August 2019 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition| 95HOMES INTERIORS
SheenaMarshisowneranddesignerat
OxfordGardenDesign.
oxfordgardendesign.co.uk
[email protected]Gardening
calendar
August
I
fyou’replanningongoingon
holidaythismonth,don’tforgetto
leavearrangementsforthegarden.
Particularlyplantsgrowingin
containersneedalotofwater.Ifyou
canaskaneighbourtolookafter
yourpotswhileyouareawaythatisideal,
ifnot,considerinvestinginanautomatic
wateringsystem.Whenyougetback,there’s
plentytodointhegardenthismonth!
Mosthedgescanbegiventheirfinaltrim
towardstheendofthismonth.Ifyouwanta
leveltop,fixapostateitherendandtietwine
betweenthemattherequiredheight.Trim
thesidesofthehedgefirst,workingfrom
thebottomup,whetherusingapowered
hedgetrimmerorhandshears.Thereason
forworkingupwardsisthatasyoucut,the
trimmingswillfallawayandyouwillbebetter
abletoseewhereyouaregoing.Makethe
hedgewideratthebaseandnarroweratthe
top.Thiswayitwillstanduptotheweather
better.Thetopcanbetrimmedlastusingthe
twineasaguide.
Large-leavedhedges,suchasLaurel,
cannotbetrimmedwithshearsorhedge
trimmersbecausethesewouldcutthrough
thelargeleavescausingthemtogobrown.
Thewaytocutthesehedgesiswithsecateurs.
Ifyouhavealargehedgethisisalong
tiresometask,butthehedgewilllookso
muchbetterwithnobrowned-offbits.
Pruneramblingrosesaftertheyhave
flowered.Allsideshootsthathaveflowered
canbeprunedbacktooneortwobudsfrom
themainstems.Anynew,strongshoots
shouldbetiedintoreplaceoldershoots.Very
oldstemsshouldbecutrightbackdownto
thebase.Inthiswayyou’llencouragenew
shoots.
CompletesummerpruningofWisteria
thismonth.Pruneallthelongnewwhippy
growthbacktofiveorsixbudsfromthemain
stem.Thisencouragestheplanttoproduce
flowerbuds.Ifyouhaveayoungplantand
wanttoextendtheframework,leavetheside
shootsonbuttiethemintowhereyouwant
thegrowthtobe.EstablishedWisteriasare
veryvigourousandit’simportanttoletthem
knowwho’sthebossinthegarden.Prunethis
monthandagaininFebruaryandtheywill
rewardyouwithabundance. L