Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2008 | Page 80
life
GARDENING
Sally studied horticulture at Duchy College, Cornwall
(Bsc (Hons) Horticulture) before breaking into
gardening journalism.
Long live
the summer
Sally Charrett
If you have a question for Sally need some advice or even a
suggestion for an article then please email:
[email protected]
At this time of year it
can feel like the curtain
is coming down on the
showstopping display
your garden has put
on all summer. But
don’t despair, there’s
still plenty of time for
an encore, says garden
writer Sally Charrett,
who is also getting hot
and passionate in the veg
garden.
As the sultry August sun slowly
bakes summer-flowering plants to
a crisp, late summer saviours can
add fresh splashes of colour to the
fading garden canvas.
Top performers include:
perennial asters with their dense
clusters of daisy-like blooms,
which can carry on flowering
until mid-December, the big bold,
flower power blooms of Echinacea,
and penstemons, which offer a
quick-fix to gappy September
borders. Wait until the spring to
prune penstemons, as hardiness
80
is a problem with most cultivars,
and pest control too. Whilst
and add grit to your soil when
enjoying a cup of tea, cast your
planting, as they don’t like the
eye around the borders and note
winter wet. It’s worth increasing
down where the gaps are. This is
your stock of this invaluable plant
easier to do now than later when
by taking semi-ripe cuttings at
plants have died back. Dividing
this time too (see top jobs for the
summer-flowering perennials
month). Sedums are another late
in your garden is a great way to
doer – their attractive flat heads
increase your stock that is also
of starry pink to red flowers are
kind on the pocket.
nectar heaven to the bees. Try
Tease apart small, fibrous-rooted
planting Sedum ‘Herbstfreude’
plants such as Heuchera, and
with Penstemon ‘Sour Grapes’
use two forks to split more
and a grass such as the fluffy,
meaty-rooted plants such as hardy
bleach-blond Stipa
tenuissima.
There are
a couple of
gardening tricks of
the trade that will
keep your flower
garden going for
longer. Removing
dead flowerheads
(cut back to a leaf
joint) prevents the
plant going to seed
and it will produce
a new flush of
flowers.
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)
Keep up with the
is a magnet to bees and butterflies
watering, feeding,
www.wightfrog.com/islandlife