August & September 2024

Worplesdon Garden Club is a friendly and enthusiastic club which meets every second Tuesday of the month from 8-10pm in the Old Church, Emmanuel Parish Centre, Stoughton, Guildford, GU2 9SJ with doors open from 7.45pm.

About Worplesdon Garden Club

Membership is only £15 for the year from January (£8 from July) and includes a full schedule of speakers throughout the year, plus a range of social events including Garden Visits, Lunches, Barbecues, and Horticultural Shows. Please see the club website, www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk, for more details. Visitors (£3) and new members are always welcome.

Club News:

Tuesday 13th August
Club Meeting in August
Worplesdon Garden Club Summer Show – Fairlands Community Centre, 8.00pm.
Note change of venue for this meeting.

Tuesday 10th September
Club Meeting in September
Steve Edney – ‘Salvias’. Emmanuel Parish Centre.

For more information on Worplesdon Garden Club contact Tim Bonnert on 01483 237702, info@worplesdongardenclub.co.uk, or visit www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk where you can read our latest Club Newsletter – www.worplesdongardenclub.co.uk/newsletters

…a full schedule of speakers throughout the year, plus a range of social events including garden visits, lunches, barbecues and horticultural shows.

Gardening hints and tips for August and September

• Watering of plants will be critical with plants in tubs and baskets requiring water very regularly.
• For any plants in the ground, a good soaking every few days or even once a week will encourage roots to go deeper to find water, reduce the amount of water used, and ultimately reduce the time spent watering.
• Azaleas and rhododendrons need water now to ensure bud formation for next Spring.
• Summer prune Wisteria by cutting back the long stems of this year’s growth to about five or six leaves to prevent continued leaf formation and encourage flowering buds to form in the leaf axils.
• Prune any stone fruits (plum, cherry, peach, etc.) as well as formative pruning of apples and pears trained as an espalier, cordon or fan.
• Trim hedges on a dry, but not too sunny day. New growth in the autumn will be minimal so the hedge will keep its shape well for the rest of the year.
• Trim Lavender after flowering by removing most, or all of this year’s growth but do not cut back hard into older wood as this may not regrow.
• Lift and divide bearded irises now ensuring that the fleshy rhizome remains on the soil surface when replanted so that it can bake in the sun – essential for good flowers
  next year.
• Prolong the flowering season by regular deadheading.

Fill in any gaps in the garden with spring bedding such as pansies, forget-me-nots and bellis.

• In the vegetable garden, finish harvesting garlic and lift onions and shallots and dry well before storage.
• Pick peas and beans regularly as old pods will reduce flowering and stop the crop.
• Continue to feed tomatoes and cucumbers with a high potash (K) feed to encourage higher trusses to swell and ripen.
• Take cuttings of most half-hardy or tender perennials such as fuchsias, salvias and pelargoniums, as well as semi-ripe cuttings of woody shrubs such as rosemary and lavender.
• As early flowering annuals begin to fade, choose a warm, dry day to collect seed and store in paper envelopes or pouches made from folded kitchen paper.
• Fill in any gaps in the garden with spring bedding such as pansies, forget-me-nots and bellis.
• September is the perfect time to divide congested clumps of many perennials after they have finished flowering. Dig up, divide, replant, and water-in well. The warmth of the soil will mean they will re-establish quickly. If the clump is very large it is usually best to only take new plants from the edge and discard the older, woody centre.