Despite copious amounts of sweat (although avoiding blood and tears), my veggie crops are diabolical this year.  I have had a good crop of the wonderful black peas from the Seed Detective, Adam Alexander but other than that my runner beans are yellow and leggy, the rabbits ate all my dwarf peas and beans, my spinach and rocket has bolted and my coriander went to seed almost the day after it came into leaf. Oh – my lettuce, sown in tubs and kept up off the ground, is keeping me in salads, so that’s a success and a little win over my furry, long-eared, bob-tailed visitors. 

But I will not be defeated. I am continuing to make sowings of beetroot, carrots, lettuce and radishes, straight into the warm ground, hoping the rabbits will be full and fat by now.  I will net everything just in case they’re not. Sown now some quick-growing veggies should provide pickings late into the autumn.  There is a tendency to run out of steam and enthusiasm for veg about now, especially as everything else in the garden demands attention, but keep sowing now and you’ll be reaping your rewards later on. 

For an easy, tasty and peppery winter salad leaf, sow land cress now. It is like watercress but without the need to grow in water – as the name suggests. Sow into pots or directly into the ground, depending on your rabbit population.  

And work in the flowerbeds now will reward you later too; as herbaceous plants like foxgloves, snapdragons, lupins and penstemons go over, cut back just those sections of the flower spike that have faded, taking care to leave any secondary laterals that may be growing. That way you may get a second flush of flowers at the end of the summer.

One of my favourite flowers is the autumn flowering Nerine.  It is a fabulous splash of colour as everything else is fading (including us gardeners), late in the autumn.  If you can find the time and inclination, I highly recommend planting the bulbs now for that late reward.  They also look great in tubs or pots, which you can move into view, with a ‘ta-da’ flourish once they start flowering.

 And for those of you who always ‘wonder-about-wisteria’, this month is the time to cut back long summer growths so that each keeps just six leaves, then give the plant a good dose of water and a feed with a potash-rich fertiliser for fabulous blooms next year.  It is said that a wisteria is a plant you only give to your enemy as it is quite demanding to keep well.  I have a few other rampant climbers around the cottage, like Old Man’s Beard that I feel the same about. It is the white feathery seed clusters that give it its common name and makes it quite pretty – when it’s in someone else’s garden.   

I’m hearing some horror stories about people strimming their lawns after No Mow May and Let It Bloom in June.  When left to grow, the long grass becomes home and a place of safety to lots of wildlife who are then under threat when the grass is cut.  Sadly I have heard about several slowworm victims and the Hedgehog Rescue Centres are warning that strimmers are now the biggest cause of injured ‘patients’ and that their injuries often lead to death.

So if you are strimming long grass – particularly under hedges - please take time to check the area thoroughly for unsuspecting wildlife so they can ‘stay alive in August’.