Surrey Homes | SH79 | August 2021 | Adding value to your property supplement inside

Penstemon
‘Sour Grapes’
Fuchsia
‘Whiteknights Pearl’
Sue’s August Tasks:
• August is a good time to start
trimming hedges as long as you
are sure that the Mrs Robins of
this world are no longer nesting.
Our native hornbeam makes a
lovely hedge and copes very well
with exposure and if clipped now,
tends to retain its leaves into the
winter months rather like beech.
• Box hedges will most probably
have been cut by now but you
can continue to tidy them up
through to September. Don’t cut
in full sun as they tend to burn.
• Yew should be cut now. There
is a myth that yew grows slowly.
Actually, well fed and healthy
plants can grow up to 12” a year
so it’s worth adding compost to
their bases when you have any
available. The more the merrier.
• August is a good time to tidy
up both rambling and climbing
roses. Their new season’s growth
is still pretty pliable at this
time of the year so with the
ramblers weave them in and
out of the support you have.
Add a foliar feed and remember
to remove any sick looking
leaves and burn or bin them to
prevent infection spreading.
• Another thought for August if
you haven’t already done it is to
sow green manure on any land that
is lying fallow or you have finished
using for a vegetable crop. Phacelia
tanacetifolia is certainly a good
looking plant and if you decide
not to dig it in over the winter
or spring and leave it for a little
longer, the bees absolutely love it
as do all their pollinating friends.
Crimson clover is another one that
is both useful and decorative.
• And take cuttings of tender
perennials like fuchsias and
penstemons now. Take the cutting
either just below a leaf node or
perhaps between leaf nodes. I
usually go for the former. They
root so fast, especially if the
plants are still in active growth.
It is really fun to ‘make’ your
own plants. Take the cuttings
early in the day when the
plants are still a bit ‘dopey’.
• Carry on with regular
deadheading to prolong flowering
but leave grasses alone. Their seed
heads make a good food source in
the winter and also provide cover.
And they look good. When you are
deadheading roses, avoid those like
Rosa rugosa or R. ‘Frances E Lester’
that have such beautiful hips.
Rosa rugosa
istockphoto.com/gardendata / HEMARAT / Delia Cangelosi / Andres Victorero
Sue Whigham can be contacted on 07810
457948 for gardening advice and help in the
sourcing and supply of interesting garden plants.
117 priceless-magazines.com