The Greenhouse Plus Fruit and Vegetables at the End of August
In the greenhouse, geraniums lifted from the garden should have their top growth cut back to half their length and the roots trimmed. They should then be boxed, their roots covered with 2 ins. of loam, or they can be potted up, and they should be kept on the dry side through the winter.
In the vegetable garden brassicas should be sprayed against caterpillar and fly. Cut down the asparagus to ground level when the foliage discolours, and clear the beds of weeds and debris. It’s now time to draw the soil up to the brussels sprouts, and the thick-necked onions are poor keepers and should be sent to the kitchen.
Cabbage stumps should be cut up in sections and put on the compost heap, or dried and burnt.
Brussels sprouts, that have not cropped well or showed buttons, may be stimulated by a vegetable fertiliser. It is now time to sow parsley for the spring.
Late August is a good time to look at your fruiting areas. Hard or ripe wood cuttings of bush fruit, 8-9 ins. long, should be taken now and early next month. Prune out old wood on peaches and nectarines.
After fruit picking, old canes and growth of blackberries and loganberries should be cut down to ground level and the young growth tied in.
Examine fruit already in store, remembering that pears deteriorate fast.
I am always surprised that more gardeners in the south don’t grow the delicious fig. If you live in a warm district and have a sheltered position going begging, I can recommend the slightly tender Brown Turkey, a good cropper, if the roots are kept within bounds, with large yellow-green fruit of considerable sweetness.
Meanwhile, the townsman will find the fig a handsome foliage plant capable of hiding and decorating a grim black wall, while requiring a minimum of root room.
Sow your lawn immediately or wait until the spring.
Lift the blades of the mower, because grass should be left half an inch long.
Finally here is a recipe to feed a hungry looking lawn, take 3 ounces of complete fish manure, plus 8-16 ounces compost or peat to the square yard.
