August in your Garden
August is generally the month when we spend more time in the garden. Schools have broken up for the summer, the weather is ‘usually’ nicer, and our gardens are our own private places to relax in.
But is your garden the nice place you want it to be? Do you feel that it is just looking green? Now is the time to spruce up your garden and get a few new plants just to extend the flowering season.
We all like our gardens to look good. But unfortunately, we do need to put in the work to achieve this. We know our grass needs cutting and the weeds need pulling out, but we often forget about dead heading, feeding and cutting back our perennials. On the nursery at the moment, when we are not getting plants ready for dispatch, we are cleaning and cutting back a lot of the perennials which have flowered already. These, with a feed, may even come back and give us a second display of flowers! Simply going round the garden and deadheading will encourage your plants to produce more flowers. This means they are then not putting their energies into creating seed.
You may find you need to buy a few more plants to fill in those gaps. This could be where a plant may have failed or needs to be removed as it has outgrown its space. Rudbeckias are great for late summer colour. Their flowers come in shades of yellow to orange and brown and will certainly brighten up a dull spot in the garden. Hylotelephium (formally Sedum) with their succulent foliage make excellent plants for late summer colour. If the weather turns warm, they can cope with not a lot of water. They will still give you fantastic displays, plus they are bee and butterfly friendly!!
Hopefully you’ll find a moment this August to enjoy your garden!
