Amateur Gardening – 10 August 2019

4 AMATEURGARDENING 10 AUGUST 2019

B

YthemiddleofAugust,the
exuberanceofthesummer
gardencanstarttoflag.Heat
andtheoccasionalbattering
stormtaketheirtollandtheeffectsofa
dryspringandsummerareplaintosee.
Aswithmostthingsin thegarden,
thisisn’tirreversible.Continuingto
deadhead,feedandwaterexisting
plantsandreplacingthosethathave
diedwillallhelpaddnew
tothebodyof thegarden
Anaddedbonusis tha
thesenewandrevived
plantsshouldcontinue
toflowerthroughoutthe
restof summer,merging
seamlesslywithany
autumn-flowering
plantingsalreadymade.
Alotof gardensalesa
sellingoffthissummer’s
stockat reducedprices.T
beddingplantsmaybelookinga bit
grim,butif youlookcarefullyyoucan
buy mature perennials for a bargain.

Choosehealthy-lookingoneswith

lotsof flowerbuds,givethema good

drinkbeforeplantingandcutawaydead

anddamagedleavesandflowers.Place

themin anappropriatesite,andtheywill

rewardyouwithbloomsintothisautumn

andhopefullyforyearstocome.

I boughtthreebargainperennials

fromourlocalcentre(a Kniphofia

‘PineapplePopsicle’,a Salvia‘Wendy’s

d a Helenium‘Mardi

andsavedmyselfa

ner,whichcheered

e upnoend!

NowallI havetodo

makeroomforthem

n theborders...

TheAfricanviolet

avesI pottedupto

e ascuttingshave

takensoI have

edthemintotheirown

togrowon.Hopefully

theywillmatureandstarttoflowerover

thewinter,bringingcolourinside when

there’s little else around.

It’s time for you to revive flagging summer beds, saysRuth

I’maddingmore‘bargain

basement’bloomstoprolong

the colour in our garden

1

TheAfricavioletleaveshave

rootedandstartedtothrowout

leaflets,sotheyare ready to pot

up individually.

2

Filllargemodulesor3in(8cm)

potswithJohnInnesNo

compostanddiba root hole in

the centre of each.

3

Carefullylifteachleafand

itsrootballfromthecompost

usinga spoon,holdingtheleaf

steady between your fingers.

4

Plantit in thecompost,firm

in andwaterwell.Place

somewhere light and warm to

grow on.

Potting up

leafcuttings

In time to add winter colour indoors

Step

by step

Colourfulshrubssuchas

Berberisthunbergiiadd

low-maintenance colour

Africanvioletcuttings
are good to go

Abargainis a

marvellous thing!