Deadhead regularly: This is the easiest way to get more bang for your buck. Snip off spent blooms from Dahlias, Roses, Buddleia and Cosmos to encourage a new flush of flowers and keep your pots and borders looking healthy, clean and tidy. An added bonus is that this also stops plants from putting energy into producing seeds.
Remember that Dahlia buds that look like this (rather than pointed) are yet to flower – so don’t deadhead these ones!
Take Salvia cuttings: Taking cuttings of your favourite plants is a fantastic way to increase plant numbers cheaply – and to ensure you’re getting more of what you love. The RHS has a great guide here.
Cut back Heuchera flowers: Now that Heuchera flowers have come to an end, cut them back to the base of the stem, allowing the varied, colourful foliage to really come into its own. Heucheras are a fantastic late summer plant and a brilliant all-rounder due, specifically, to the wide variety of different types available and the different colourful foliages there are to choose from.
Prune Wisteria: The end of summer is the time to give your Wisteria another trim. Cutting back the explorative stems will help the plant focus on flowers rather than leaf growth next year. The stems you’ll be wanting to cut back are thin and ‘whippy’ and should be cut back to somewhere between 4-6 leaves from the base of the main trunk.
Trim back lavender flowers: Lavender flowers will be coming to an end soon, and cutting them back now will give the bush time to harden before winter. It might seem counterintuitive to remove the attractive flowerheads but it will ensure a strong and robust shape and display next year. The flowers will also look and smell very pleasant as dried flowers in a vase so all is not lost.
Keep lush planting well-watered: If you have Dig’s Jungle theme, or a garden with lots of lush leafy planting, it’s important to keep it well-watered in drier weather. Hydrangeas, Hostas, and similar plants all benefit from regular but not over-watering, especially in warmer weather.
Plan for spring bulbs now: If you want to make a real impact in the spring, start thinking about what spring bulb flowers you’d like now. With time and planning you can ensure you pick the right colours to complement your existing plants, and also ensure that you have enough time to order as many as you want from the best suppliers online.
Gardening for nature
Every month, alongside your gardening jobs, we’ll give you a few things you can be doing in your garden to help support, introduce and protect local wildlife.
Keep birdbaths and ponds topped up: With warm weather, water can evaporate quickly. Keep bird baths, bee baths, ponds and water features topped up. Every drops helps in the heat and although things are just beginning to slow down, there could still be plenty of warm days left this year!
Clean out your bird boxes: Now is a great time to clear out bird boxes as they will definitely be uninhabited at this point. Sweep out any leftover nests and debris (make sure to check them first before doing this with children, just in case of any casualties that didn’t manage to fly the nest) and dispose of the leftover nests. It’s not a bad idea to give the box a wash with warm soapy water to disinfect it before reinstalling it for next year.
Hedgehog hospitality: As summer winds down, hedgehogs will be working their way slowly towards hibernation. If you know you have them in your garden, consider leaving out water and some meaty cat or dog food to help bolster their resources before the big sleep.
