Every month, we offer tips and hints for the budding gardener - what to do, how do we do it, when to do it - to give you that little bit of extra help everyone needs. Our resident gardening expert, Jim Smith from West Sound Radio, will advise on what needs to be done now, and what preparation is required for what you will need to do soon.

By following our advice, based on over 40 years in the horticulture business, you should find not only your fingers, but your neighbours, turning green!

It's as easy as A, B, C and best of all it's FREE!

This month's tips - August

	Watering is most important - check daily as containers may need watering more than once a day. Even if it does rain, containers in sheltered positions and of course hanging baskets which are under the eaves of the house may not receive enough water.
	It is good practice to give a dilute liquid feed every time you water.
	Stop tomato plants by removing the growing tips - if this is done about the middle of the month it will encourage the fruit to develop and ripen.
	Continue to deadhead to encourage more flowers to form on roses and even bedding plants.
	Check regularly on all plants for pests and diseases.
	Harvest fruit and vegetables when they are ripe.
	If you are growing your own wallflower for planting in beds, borders and containers in the autumn, take out the growing tips of the wallflower to encourage the production of side shoots - the plants will then develop into bushier and stronger specimens.
	Cut gladioli for indoor decoration as soon as the flowers on the spike are open. When you cut a flower spike, leave at least four or five leaves on the plant to prevent the corm from being deprived of its source of food.
	Dahlias must be fed regularly with liquid fertiliser using a high nitrogen feed, changing later in the month to high potash, such as a tomato fertiliser.
	Remove faded flowers and seed pods from fuchsia plants. Fuchsia flowers will last about ten days and if the seed pods are left on, the energy of the plant will be diverted into seed production and it will stop flowering. Pinch out the growing tips of fuchsias as this will increase the number of shoots available for cuttings.
	Freesias, with their brightly coloured, fragrant blooms, are popular flowers. When they flower depends on when you plant them. If planted in August, they will flower in late autumn, so if you plant them in several stages they will give a succession of flowers right through to the spring.
	If you are making a new lawn, continue to prepare the ground - make sure it is level and weed-free.
	Complete the lifting of early potatoes and start digging the second earlies.
	Take cuttings of zonal pelargoniums (geraniums), first of all having decided how many you have room to over the winter.
	Complete the trimming of all hedges this month as it allows new growth to ripen before winter. Conifer hedges should get their annual trim this month to prevent them becoming overgrown. Prune individual leaf sprays with secateurs rather than a hedge trimmer or shears, as cutting across the leaf spray on conifers will turn the remaining ends brown.

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