How to garden in August
The easy list of monthly garden jobs, and a poppy that no-one has ever seen before
Don’t panic, this is coming out a couple of days before actual August. I’m thinking it’s better to be prepared and anyway, dare I say it, it’s feeling a bit August-y outside with spiders spinning their webs across the paths, necessitating the morning Spider Dance as I navigate my way to the garden gate. The weather is certainly being true to St. Swithin’s Day form1, raining off and on ever since July 15th.
But who’s complaining? I’m not. The trees needed it, the plants needed it, and the birds needed it. The eggs in the nest outside my sitting room have hatched, and Mrs Blackbird is busy sticking her short beak into the mown lawn, still green where clover grows.
A new month means new what-to-dos and what-not-to-dos in the garden here in The Gardening Mind, and that also means another lovely new illustration by Helen C Stark- I adore this month’s illustrated journal pages: they absolutely fill me with cheer. I’m really hoping you’re enjoying them too.
This exquisite beauty above has reappeared. That means she’s worth keeping. You can find out more about her below, and in Easy plants which make an impact in September.
Seed packets - are they worth it?
Here’s a preview of one of the to-dos on the list - this beauty of a poppy. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that something really special is going to happen here (clue - there’s no grey blotch here). I’ll be explaining all in a minute.
If you’re catching up after holidays, you might be interested in this Garden Design Before and After, and if you feel you’re being assailed by adverts telling you to buy your tulips now, don’t worry - read this post first, which will keep you calm, give you important advice - it’ll also get you to these collections to browse:
A quick note to explain subscriptions if you’re new here. Members will be able to see the full article every week, including the monthly to-do list, solutions to your gardening challenges, garden design case studies, the small garden design course, planting ideas, 5-plant recipes, a constant gardeners’ question time on the Chat, and more. The main reason I’m saying all of this is that as a member, you’ll also have exclusive access to one of the very best bits of all the best bits: the weekly Show Us Your Plots which is our regular get-together on the Chat, where we share ideas and solve problems throughout the week.
Before I kick off, though, is your garden in need of an August boost? I’d love to hear if you planted any of these last year, and if so, what your thoughts are:
Right. Let’s get going. As ever, there’s a list of to-dos - these are real to-dos that I’ll actually be doing, rather than what other lists tell us to do. And also as ever, I’ll be going through my not-to-dos. Logical, sensible gardening and shortcuts wherever possible. I’m keeping it short as I know August can be full of stuff and I never, ever want to overwhelm you.
Last week’s talk of hollyhocks stirred up lots of romantic feelings - yes really: a plant CAN ACTUALLY do that. Here’s my choice of these wondrous plants for 2026: