August

Gardening Tasks for August: Preparing for Spring

As August rolls in, New Zealand gardens are primed for a burst of activity. With the arrival of spring on the horizon, August marks the time to prepare for the upcoming season of growth and bloom. It's an opportune month for pruning, planting, and tending to the garden, setting the stage for a colorful and fruitful spring ahead.

Winter Veggies

• Plant cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, onion, leek, pak choi, celery, silverbeet and lettuce seedlings (protect lettuces from frost).

• Plant asparagus crowns.

• Plant early to main crop potatoes.

• Sow broad beans and peas.

• Dig in green crops and add a little iCan Blood & Bone to prepare soil for spring planting.

Flowers

• Plant polyanthus, pansies, primulas, cineraria, poppies, lobelia, kale, gazania, alyssum,ranunculus, nemesia, cyclamen, violas, livingstone daisies, statice, sweet peas, sweet william, geraniums, delphiniums, carnations, and aquilegia.

• Feed winter flowering annuals with Novatec Nitrophoska.

• Lift and divide summer and autumn flowering perennials (e.g. asters, phlox, canna lilies & dahlias).

• Plant gladioli, dahlias and daylilies.

• Begonia tubers due in.

Indoor plants

• Liquid feed any plants which are flowering, for example orchids, cyclamen

• Water sparingly.

General tips

• Plant roses, general shrubs, deciduous trees, rhododendrons, camellias, fruit trees, daphne and boronia.

• Tidy up climbing plants, fruit trees, roses, deciduous trees, hydrangeas, passion fruit vines & grapes (don’t prune hard).

• Spray roses and deciduous trees with copper oxychloride & conqueror oil before new growth emerges.

• In areas where there are frosts, cover frost tender plants at night.

• Treat lawns with Gypsum to improve soil condition ready for spring growth.

• Treat lawns for moss and weeds in preparation for re-sowing in spring.

• Plant strawberries.

• Spray peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots & cherries with Nature's Way Fungus Spray for leaf curl.