August
In The Fruit Garden This August
If you have plants fruiting in containers, make sure you give them a high potash liquid feed to keep them healthy and productive.
Prune the fruited stems of your blackcurrant bushes after harvesting.
Plant out any rooted runners of strawberries for a good crop next year.
Harvest your fruit trees – Cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots should all be ripe now. Early varieties of apple trees will be ready towards the end of the month.
Remember to feed lemon trees and other citrus trees throughout summer with special citrus fertiliser.
Cut back the fruited canes of your summer raspberries, leaving the new green canes for next year’s crop. Tie in with raspberry canes to support wires or fencing.
Keep birds and squirrels off your berries with netting.
Tidy up strawberry plants and remove any old straw from around the plants to improve ventilation and reduce the risk of pests and diseases.
Top Tips:
If you have glut of autumn raspberries, blackberries or loganberries, freeze them on trays for a couple of hours and then bag them up to use later.
This Month's Key Tips
- Keep ponds and water features topped up.
- Watering - particularly containers and new plants, preferably with recycled water or store rainwater.
- Deadhead flowering plants regularly.
- Don't delay summer pruning fruits trained as restricted forms.
- Harvest vegetables regularly as they become ready to promote new growth.
