One gardener has shared the five different jobs you can do in August to help prepare your garden for the autumn and winter months ahead – and some are not so obvious
As summer draws to a close, it’s officially time to start prepping our gardens for the autumn and winter months. While all plants have different blooming times, most of them will either perish or go into hibernation during the colder autumn and winter months.
To help plants flourish and have a healthy start to the new blooming season next spring, there are a few things you could do now to help prepare them for spring. Gardening expert Michael, known online as ‘The Mediterranean Gardener’, has shared his top five tasks for people to do in their gardens in the month of August to help keep them looking their best while also staying healthy for autumn and winter.
“Five essential jobs to keep your garden looking great in August,” he said at the start of the video.
He then proceeded to list the five jobs to do now.
1. Remove weeds from lawn
“Now is a fantastic time to remove weeds and prepare the soil for growing seed or laying tarp in September and October,” Michael said for his first point.
While it’s not necessary to remove weeds from your lawn, many gardeners share the idea that it will make your lawn look ‘less messy’.
According to The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the best way to do this is to use a hand fork or specialist weeding tool to dig out individual weeds. If part of your lawn is particularly weedy, they recommend using a sharp spade to cut out and lift turf from the area.
2. Prune lavender
Next up, Michael said: “Prune lavender once the flowering is over. And while you’re pruning, you may as well take some wood cuttings and turn the leftovers into fire lighters.”
To trim lavender, cut back the flowered shoots and foliage by roughly a third, making sure you snip above leaf nodes to promote a bushy shape.
This helps the plant retain its form while also keeping it neat, and promotes vigorous growth and plentiful blooming. But steer clear of cutting into the woody stems, as most lavender types won’t sprout from that area.
3. Prune roses
“Prune rambling roses and tie them back into their supports,” he said for this third point.
Rose trimming ensures that plants develop strongly and bloom well each year.
If neglected, rambling roses can turn into a chaotic tangle of branches with very few blooms.
Ramblers are typically pruned in late summer, following their display of flowers and hips.
Just ensure your roses are, in fact, rambling roses, and not climbing roses, as these should be pruned during the winter months, usually between December and February.
4. Prune wisteria
Just like rambling roses, you should always make certain to prune wisteria during this period of the year.
“And you’ve still got time to summer prune wisteria cut back leaves on grapevines to let the sun ripen the fruits,” Michael said in his video.
According to the RHS, Wisteria requires regular pruning to manage its vigorous growth and size, but this will also enhance the flowering display. This should be carried out twice a year, once at the beginning of the year, and again in the summer between July and August.
Trimming back growth in the summer allows for better air circulation and more sunlight to reach the base of the young shoots, promoting better ripening of the wood and increasing the likelihood of flowers.
A bud is a small, undeveloped shoot that holds the potential for new growth. Buds are typically found on stems, where they can be apical (found at the tip) or axillary (found between leaf axils) and may develop into leaves, shoots or flower buds. This will aid the plant in producing more flowers.
5. Deadhead border plants
“Finally, keep deadheading your border plants, unless you want to collect the seeds,” Michael advised for his final point.
This involves removing and cutting off any dead flowers from your plants. This encourages more blooms and can help extend the flowering season for many border plants.