Head gardener Benjamin Pope and gardener chef Aaron Bertelsen are here to make sure your garden looks great all year round. Follow their guides to the flower and kitchen garden in August to keep your space looking great and productive.
Don't miss our suggestions of the best flowers in August, what gardens to visit and the gardening jobs for the month.
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What to plant in August
by Benjamin Pope
As summer continues, both planting and seed sowing slow down in the productive garden. Most biennials should have already been sown but, I’d still give foxgloves and verbascums a go; both will grow quickly in the cooling months to come.
However, now is a good time to sow autumn and winter salads and leaves, so that they reach a substantial size before the days become short. Good cultivars include lettuces ‘Winter Density’ and ‘Winter Gem’, grown alongside mustard ‘Red Frills’, rocket and the very hardy lamb’s lettuce ‘Favor’. I also like to do a sowing of beetroot, where the hardy earthy leaves make great additions to salads.
Given a little protection (fleece or polythene tunnel) they will all happily crop through autumn and winter and into early spring. Oriental brassicas and perpetual spinach are other plants that will enjoy the months to come, where day length and temperature make them less likely to bolt.
Chinese cabbage, pak choi, mibuna and mizuna are worth sowing now, though will appreciate a slightly shady spot if temperatures remain hot.
Plant bearded iris Summer is a good time to lift and divide bearded iris and order bareroot stock of any new cultivars. Trim leaves and remove sections of old rhizomes before replanting.
By Aaron Bertelsen
Carrots always figure on my list of seeds for August sowing. I find that by sowing them now, I can avoid much of the damage caused by carrot fly, the grubs of which will very often make a meal out of roots grown earlier in the season. Even so, I still add a layer of fleece or fine, insect-proof mesh to protect against any flies that might still be hanging around, and the extra shelter also encourages heavier crops. Just make sure that the plants don’t become cramped under the covering as they grow.
As with most root crops, carrots do not like disturbance, so I sow direct, if possible into an area of the garden that has not had too much muck or compost dug into it – or into a pot. I like to use a tall pot, in order to give the roots space to grow and also as another line of defence against carrot flies, which tend to fly close to the ground. Water regularly, and thin out as the plants grow, but beware that the scent released by thinning is another thing that may attract any later generations of carrot fly. The thinnings
will make a delicious addition to a salad.
Good greens are at a premium in spring, and spring cabbage is one of the best. Plant out seedlings in August, once other crops have started to go over and have left you with some space in the garden. Spring cabbage will keep growing steadily right through the winter, and put on a spurt as the temperatures rise in early spring, delivering a crop of fresh goodness just when you need it most.
Spring cabbages love to grow in firm soil, so I tend to walk the area where I am going to plant them before they go in, as well as firming the soil well around the individual plants. Allow about 20cm
between the seedlings, and water them in.
Avoid growing them on the same patch of ground as last year to avoid club root (an infection of the roots of brassicas). I keep mine on a six-year rotation, like my potatoes and tomatoes, but do what your space will allow. Cover the seedlings with netting to see off the cabbage whites; leave it in place all winter and you’ll have protection against the pigeons, too.
