Don’t leave this job too late.
Additionally, the Royal Horticultural Society RHS advises that rambling roses should be routinely pruned in late summer, after their show of flowers and hips.
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Final tomato feedings before harvest
“Tomatoes start to ripen from mid-summer onwards, although timing depends on the variety, weather conditions and fruit size,” the RHS advises.
“Smaller cherry tomatoes ripen more quickly than larger fruits, and greenhouse plants usually start cropping earlier than those outdoors, and continue for longer, well into autumn.”
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The society’s advice is to check plants every few days and pick tomatoes individually, “with the stalk still attached” as soon as they’re ripe.
If they’re in containers, feed every 10-14 days with an organic high potassium liquid fertiliser “once the first fruits start to swell”. If they’re in the ground, they might not need regular feeding – although a fortnightly feed probably wouldn’t hurt.
Vegetables to plant in August
Spring onions
What is a warming ramen dinner without some finely-sliced spring onion sprinkled on it? Protect crops with a cloche from late September when temperatures begin to cool. Lettuces can also be overwintered in greenhouses and beneath cloches, for picking leaves from April through to June.”
Spinach
BBC Gardener’s World Magazine says if sown in late August, spinach “can provide a crop of young leaves in October and then enter dormancy in winter, ready to provide a fresh crop of leaves in early spring”.
It advises to sow into well-prepared, fertile soil: “Water during hot weather to prevent bolting, and then cover with a low cloche when temperatures start to fall.”
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Turnip
Turnip is a hardly, delicious delight and actually doesn’t go dormant over the winter. It can be harvested right before your Christmas dinner!
The RHS advises: “In prepared ground make a shallow drill, 1cm ½in deep, and water along the base if dry. Instead, leave it to recover in autumn
When mowing, don’t go for a close, stubbly crop – leave a few inches on, which will keep it looking greener
Avoid watering plants that are past their best, focus instead on what is or has yet to flower,
