August Calendar
Gardening Jobs.

Cottage garden August calendar. Thing’s to do in the cottage garden this month.

August is normally the hottest month of the year. Your garden will need water even if it rains, this time of year the rain will just run off and not get deep into the water table. Remember to water your hanging baskets, containers and greenhouse plants they will need extra water on hot days. August is holiday time if you are going on holiday make sure you have someone who can water your garden for you.

Temperatures vary all over the country and your garden will have it’s own micro climate so take that into consideration. You may need to adjust this August calendar a little for your own cottage garden but it’s a good place to start.

Make a note of these tasks in your calendar.

August Calendar: Flowering Cottage Plants.

Water and feed sweet peas.

Deadhead roses, dahlias, Penstermon and other flowers, ensuring more blooms.

Prune flowering shoots of rambler roses. If climbing roses have finished flowering, they will need pruning this month

Cut back hardy Geraniums to encourage new growth.

Take softwood cuttings of Fuchsia.

Harvest fresh flowers for drying and to make pot-pourri. (Harvesting and drying flowers article in English Cottage Lifestyle E-zine Issue #003).

Make a note of any gaps in your cottage garden so you can remember where to plant in autumn. Do the same with over crowded areas and plan to reduce.

In the middle of the month sow hardy annuals in situ to flower next summer.

Collect and store favourite seeds from your cottage garden; hardy annuals and perennials for sowing later in the autumn.

Pot on any rooted cuttings so that they can be well established by the end of the season.

Herbs, Vegetables, Soft Fruit and Fruit Trees.

Take cuttings of herbs sage, rosemary and lavender. When lavender has finished flowering cut it back to encourage flowers next year. Dry the excess herb harvest. (Harvesting and drying herbs article in English Cottage Lifestyle E-zine Issue #002)

Harvest time: lettuce, onions, spring onions, peas, early potatoes, radish, spinach, tomatoes, turnips, French and runner beans, kohlrabi, kale, courgettes, cucumbers, celery, cabbage, carrots and cauliflower.

Sow the vegetables you want to eat such as fast growing summer vegetables and lettuce, turnips and winter hardy spring onion.

Pick the fruit off raspberries when ready and then prune out old canes of raspberries.

New strawberry plants can be planted, pot up runners from mature strawberry plants.

Many fruits will be ready to harvest or the fruit will be swelling which means the plant will need lots of water to ripen.

Prune and thin fruit trees such as apples and plums lightly to remove any unnecessary growth. Cottage garden trees and plants should be full and not to trimmed. Water trees regularly.

August Calendar: General Cottage Gardening Jobs.

Keep weeding hoe between fruits and vegetables. Weed by hand in the flower beds.

Water the garden often this month, even if it rains especially young trees, salad http://sbiapps.sitesell.com/sitebuilder/blockbuildervegetables and fruit. Hanging baskets, containers and house plants need extra water this month.