Gardening experts have advised UK households to put one thing on their soil in August. There are a number of essential jobs that gardeners in the UK need to complete before the end of August, such as pruning roses and cutting back lavender. August is a great time to start preparing your garden for the winter months. Although the UK is currently getting baked in its fourth heatwave of the summer, you still need to consider how to prepare your garden to survive the winter.
According to the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society, there is one thing that should be added to soil in August for this exact reason. The experts shared their August gardening checklist for Brits, including which flowers to deadhead and other jobs that should be completed before the month is out. Among them is adding one type of manure to the soil in your garden to help your plants survive the brutal winter weather.
If you are not familiar with green manures, they are sown into the soil and grow over the top over the winter months. They are great for keeping weeds at bay and preventing nutrients from being washed away in winter rain.
While the cold and unpredictable weather of winter might seem far away, sowing these seeds in late summer allows them to establish a decent root system before the winter starts to set in.
These manures often have deep roots, which can also improve soil structure.
According to the RHS, other advantages of green manure include insulation of the soil, protection of the soil surface from compaction by rain, keeping slugs and snails away by attracting frogs, and adding to soil fertility.
To use green manure to protect your garden in winter, you should sow the seeds in rows, placed closely together. Rake them into the soil.
When it comes to planting other things in your soil next spring, simply chop back the green manure and let it wilt away.
This job is one of a number of tasks that the RHS recommends be completed in the month of August.
As well as sowing green manure seeds into soil, the organisation says that August is a great time to prune wisteria, regularly deadhead flowering plants, collect seeds from garden plants and harvest vegetables as they become ready.