What to do & plant in your garden in August — Southern Hemisphere’s winter.
The final month of winter — spring is on it’s way! Though we’re not there yet. Late winter storms still work hard for us in the garden — the heavy rains are cleaning up unwelcome insect life around the garden, the winds are removing dead debris and leaves from trees and tidying the garden. Nature is at work.
Photo courtesy of Garden Objects | See more: How to: Take Care of your Tools
General Gardening
Plant
Carry on with winter planting — fruit trees, large trees and hedges. Get them in now before the soil begins to dry up, giving the plants time to establish their roots before the hotter months hit.
Feed
Prepare soil for spring planting with compost and sheep manure/pellets. Now is an especially good time to feed up fruiting trees. Mix them in with your existing topsoil as you plant, and add gypsum to help improve clay soils.
Mulch
Spring is a time for the next big round of mulching. Get ready to apply feeders like liquid seaweed and cover ground with mulch like pea hay or wood chips.
Tend to your tools
Take the time to sharpen, clean and oil tools such as spades, secateurs and hedge cutters, to keep them working hard for you when you need them.
The Edible Garden
Harvest
Citrus is still filling our fruit bowls in August. Brassicas, roots like carrots and avocados are also ready for harvest.
— In the Vegetable Garden
Sow
If doing the seed thing is for you, you can begin sowing your summer vegetables (indoors), like tomatoes, beans and peas, capsicum and chillies, lettuces, brassicas and courgettes.
Plant
As well as lots of vegetable seedlings, now’s the time to plant citrus trees, blueberries and other berries, and deciduous fruit trees.
Plan
August is a good time to plan how you’ll lay out your spring crops — think about your rows, crop rotations and companion plants.
Prep
Prepare beds for spring planting. Clear garden of weeds and add compost, manure and seaweed to beds that you’re planning on planting up in spring.
Plant Strawberries
You’ve still got time to get strawberries plants in for summer if you get them in quick. Plant about 5 plants per person so you’ve got enough for everyone. Add a clean layer of pea straw around the plants.
What to plant in the vegetable garden in August
Brassicas —
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Pak choi
- Asparagus
Tubers –
- Potatoes
Herbs —
- Coriander
- Parsley
- Chives
Salad greens —
- Lettuces
- Mizuna
- Silverbeet
- Spinach
Other —
- Jerusalem artichoke
- Onions
- Leeks
Fruit —
- Strawberries
- Citrus
- Rhubarb
- Blueberries
- Deciduous fruit trees
The Flower Garden
Flowering trees
Glimpses of the first flowering cherry (prunus) trees and impressive blooms of magnolias are a welcome reminder that spring is near!
The first blooming flowering cherry you’ll see is prunus campanulata — with a bright pink blossom. (Note: This is often considered a pest/weed in many areas on New Zealand for its prevalent seed dispersal by tūī and other birds. It’s a prolific self-seeder.)
Summer bulbs
Plant summer flowering bulbs now. Try peonies, lilies and gladioli for summer colour and picking.
You can start buying dahlia tubers and thinking about planting them out — but not just yet.
Plant
It’s the last chance to plant bare-rooted roses. Roses are best planted in a sunny spot (at least 6 hours of sun a day), in compost-rich, free-draining soil. If you didn’t get around to pruning your existing roses in July, get onto this now.
Also plant: camellias, daphne, hellebores, rhododendrons and azaleas (they like to be planted in cool conditions).
Annuals
Plant up containers and fill spaces in gardens with flowering annuals like marigolds, snapdragons, poppies, forget-me-nots, delphiniums, hollyhock, alyssum, calendula, cornflowers, lobelia, nemesia, gypsophila and viola.
