Things to do in the garden:
Top up ponds regularly with fresh water, as well as bird baths and other water features.
Clip evergreen hedges neatly. Keep the area under them clean as it can be a hiding and breeding place for pests.
Take softwood cuttings of perennials from new summer growth. Look for strong pliable stems (about 10 cm long) and cut below a leaf joint. Trim off all but the top pair of leaves, dip in rooting hormone and insert into well-draining potting soil. Water lightly and place a clear plastic bag over the pot – the bag will keep the soil moist. The bag should not touch the cuttings.
Keep borders tidy by cutting back perennials that have stopped flowering. Tie plants with tall flower spikes to stakes. Pinch out the growing tips of newly planted annuals and perennials to encourage bushy growth.
Shade-loving annuals to plant now are impatiens, torenias, coleus and begonias.
Hydrangeas will be at their best now. Water them frequently and pick the mature flowers (all the small blooms in the centre of the flower head must be open) for the vase. Remove the bark from the bottom of the stems and immerse them up to their necks overnight in a bucket of cold water before arranging them.
Water container plants daily. If it has been a windy day in a coastal garden, wash the leaves of foliage plants to remove salt deposits.
Fill gaps in beds with long-lasting summer colour – use gauras, daylilies, Shasta daisies, cannas and alstroemerias.
For the festive season, invest in flowering house plants that will stay in flower well beyond your New Year festivities. Flowering hydrangeas, poinsettias, sweet-smelling gardenias and moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) are ideal.
Prune rambling roses, then feed, water well and add a layer of mulch.
If waterlily buds are attacked by aphids, do not spray – simply immerse them in the water for a few days to drown these pests, holding them down with a piece of heavy mesh.
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