We hope you have been enjoying your summer so far! We’ve been working flat out to keep Singleton’s beautiful and colourful for you. August’s Top Tips is a mix of everyday little tasks and a few bigger jobs that will put you in the best place for next year’s growing season.
- Summer prune your Wisteria to promote strong vines for next year’s flowers. Remove all the whippy side-shoots from the main branch framework to about 20cm from their base.
- Keep dead-heading all of your beautiful summer annuals and perennials to prolong the season and show their very best.
- Use any water you have managed to collect to water your pots and containers. We would recommend watering in the evening to limit the rate of evaporation and allow the plants to soak it all up during the night ready for the next day.
- Collect seed from plants which have finished flowerings and store in labelled paper envelopes for next year.
- A lot of late fruiting crops will be ripening soon so keep checking your sweetcorn!
- Cut out raspberry canes which have finished fruiting so the plant puts all of its energy into fruit yet to ripen.
- Re-pot strawberry runners to increase next year’s yield Keep an eye on bird baths which dry out quickly in the heat.
- Keep an eye on bird baths which dry out quickly in the heat.
- Keep on top of weeds, they thrive on these conditions and compete with veg and ornamentals for space and water.
- Camellias and Rhododendrons are just starting to put their focus onto next year’s flower buds so water them whenever you can to ensure proper bud development.
- We also have a selection of Camellias and Rhododendrons which came in this week if you want a little more spring colour in your garden!
- Stake top-heavy perennials such as lilies, dahlias and peonies to prevent wind and rain damage, dead-head as you go to relieve some of the weight.
- Trim lavender plants to limit the extent of woody stems and keep a compact shape.
- The weather will be turning autumnal fairly soon so don’t panic if your lawn is looking a bit thirsty, re-seed bare patches ready for the rains.
- Give hedges a final trim before they stop growing.
- Invest in a water butt ready to collect next-year’s water during the autumn and winter.
- If you’re feeling strong, turn over the organic matter in your compost bins at the end of every month to speed up the process.
That’s all for this month. We’ll be back next time with our top tips for September 🍃