PG Tips: August

Plant TLC

Recently planted trees and shrubs can dry out easily.  If you are going on holiday, put a couple of cans of water around the roots and mulch them with compost or sheets of newspaper.

In spells of sultry weather, oxygenate garden ponds by spraying fresh water over the surface

To keep buddleia looking fresh, snip off the leading flowers as they turn brown. This shows off the secondary flowers and encourages further flowering.

Keep cutting sweet peas to induce more flowers and prevent seed pods forming

Put a fortnightly can of liquid feed (tomato feed will do) on large-flowered clematis, to ensure generous flowering. Feel free to chop back Clematis montana if it's smothering other plants.

To keep your compost heap active, add a couple of cans of water now and then and stir with a fork. Grass clippings heat quickly and drive off much-needed moisture

Tall, heavy-trunked dahlias need to be properly staked to protect them against rainstorms. Short ones need no support.
 
Take semi-ripe cuttings of rosemary.

Once summer-fruiting raspberries have been picked, prune the spent canes to ground level

Check hanging baskets for watering daily. Even in wet weather, water may not soak through thick foliage

Who is watering your patio pots while you are on holiday? Line someone up to do it or install a dripper irrigation system on a timer.