Week is 8th-14th August. Open your site to the public or
visit your local site for more information. Run by National Allotment Gardens Trust
and National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners. Find out more here.
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Grass clippings
Add kitchen waste to your
compost to keep it moist -
Mulching and water conservation
- Try and keep all bare soil covered either with plants or use mulches on the surface to keep moisture in. Grass clippings can be piled onto beds, several inches thick. Don't cover young seedlings (apart from weeds) and don't pile up too close to plant stems.
- More hints on saving water and watering here.
- Check compost bins from time to time. If the contents appear too dry, add some water and 'wet' waste, such as kitchen peelings and grass clippings. Take the opportunity to turn the contents too, this will help to aerate it and activate the bacteria that help to decompose all your waste into lovely rich, dark humus to put back on the garden.
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If you find all your bins are full at this time of year, start a new one. Contact your local authority to see if they have any cut price bins on offer, or see our factsheet on making a compost bin (requires members' password to access online).
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August is the time to think about sowing green manures in any unused space to protect the soil over winter. Read more here.
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August is also a great time to visit Ryton Gardens. There’s sculpture in the gardens, kids activities, and loads of glorious fruit and vegetable (and flowers) to admire. Find out more here.
- If you are a member of Garden Organic, you also have access to our full range of factsheets and other useful information on the Garden Organic website, and to our Organic Gardening advisory service – by email and letter. More information here about the benefits of joining Garden Organic.
- Organic Gardening "Do's"
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For more detailed guidance on what is and is not ‘organic’, have a browse through our guidelines here
Top of pageGarden Organic is the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).
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