GARDENING TIPS FOR AUGUST February 25, 2008
Pruning and spraying of roses should be done by mid-August. After pruning, spray the bushes with lime sulphur, repeating after 10 days. Be careful - the lime sulphur will burn the leaves of plants growing under the roses – wash it off at once with water. Feed rose bushes with a high nitrogen fertilizer such as Sudden Impact and spread a good quality compost or well rotted kraal manure around the base of the bushes – not too close to the stems.
Divide your perennials this month. Water the plants to be divided the day before, then lift out the clumps carefully, divide and discard the old inner core. Replant the outside bits that are showing signs of new growth into well composted soil. Feed and water well.
Regular deadheading of your annuals and bulbs is most important to keep them flowering for as long as possible.
Hydrangeas should have been pruned last month! Feed the plants with Rapid Raiser, Bounce Back or 3.1.5 Organic and mulch well. To make your hydrangeas blue you can use acid peatmoss or milled pine bark or sprinkle 25g of aluminium sulphate around the roots and water in well.
Start feeding fuchias with a high nitrogen fertilizer such as Bounce Back or Nitrosol to encourage new growth. Apply a good layer of mulch.
Fertilize camellias and azaleas once they have finished flowering. Remember, both these shrubs like acid soils, so feed accordingly. Mulch with an oak or pine leaf mould.
Plant up your dormant dahlia tubers in containers and water to help start growth. Plant out in beds once the weather warms up.
Keep a sharp look out for slugs and snails – the best time is after it has rained, especially at night. Protect your susceptible plants, especially newly planted seedlings by sprinkling crushed eggshells, wood ash or sawdust around. For container plants, either rub the base of the pot with a thick layer of vaseline, or fix a strip of sandpaper to the rim of the pot.
You can still prune summer flowering shrubs to help keep their shape, but don’t prune spring flowering shrubs (wisterias, viburnums etc) until they have finished flowering.
Pot on any indoor or outdoor plants that have outgrown their present containers and fertilize. Revitalize the rest of your pot plants by scraping out the top layer of soil and replacing it with fresh soil and compost and fertilize these plants too.
It is still cool enough to transplant any shrubs that may be growing in the wrong place in your garden. Remember that proteas, leucodendrons and leucospermums don’t transplant – they hate having their roots disturbed.
Start checking your garden for weeds and remove them before they set seed.
Keep your beds well mulched – this will help prevent weeds from germinating and will also retain moisture and keep the soil cool once the hot months arrive.
