August is the height of summer, and while the garden may be bursting with colour, it can also start to look a little unruly. With heatwaves, dry spells, and bursts of heavy rain, now’s the time to stay on top of watering, trimming and tidying. From deadheading blooms to harvesting fruit and veg, here are your essential gardening jobs for August.
Trim hedges and topiary
Now is a great time to neaten up hedges, especially formal evergreens like box, yew, and privet. Shaping them in August helps keep growth tidy through to autumn and reduces the need for extra trims later on.
Use Kent & Stowe SureCut Hedge Shears for a precise, clean finish. Always check for nesting birds before trimming – most will have finished, but it’s best to be sure.
Deadhead flowers
Keep borders blooming for longer by regularly deadheading faded flowers. This encourages plants to put energy into new buds rather than seed production.
Use Eversharp Snips or Secateurs for quick, clean cuts on bedding plants, roses, and perennials.
Harvest fruit and vegetables
August is a busy harvest month, which means it's time to harvest your potatoes. Use a garden fork to avoid damaging the tubers.
Other fruit and veg to harvest this month are tomatoes, courgettes, beans, cucumbers, plums, apples, and blackberries should be ripening fast. Pick regularly to encourage more crops and avoid waste.
A Fruit Picker is an essential tool for harvesting ripe fruit from trees, ensuring they remain in perfect condition without falling and bruising. Designed with a cushioned foam liner, this picker prevents damage to the fruit, keeping it fresh and ready for consumption.
Keep watering wisely
Long, dry spells can still catch gardeners off guard. Focus watering on containers, new plants, and anything fruiting or flowering. Water early in the morning or evening to reduce evaporation.
Our Long Reach 9L Watering Can offers gentle coverage that won’t damage delicate plants. With its extended reach, this watering can allows you to effortlessly water plants from a distance. The swivel rose allows you to adjust the pouring pattern to suit different plant types and watering preferences.
Tidy perennials and borders
Cut back faded or flopping perennials like geraniums and delphiniums. This keeps borders looking fresh and can even trigger a second flush of flowers.
Use SureCut Perennial Snips for fast and fine cutting. Designed for efficient single handed use, these snips feature rubber micro hex handles, providing extra comfort and grip for prolonged cutting sessions.
Stay on top of weeding
Warm weather helps weeds thrive, so stay vigilant. Hoe or hand weed regularly to prevent them from setting seed.
In beds and borders, a Dutch hoe is ideal for slicing through the top layer of soil, cutting weeds off just below the surface with a push-pull action.
Read our guide on how to achieve a weed free garden this summer.
Plan for autumn
It may still feel like summer, but now’s the time to start sowing autumn crops like spinach, chard, and winter lettuce. You can also start thinking about spring bulbs.
Shop our range of bulb planters.
Other tips
- Keep an eye out for pests like aphids, caterpillars, and slugs.
- Ventilate greenhouses and conservatories during hot spells.
- Keep birdbaths topped up with fresh water in dry weather.
August may be hot and hectic, but a little maintenance now will keep your garden thriving into autumn. With the right tools and a few simple tasks, you’ll enjoy the rewards well into the next season.
