August is the research and planning month for gardeners and is a good time to review the successes and challenges of last season’s garden and decide on any necessary adjustments for the future.
This month also offers an opportunity to plan for spring planting, ensuring that beds are prepared and seedlings are started for cool-weather crops.
These great tips from Awapuni Nurseries can guide you in the right direction for August planting.
Garden Maintenance
Plan your spring flower garden. Mix annuals and perennials. Add blue & yellow blooms.
Replace old plants with new seedlings.
Consider flowering native trees.
Turnover and/or add compost into your soil. Apply lawn fertiliser.
Keep weeding.
Prune your roses.
Trim your hedges.
Edible Garden
August a good time to plant onions (California red onion, Pukekohe onions, spring onions). They grow best in friable soil and they are perfect companions to spinach. You may want to try planting onions in containers too, if you have limited garden space. Onions need to be planted 10cm apart and if you are planting them in rows, make the rows 20cm apart.
You may also still plant garlic.
It’s a great time to plant cold-hardy vegetables like beetroot, brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower), spinach and peas.
Many gardeners consider planting seed potatoes at this time. Awapuni Nurseries now has the following potato varieties: agria, ilam hardy, desiree, cliffs kidney, rocket, purple heart, jersey bennes and Waiporoporo (Maori potato).
Flower Garden
August is a good time to layout your flower garden. Have a plan to add flowers that continuously attract pollinators and beneficial insects. Mix and match annuals and perennials. More flowers present whilst your vegetable plants are flowering will help set the scene for more fruiting. Cornflowers, peonies, pansies, fragrant stock flowers – plant a mixture of flowers to encourage beneficial insects to visit your garden.
Attract more monarch butterflies by planting the perennial swan plant. Monarch butterflies love laying their creamy, white eggs on the underside of the swan plant leaves. Monarch butterflies do not harm New Zealand’s unique environment and they are not afraid of humans. They are usually seen flying around happily in flower gardens and delights many gardeners.
Cottage garden favourites
Awapuni Nurseries offer many flower seedlings that you may want to consider for your cottage garden: foxgloves, canterbury bells, catmint, cineraria, sweet peas, carnation, shasta daisy and geranium.
Flowers in Barrels
For a rustic look, we recommend planting stock, ornamental kale, pansies and violas together in a big barrel. These flowers love the winter chill and will bloom until the end of spring, and in some ideal conditions, even through the first few weeks of summer.
Herb Garden
You may now also plant more herbs all throughout your garden: rosemary, mint oregano, parsley, sage, thyme and coriander.
Natives
Planting natives gives you flexibility because they are highly adaptable to the NZ environment. Manuka, kanuka and native NZ flaxes provide food and shelter to native birds and insects. Awapuni Nurseries offer bulk native combos in 50s to 100s lots for Manuka, Kanuka, Cabbage Tree, Flaxes, Carex grasses & Pittosporum.
About The Author: Triona Backup
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