In August, we finally began to feel some much-needed heat of a summer. The sprinklers went into overdrive some weeks and the gardeners desperately sought jobs in the shade! This long-awaited increase in temperature was ideal for some of the plants which thrived in the intense heat, whilst others in the garden really didn’t fare as well to this change.
This month, the aubergines and tomatoes in the glasshouse started coming through thick and fast, which was reflected on the menu with delicious dishes from the chefs. Tomato ‘Lithium Sunset has been a particular winner with Head Chef Jed. He has really loved the size and flavour of this stunning yellow beefsteak tomato which has gorgeous red stripes.
The extreme temperatures and lack of rain saw off the remaining sweet peas on our tunnel framework. I am currently looking at possible annual climbers to use next year to follow on from these highly scented flowers. But for this year, the new ‘stars’ of the ‘tunnel’ are our climbing squashes ‘Tromboncio’ and ‘Uchiki Kuri’. Both varieties have really done well growing in this vertical structure, with their fruit hanging down from the frame.
Over in the cutting flower garden, the late summer months are the time for our dahlias to shine. This year we have a few newcomers added to our collection in the flower beds. My personal favourites are ‘Copper Boy’ - a wonderful pompom dark-orange variety and ‘Nuit D’Ete’- a cactus dahlia with deep crimson, almost black flowers. Hopefully they will both remain.
The Melon House border, designed by Jo Thompson, has been looking absolutely stunning this month. Umbellifers Angelica sylvestris ‘Vicar’s Mead’, Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum' and Eupatorium maculatum Atropurpureum have provided wonderful shades of deep pink and purple in the border and proved to very popular with the essential pollinators in the garden.
Late summer is the time to start pruning our stone fruit trees - cherry, plum and damson. We make full use of the walls surrounding the garden by ‘espalier’ training these fruit trees into a fan shape. As well as providing appealing ornamental shapes to the garden, training fruit trees this way can also help improve the flavour of the fruit as it helps enhance the development of natural sugars and fruit colour as the fruit receives more light within the microclimate provided by the walls.
As August came to an end the change in seasons became apparent. We remove the spent annual plants, tidying up the perennials and begin the important job of mulching. We prefer to sow a green manure crop on any bare soil where possible. The benefits of keeping the soil covered helps prevent soil erosion and suppresses weeds, it insulates the soil and encourages bacterial soil activity. It also protects the soil surface over the winter from compaction from the rain, ensuring the best growing conditions for the new season. It is an important time to look at what you have achieved that year, but also a time to start thinking ahead and what you have planned for the next growing season. It never stops, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!