Gardening Advice for August

[Dulwich Gardening]

The list of jobs to do in the garden for August is shorter than other months but as the first flush of summer is over the garden may be starting to look a little exhausted. The continued hot temperatures may make it hard to spend much time working in the garden, so use your energy and resources wisely.....

The Garden

? Watering could be the biggest task this month particularity if the weather stays hot. Vegetable gardens, most flowering plants and the lawn all need about one inch of water every week to keep them green and fresh

? The best way to tell if your plants are receiving enough water is to take a trowel or shovel and dig down a few inches. The soil should be moist at least 3 or 4 inches deep to insure that the water is reaching the root zone of the plants

? Deadhead flowers on your annuals, as well as the spent flowers on perennial plants this will help them to continue to flower longer into the season

? Summer blooming shrubs should be pruned for shape after they have finished flowering

? Prune your hybrid roses in late August. Remove about a third of the vigorous growth, any stems that cross each other, as well as those that are in the centre of the plant.

? Continue to watch for insects, slugs and snails, or disease damage throughout the garden and take the necessary steps to control the problem.

? Keep on top of the weeding. Weeds in the garden are harmful because they rob your plants of water, nutrients and harbour insects and diseases.

? The spring and summer bulb catalogues will be dropping thorough the letter boxes, so order and in volume for a good display after a long winter

? A fortnightly feed of pot-grown plants will keep them looking good now until the end of the summer

? Don?t neglect hanging baskets - deadheading, watering and feeding will help them last through until autumn.

The Lawn

? Contrary to popular belief, a brown lawn isn't necessarily a dead lawn. Grasses go dormant in times of drought, but will quickly return to life with the fall rains.

? Raise the cutting height of the mower as taller grass cools the roots and helps to keep the moisture in the soil longer

Fruit & Vegetables

? Now is the time to start your fall and winter vegetables. Plant starters or seeds of green onions, carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, radishes, and winter cauliflower directly into the garden early this month

? Lettuces may have failed to germinate in the hot weather, as they need cool night temperatures for germination so look at hardier alternatives such as mustards and chicory

? Harvesting also encourages plants to keep producing, so pick beans and courgettes regularly while they are still young and fresh

? Lift onions, shallots and garlic when ready. Plants should be harvested when the necks start to turn brown and papery and bend over naturally.

Happy Gardening

Duwich Gardening Company

in association with David Cheetham Gardens

[Karrie]

[Deleted] Safety reasons

[SteveT]

I look forward to your gardening tips DGC.

[PeckhamRose]

So do I. Now, when will the tomatoes ripen? Eh? Eh? I have five plants 6 ft tall on the back balcony which I have successfully been 'picking' so that there's lots and lots of tomatoes on them. And I'm hungry. And we can't see daylight from the living room.

[chez]

Thank you for this, as ever

[waynetta]

Avoid backache from bendng to pick your tomatoes. Simply dig a trench four feet deep alongside your plants. Step into the trench and you'll find your tomatoes are conveniently at chest height.

[Dulwich Gardening]

Well many thanks for all the feedback. Remember, happy to answer any gardening questions you may have as and when they arise.

With regards the toms, in a similiar position myself. Have grown 3 varities in containers and as I have a relatively small garden they have created a mini 'woodland' at the bottom of the garden. However, toms aplenty and picking as and when they ripen.

So, if anyone has got a good recipe for tomato sauce/passata, please let me know.

Happy Gardening

Dulwich Gardening Company

in association with David Cheetham Gardens

[PeckhamRose]

A trench four feet deep. That'll have me falling through to downstairs' balcony then. But they have a little trampoline on theirs so I could bounce up, pick a tomato, bounce up, pick another.....

I will play safe and sit down on the balcony floor!

waynetta Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Avoid backache from bendng to pick your tomatoes.

> Simply dig a trench four feet deep alongside your

> plants. Step into the trench and you'll find your

> tomatoes are conveniently at chest height.

[PeckhamRose]

Recipe for The Best Tomato Sauce In History.

Two pounds of tomatoes

Veg Stock Cube

3/4 pint of water

2 teaspoons of mixed herbs

A bit of mace

Sherry

Tomato puree (unnecessary in my opinion but MrPR insists...)

Your secret ingredient (everyone has one) Mine's a little bit of garlic.

Red onions: 2 small or one very large.

A little oil.

1) Make the stock with 3/4 pint boiling water.

1b) Liquidise tomatoes or chop carefully by hand till they are all little bits

like wot you'd get had you bought the cheap can of them in the supermarket...

2 (i) (a) Cook chopped onions and garlic till they're soft.

3(b)) Add tomatoes, puree if you want, herbs, mace, and your secret ingredient of choice and stir the lot.

3 (c(iv)) Bring to boil then let simmer for about 20 mins while you then prepare your pasta of choice. *

Sorted. Don't forget 3a(ii) part 2 though. very important.

3aii Drink the sherry.

[Dulwich Gardening]

Thanks for the recipe I'll give it a go once the 'harvest' is in.

[charliecharlie]

sound lovely... I would also add salt pepper and half a teaspoon of sugar to bring out the flavour of the tomatoes

xxCC

[SteveT]

Wot, no Basil?

[waynetta]

Increase the size of your garden by moving the fence several feet into your neighbour's garden during the night.

[waynetta]

A herd of cattle make a common sense replacement for noisy lawn mowers. Since buying mine I no longer need to mow the lawn, and never have to worry about the milkman being late.

[Dulwich Gardening]

Don't forget it's time to start thinking about bulbs for spring and summer next year (sorry to be rushing what summer we have had). Look out for the catalogues and online promotions and if you go to the large growers you'll get more bulb for your pound.

Think big when ordering as it's all about quantity when planting bulbs either directly into your boarders or those patio/deck containers. You're aiming for a sea of colour (but not to many colours) to jump start us out of Winter.

.ps - just whipped up a batch or caramelised red onion chutney (from my crop of 9 onions) which is now maturing in the fridge - wll let you know how it tastes!

Happy Gardening

Dulwich Gardening Company

in association with David Cheetham Gardens

[Dulwich Gardening]

As the latest edition of the Gardener's World has just dropped through the letter box I thought I'd share what I feel is a handy hint.

Over sow your bare patches.

Mow your lawn

Water the bare spots

Break up the surface with a fork or rake

Scatter seed thingly over the bare area

Sprinkle a little soil of the seed

Water again with a fine rose or sprinkler.

Presto - the grass will be up within a fortnight.

Happy Gardening

Dulwich Gardening Company

[GinaG3]

I hope I can still start my growing balcony this year. I am collecting things, albeit slowly as I'm trying not to spend any money but grow everything from recycled pots and even seeds/off cuts etc. Very satisfying if I may say so myself.

Will I be too late for these if I plant in a few weeks?

Lettuce, garlic, onion, tomatoes and many variety of herbs..

I dont have a clue to be honest, just fed up of my ?25/w veg bills and want to teach my 18 month old where her food comes from.

BTW PR - I keep walking past a balcony on my estate and they have really big bushy tomato plants but the tomatos are still bright green. Maybe they aren't enjoying the climate this year.

[PeckhamRose]

The toms are DELICIOUS!

I'm eating them like sweets, so not much is going to make the sauce!

But the recipe is a goodun, promise. Yes, add basil if you want, add sugar (Unnecessary) and lemon huice if you want.

Or just follow my recipe and see what you think first.

Thanks for the advice. My little balcony got a silver in the Southwark In Bloom thingy and I am so proud.

[Dulwich Gardening]

Hi GinaG3

You can plant winter cabbages, purple sprouting, brussel sprouts as small plants - I've also sown some seed as back-up in the hope its not too late- carrots such as 'Autumn king', celeriac plants (these are really tasty and expensive to buy in supermarket), perpetual spinach (very hardy).

As for the rest you could have a go, but most need protecting as the weather gets colder so I don't really bother.

With regards the green toms, dont worry I have the same story in by small back garden. But they are slowly turning red and ready for picking.

And PeckhamRose with you on the flavour things, absolutely mouth watering - nearly as good as chocolate.

Happy Gardening

Dulwich Gardening Company

[david_carnell]

From a culinary pov, I'd recommend roasting your tomatoes with herbs and garlic and olive oil before turning them into a sauce, passata, soup etc. The roasting itensifies the flavour much more than boiling.

[Alec John Moore]

I can vouch for the perpetual spinach. It's quite prolific and great if you chop it and stew it gently in some butter. Happy to be reminded about sowing purple sprouting broc. I've had problems with pigeon in the past so will need to think of ways of prtecting the plants when they are up. Actually, I have problems with pigeons helping themselves to elderberries from the tree at the end of the garden. I reckon it's OK to let them get on with it since I can't reach the fruits at the top anyway.

[Dulwich Gardening]

Well thre are a number of options you could try to keep the pigeons/birds off. You can put up bird nets or try hanging old CD's up in the tree or anywhere high. Birds generally don't like sprakly moving items. I've also use pieces of PVC glass which also are great for bouncing of the light.

Happy Gardening

Dulwich Gardening Company

in association with David Cheetham Gardens

[hibbs]

Hi

I'm in a tizzy as to what to plant in my window boxes now my Spring\Summer plants have died, any ideas would be greatly appreciated for a bit of colour during the Autumn\Winter months.

Many thanks.

[Captain Scarlet]

Could you tell me the lawn maintaince I would need to do on my lawn this time of year please....do I feed?spike,airate?

do I rake out the mosss?....what do i do about wormcastes?

[daizie]

TURN your greenhouse into a garden shed by boarding up the windows with spare floorboards