Jobs to do in August

Water well during dry spells, using rainwater or recycled grey water where possible. Irregular watering can lead to problems with blossom end rot in tomatoes and splitting of root vegetables

Sowing and planting

Fruit

• Plant out rooted strawberry runners.

Vegetables

• In the south of England you can still sow fast-maturing salad crops such as summer lettuce, radish, rocket, sorrel, chicory and fennel.
• Continue to sow spring cabbage, turnips, mizuna and mibuna, Chinese cabbage, pak choi and overwintering onions in the south of England.
• If rain is forecast, sow green manures such as crimson clover and Italian ryegrass to act as a soil improver and to cover bare areas. When dug in, they conserve nutrients and improve soil texture.

Pruning and training

Fruit

• Summer prune sideshoots on trained apples and pears (such as espaliers and cordons) to three to four leaves to form fruiting spurs.
• If they’ve put on strong new growth, prune nectarines, apricots and peaches after they have fruited.
• Prune plums, gages and damsons straight after harvest, along with cherries if not done already.
• Loosely tie to one side new blackberries and hybrid berry canes – these will be the canes that fruit next year, and will be tied in once this year’s fruiting canes are cut out.
• ​Prune out fruited summer raspberry canes and tie in new ones for next year’s crop.

Prevention

• Look out for tomato blight and potato blight and pick off infected leaves as soon as you see them, adding them to council green waste or burying them deeply.
• Irregular watering can lead to problems with blossom end rot in tomatoes, splitting of root vegetables and failure of flowers to develop in runner beans. Help prevent this by watering well with stored rainwater or greywater during dry spells. Look out for other ripening problems too.
• Remove any sweetcorn cobs affected by smut disease, and add to your council green waste collection.
• Carrot fly is still about, so keep crops covered with re-used fine mesh.
• Check stored onions for softness and the grey or black mould of neck rot. Discard affected onions and add to council compost collection to prevent spread to others.
• Ensure good ventilation to reduce powdery mildew on indoor grapes and melons.
• Pick off fruits affected by brown rot (pictured below) on apple, pear and plum trees, and add to council green waste collection.
• Protect heavily laden fruit tree and bush branches against snapping under the weight. Use a stake or prop to keep them upright.

General care

Fruit

• Water cranberries, lingonberries and blueberries regularly with rainwater. Tap water will do if water butts run dry.
• Remove straw and old leaves and tidy up strawberries after fruiting.
• Pollinate female indoor melon flowers, then pinch out the stem 2cm beyond the flower.
• Pinch out the growing point of outdoor melons twice, four weeks apart.
• Water outdoor melons regularly once established with stored rainwater or greywater and feed with liquid seaweed.
• Pull off suckers appearing around the base of fruit trees.
• Make sure fruit isn’t drought-stressed, especially those in containers, against a wall or newly planted. A few yellowing older leaves or browning around the edge of leaves indicates it’s time to water deeply with stored rainwater or greywater.
• Give organic liquid feeds, such as seaweed feed, to plants growing in containers.
• Check and loosen tree ties as tree trunks grow.

Vegetables

• Weeds can compete with vegetables for water, so remove regularly from around crops by hoeing. Some ‘weeds’ are valuable native plants that can be left around the edges to improve biodiversity.
• Marrows should be raised off the ground slightly, to prevent them discolouring from contact with the soil.
• Continue earthing up celery for varieties that need blanching, putting a layer of paper between the stems and the soil.
• Take care when thinning out any late-sown carrot seedlings to prevent the scent released attracting carrot fly females.