August garden summer care
Tree Surgeon and Gardening Tips from Eastbourne, East Sussex
This summer of 2021 has been an interesting one to say the least. The sun has made an appearance for a few days, on a few occasions but mostly the weather has been very wet and damp. Whilst this is great keeping everything lush and green however it has meant that some things have been flourishing- our lawn has never been so green. On the other hand all of the tomato plants that we had moved outside to ripen into a deep red in the summer sun, have rotted at the root due to the soil never really drying our properly. We have also woken up too many mornings where we have had to rush all of our plants into the house, the young yuzu that we are growing from seed got flooded and so had to be moved back into the safety of the sunny windowsill. We have gathered some tips to try and work with the weather and not feel like it is against it.
Collect your rain water. If you don’t do so already, this is a great way to use what is given to you for free. Collect it in a water butt and it can be used for when the weather is going through dryer periods.
Prune and still harvest fruit steams. We have found that with our raspberry patches and other fruit trees, we are still pruning to allow airflow. This is especially important as it allows the soil to dry a little more and stops such a damp micro climate.
Find cover! If you have raised vegetable beds, it might be an idea to create or buy mini poly tunnels to give your plants a little bit of cover. Your plants will still get water from the soil so don’t worry to much about it not being watered. When the weather gets warmer and drier then remove the plastic tunnels and let them soak in the rays. Remember to water them!
Deadhead any perennials, encouraging them to come back in autumn. Deadhead lilies and Dahlias for a better yield the next year and to stop them from self seeding.
Lookout for mould and rot! This is due to the plant not getting enough airflow, drying out properly and not getting enough sunlight. If you see any area of the plant that has this, safely remove the infected area with clean and sharp tools. You don’t want the rot to spread to other areas of the plant. If the whole plant is diseased then isolate it and if it doesn’t recover then it will have to be destroyed :(
If you would like us to come round and give a tree surgery quote then please contact us here.
