August is a great time to be in the garden. Now there are lots of flowers, berries, fruits and vegetables ready to be harvested. In fact, there are so many fruits and vegetables that it can be hard to appreciate it all without getting a bit stressed. Every year, Nanna and I talk about how amazing it is to cultivate so much in our small vegetable garden. We are practically self-sufficient in vegetables from mid-June to late autumn with a vegetable garden no bigger than 20m².

It is so satisfying to mix a salad containing only herbs from our own garden. When we do this, we also talk about how easy it really is to be successful. Of course, you must sow seeds in spring and irrigate in dry periods during summer. But when you think about it, nature does all the hard work.

Should you wish to prolong the garden season with flowers and crops, August is the time for this. Fast growing crops to cultivate is for example lettuce, radishes, spinach, rocket salad, beans and peas. All these can easily be sown and harvested before the frost is setting in. But keep the garden hose nearby since these small plants are particularly vulnerable to drought due to their limited root system.

August is also the time for pruning the flowers. The pruning shear should always be within reach and should be brought with you when you inspect the garden. By removing withered flowers, you also stop the plant from forming seeds in which the plant is stimulated to produce more flowers. Especially the summer flowers and annual plants, they only have one season to germinate and propagate. It prolongs the season to prune so do not hold back making pretty flower bouquets. Although at the end of the season, let your summer flowers produce seeds, so you can sow the seeds next year again.

August is also when you can get an overview of the garden and see how this season has turned out. The month shows how well the garden have done in terms of growth and whether you should do any changes next year. Perhaps something was transplanted the wrong way, the perennials no longer bloom or something else. August is an excellent time to move or transplant things. But only if you have time to irrigate in case of dry periods. Since we live in a climate that is very dry, we transplant in autumn. In autumn the ground is still warm and there is more rain.

If you plan to make a new garden bed or make some changes to an existing one, it may be an advantage to do it in either August or September since the plants are now in full growth and still has flowers and leaves. It makes it all easier to visualise and design the bed, because you can actually see the plants, whereas the plants look more boring in late autumn making it much more difficult to visualise.

An important, yet still important job in the garden, is to enjoy it here in August! People like myself always have a lot of things to do, that we tend to forget to stop up and just enjoy the beautiful garden we have created. I can hardly go out in the garden without thinking of all the many things I need to do. But a few times a week I leave my garden gloves inside and take an evening stroll and just enjoy all the hard work. I often want to get rid of the yellow leaves, pull the weeds or something else, but the real purpose is to enjoy the garden exactly as it is. It may sound corny, but I think it is important that the garden does not only represent practical tasks.

Luckily, the summer is not over yet, so let’s enjoy this wonderful time.

Have a great August!