With warmer weather, longer sunny evenings and children off school, August is the month many of us choose to recharge the batteries, either at home or away, if we can. Here are the gardening jobs you'll want to think about this month, especially if you're planning on going on holiday.
It’s also the month for lazy picnics in the garden with friends and family and if you have tended any homegrown produce, it’s the season to pick, eat and share gluts of the harvest.
You'll also want to cut back woody herbs such as sage, thyme and rosemary to encourage fresh young growth; this will keep the plants in good shape and prevent them from getting leggy and tough. Why not freeze or dry the healthiest herb clipping shoots to use later in the year? Don't miss our guide to making your own herb garden from upcycled pots.
By this stage of the year, you may have invested a great deal of time and effort into making your garden look beautiful, so it would be a shame to let it all perish from lack of watering in your absence. Consider investing in an automatic watering system - there are many on the market but one of the easiest to use is Gardena’s AquaBloom as it’s solar-powered and doesn’t require a tap, so no need for any outdoor electricity or water sources. All you need to provide is a large container filled with water, then set it up following the simple instructions.
Before you go away, move all of your pots and containers out of full sunlight and into a shadier area of the garden – but remember to always keep the solar panel for your automatic watering system in a sunny spot so it can stay charged.
Gardens and outdoor spaces are great places to keep children happy and entertained during their school holidays. The RSPB offers a wide range of creative and informative ideas and projects to help children reconnect with nature, including making a kebab to feed the birds, building a mini-beast hotel, bird watching and doing wildlife surveys. For more information on each activity, visit rspb.org.uk.
This is a digital version of a feature that originally appeared in Your Home magazine. For more inspirational home ideas, why not subscribe today?