Bring back the friendship of the sun;
The gilded evenings, calm and late,
When merry children homeward run,
And peeping stars bid lovers wait.

Bring back the singing; and the scent
Of meadowlands at dewy prime;—
Oh, bring again my heart’s content,
Thou Spirit of the Summertime!

By William Allingham

I thought it time to bring a little bit of culture apart from horticulture (groan) into our lives and in particular the first line of the second verse…and so say all of us. Apparently my belief that this summer was going to be hot and dry was not wrong, just that not here in Jersey or the rest of northern Europe.
August is when the garden is full of leaf and flower and to keep it that way you will need to keep plants well fed, deadheaded (again) Don’t cut off flower heads of ornamental grasses as these will provide winter interest.
Ensure that you keep on top of pests and diseases.

If you have just returned from your summer (?) holidays will need to make sure that you do not give your lawn a severe short back and sides but reduce the height gradually. Again a little bit of feed and weed killing will not go amiss. You can always ignore that last piece of advice, hold your head in your hands and go off and make a relaxing cup of tea and then have a go at it and the rest of the weeds that will have sprung up in the garden. These pearls of wisdom can be repeated over the next few weeks.
Now is the time to plant out winter flowering pansies but make sure that the soil structure is in good condition and if in doubt a touch of soil improver/organic manure (and keep watered) will ensure that plants establish flower well.
This is also the time of year to start planting out your spring flowering bulbs, especially narcissi (daffodils to you and me). Do not forget other bulbous species such as amaryllis, belladonna, bluebells, chionodoxa, colchicum, erythronium, fritillaria, leucojum, scilla sibirice, snowdrops etc.
Gardens with hidden corners and where debris accumulates are more insect friendly than gardens composed entirely of paving, bedding, decking and other words ending in ing. To encourage wildlife you can make shelters, leave prunings and rearrange your rockery in suitable areas to provide suitable habitats.
When looking to plant specifically for wildlife please bear in mind that certain plants are better in supplying nectar, Sedum spectabile ( highly attractive to butterflies and bees making an additional attraction in the autumn garden) and others for their, pollen, Lavatera (needs a bit of room and sun to be at its best). The previously mentioned ornamental grasses provide shelter. Therefore a variety of insect-friendly planting from all these groups is likely to attract more insects than a mass planting of flowers providing only nectar or pollen.

That covers August, so good luck with the weeding, dead heading and mowing and I’ll be back for the (hopefully) warm, dry and sunny month of September!

Happy hoeing,
Noddy.