Your Garden This Month: August
Aim to complete most of your pruning by mid-August, so there is still a bit of time to get cracking and finish any unpruned trees, roses or cane fruit.
Dead heading winter annuals will keep them blooming for a little longer until the heat knocks them over. A liquid feed overhead will also help feed them up for another flush of colour.
Copper sprays should be repeated right up to the point of pink tip on your stone fruit trees. Don’t spray after this point when blossom has opened, as the copper will burn of the blossoms, leaving you with no fruit.
When roses are pruned, check for black spot if they still have leaf on them and give them a spray if you see it.
Don’t be too quick to fertilise lawns & gardens, as the ground is still too cold for uptake, and most grasses are dormant.
September is a good time to plant citrus trees, so get your ground prepared now, and plant in September when fresh stock fills the nurseries.
I have noticed large infestations of Gall wasps on established citrus trees in the Norwood, Kent town, Dulwich, North Adelaide areas, as I am out and about. Keep a close eye on your trees and cut the galls off you trees as you see them. Spraying eco oil may also deter the wasps from the tree, but will also stop the citrus leaf miner chewing off the new growth, and prevent the white fly from settling in the tree.
Irrigation systems could be checked for leaks, and a general inspection of components, to make sure all valve boxes are dry and controllers have batteries. Sprinkler heads can be checked and grass cut around pop-ups to ensure soil is not encroaching around the pop-up stem.
Mulch should be applied to the garden to suppress weed growth and cover irrigation lines to get them away from direct sunlight.
Compost can be dug into gardens and proposed new veggie garden areas, to break down and be ready for planting in September. Seasol or other humate products can be watered into the soil right through winter to build up the microbe population, ready for ground temperature to rise, and growth to commence.
Will see you in the spring!
David
PS. There are still plenty of fruit tree varieties and roses available in the nurseries, and plenty of time left to plant. Remember dwarf fruit trees take up less space in your garden and require less maintenance, so you can have more varieties in less space.
David Allington
David is the owner of Allingtons Lawn & Garden Care. He has been in the horticultural industry for nearly two decades, and has pioneered an exciting gardening services business at the cutting edge of the industry. Through this site, he shares his knowledge and expertise. Return to the home page to view all on offer or drop us a line via the contact form.
