Mzzz B"s August Garden Blog

The usual British summer is well on the way, hottest day of the year followed by thunder storms and endless rain! What more could we expect?

Tidying the garden from early growth of plants which have then gone over is the main task currently. While clearing away some rather beautiful Herb Robert, a very pale pink one not the ordinary one, I suddenly realised I was disturbing various creatures – baby toads were hopping to get out of my way and then there were two newts curled up completely still.

Fascinating to see the two different responses of these semi aquatic amphibians, to disturbance, one plays dead the other manically tries to escape! I rescued those I could and carefully moved them to a part of the garden, which I know would not be disturbed for many months. Although the garden always has toads and frogs around, I have not noticed this early migration of baby toads from the pond into the garden, for a few years. I blame the mallards who have taken up residence on the pond in the past, but this year they did not stay around, meaning that the toadpoles and newts had a chance to grow and develop.

An entomologist friend visited this week and found tiny insects that I would have missed, a beautiful jewel beetle, iridescent green on top and red underneath, it is a voracious predator, and very useful in the garden, also she was very pleased to see a tiny solitary bee, a wool carder bee. I then found the elephant hawkmoth caterpillar trying to look like a four eyed monster. (see photographs, from internet sources)
It is so good to see that the garden remains a healthy space for all sorts of wildlife.

Things to do in the garden in August:

• Dead head annuals and perennials to encourage reflowering, and likewise keep picking vegetables to encourage more!
• Prune wisteria before it takes over the world, mine keeps threatening to come in through the kitchen door.
• Prune trained fruit trees.
• Collect your own seed from your garden to resow for next year, most of my sweet peas came from an early autumn sowing of my own collected seed, long before I would have bought seed for next year!
• Cut out the raspberry canes that have fruited and tie in the new growth for next years fruit. Autumn raspberries are starting to fruit now, these are pruned down to the ground in spring -Lift and pot up rooted strawberry runners.
• Sow seeds for autumn and spring harvests: lettuce, spinach, beetroot, chard, radish, for autumn, spring cabbage and lettuce can be sown for spring. This year I am going to grow brassicas in my new/second hand greenhouse, I am currently enjoying carrot fly-free carrots from this greenhouse, and I will try chard and spinach to see if I can extend the season.
• I lifted my garlic last month, and now have a years supply! Wait till October/November before you plant the individual cloves. I cover mine in the depths of winter to protect them from the worst of the weather.