Get ready for summer by planting up colour – or a brand new kitchen garden filled with herbs and vegetables.
home August 2011
Garden tasks by Life is a Garden, a marketing initiative of the South African Nursery Association. For more information, go to lifeisagarden.co.za.
With the windiest months ahead, unpredictable August is the time to plant shrubs as windbreaks and check that plant stakes and ties are secure.
Lawns
• In the summer rainfall regions, late August is the time to spring clean kikuyu lawns by removing any accumulation of dry grass (thatch) using a stiff broom or rake. If there are any depressions, these should be attended to now by filling in holes with compost or lawn dressing. Use a sterilised medium to avoid introducing weeds.
• After aerating the lawn, water thoroughly before applying fertiliser 3:2:1 (28) SR at 60g/m2. It is essential to water immediately after fertilising as granules may lodge between grass blades and burn.
Plant up colour
Plant these seeds, seedlings and bulbs now for a colourful summer garden:
• Seeds Alyssum, aster, Californian poppy, cleome, cosmos, bedding dahlia, dianthus, gaillardia, sunflower (Helianthus spp.), impatiens, lavatera, lobelia, marigold, salvia, schizanthus and verbena.
• Seedlings Begonia, celosia, cleome, cosmos, bedding dahlia, impatiens, lobelia, marigold, pansy, vinca and viola.
• Bulbs Amaryllis, arum, tuberous begonia, caladium, canna cultivars, dahlia, eucomis, galtonia, spider lily (Hymenocallis spp.), liatris, lilium, tigridia and tuberose.
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Plant up a kitchen garden
• In frost-free or protected areas, sow beans, beets, brinjals, corn, cucumber, gem squash, marrows, peppers, pumpkins and tomatoes.
• In cool areas, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, leeks, Swiss chard, peas and potatoes are ideal.
• Beets, broccoli, cabbage, lettuces, onions, radishes and turnips can be planted in all regions.
General maintenance
• Any pruning not done in July should be completed within the first two weeks of this month.
• Remove old leaves from day lilies and bearded irises, as they are a favourite hiding place for snails, slugs and aphids.
• If you didn’t apply lime to bearded irises last year, dust around each rhizome now (like icing sugar on a cake). A sprinkling of superphosphate, gently forked in around each rhizome, is also beneficial; water well after application.
• Complete any dividing or moving of perennials that was not done in autumn.
• Regularly cut off old flowers on winterand spring-flowering bulbs and annuals to encourage further flowers.
• Make sure that containers and hanging baskets do not dry out on hot, dry days.
• Fuchsias will be putting on strong growth; fertilise them with a high nitrogen fertiliser, such as Nitrosol or Seagro.
• To keep cats and dogs out of your beds, plant the indigenous groundcover Plectranthus neochilus, as these animals dislike the smell of the leaves.
