Ah, August. A time of year when you can reap the rewards of your earlier spring labour in the garden. So nice to sit in the shade and admire the gorgeous floral displays amidst the serenity of your landscape.
Of course, there is still a little bit of ongoing work what with watering, deadheading and keeping up with the vegetable harvest, especially those zucchinis. (What new zucchini recipe have you tried this year?!) But now it is time to add one more thing to your August list - an easy one, I promise.
While you are meandering around doing your watering, make mental notes on which plants need dividing. I have a few hostas threatening to bust out of their pots. The constriction is impacting their stature. It is high time I relieved the pressure on their roots.
Looking around, I see there are a number of plants that would benefit from a “reining in” as they are overtaking plant(s) next to them. But what to do with the divisions?
Perhaps there is a bare spot somewhere. Not likely, but if I divide a plant or two surrounding a small bare area, I can probably squeeze it in. And it would look really nice in that grouping. Of course, I will probably have to divide all three of them in about three years but hey…that’s gardening!
If you are not so inclined to make extra work for yourself, there are always gardening friends who well might appreciate a piece of your treasured plant. Or share them with a garden club for their fund-raising plant sale.
Besides oversized plants, I keep my eye peeled for plants that look out of place or are in the wrong place. One of my ferns has grown so tall it is completely hiding a small hosta. I need to reverse that order. I also see a Viola odorata seeded smack in the middle of a tall geranium called ‘birch’s double’. Only noticed the intruder when I cut back the geranium back after flowering. I will have to dig up the whole thing in order to disentangle the violet from the geranium roots.
A word of caution: some plants do not like to be moved. Period. Gas plant, Dictamnus spp., is one. I have been warned: move, I lose.
Carrying on with my inspection, my weigela shrubs need pruning. The taller ones need some of their multiple stems cut out to allow for new growth in the spring. The smaller ones could do with a little shaping to keep them tidy.
Late August and early September are good months for taking hardwood cuttings if you want more shrubs.
If you are in a hurry, you can simply stick six cuttings in the ground under the mother plant. Dipping the cut end into #3 rooting hormone powder before placing your cutting in a pre-drilled planting hole would help root production. At least one is sure to survive and grow.
If you want to hedge your bet on success, take the time to place your cuttings, dipped in rooting hormone, in a pot filled with a good soil mixture.
This method means you will have to babysit the pot through the winter, making sure it does not freeze solid or dry out.
Where’s my notebook? I will never remember all these extra chores I want to do before winter sets in. Doing them now means less work come spring. I hope.
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Want to know what to do in the garden in the fall?
“Preparing the Garden for Winter” workshop will be offered in September. Details are on my website: duchessofdirt.ca. Also, check out the other workshops being offered.
Leslie Cox co-owns Growing Concern Cottage Garden in Black Creek. Her website is www.duchessofdirt.ca.