AUGUST
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SOW NOW
cabbages chard chicory kohlrabi lettuce oriental leaves rocket spring onions turnips onions spring lettuce winter spinach late carrots |
JOBS FOR AUGUST
top up bird baths regularly water fruit and veg daily prune summer flowering shrubs like hydrangeas once the blooms are finished keep on top of weeds move and divide iris stake tall or top-heavy plants like dahlias and lilies collect seeds take cuttings of rosemary, sage and mint - divide clumps of chives turn your compost every month to keep it aerated and speed up decomposition prune wisteria prune rambling roses when they've finished flowering continue deadheading herbaceous plants and cut off tall weak stems plant out well grown perennial seedlings in nursery beds plant daffodil bulbs to flower next spring take lavender, sage and perennial wallflower cuttings take cuttings of shrubs - heather, geranium (pelargonium), fuchsia and hydrangea bend over tops of onions as they ripen sow varieties of onions which will mature form late June-July next year sow spring lettuce, winter spinach, late carrots summer prune restricted forms of apple and pear trees (espalier or fan-trained) |
OLD WIVES TALES ....
'If the first week of August is warm, the winter will be white and long' - A warm first week in August signifies a long and snowy winter, while an early appearance of rowan berries (not typically seen until September) signifies that a hard winter is already well on its way. Worse still, if the corn or onions harvested at the start of the month have thick husks and skins, you can be sure that the winter months will be tough. In fact, for every foggy morning you experience in August, you can expect a day of snowfall in winter.
Apply honey for a bee sting, Vinegar for a wasp.
'If the first week of August is warm, the winter will be white and long' - A warm first week in August signifies a long and snowy winter, while an early appearance of rowan berries (not typically seen until September) signifies that a hard winter is already well on its way. Worse still, if the corn or onions harvested at the start of the month have thick husks and skins, you can be sure that the winter months will be tough. In fact, for every foggy morning you experience in August, you can expect a day of snowfall in winter.
Apply honey for a bee sting, Vinegar for a wasp.