August Garden Checklist

August has arrived! No matter the weather you are experiencing — rain, wind, snow, or sunshine — there's all sorts of tinkering to be done in the garden. Plus, you won't even need to break a sweat; instead, tending to your garden will leave you feeling relaxed and at ease. Let your passion for plants be fueled by the flower power this month has to offer and follow these simple steps for a super start to spring! 

1. Prepare 
2. Plant
3. Protect
4. Lift
5. Enjoy
6. Feed

Prepare your beds and pots for summer bulbs

If you’re opting for container planting make sure you have the following items to get started.

• Pots with drainage holes (terracotta or ceramic)
• Potting soil (we recommend Pokon)
• Compost (to use as mulch and / or to incorporate into your soil) 
• A spade
• Optional: Bulb Planter
• Optional: Annual seedlings (to plant as a mulch and bring colour while your summer bulbs grow) 

For planting in the garden, we suggest the following essentials:

• A nice big spade (because who wants to dig with a teaspoon?)
• Compost (to use as mulch and to give your soil a dose of nutrition)
• Optional: Bulb planter (for those who prefer planting bulbs over playing Twister with their plants)
• Optional: Annual seedlings (to keep your garden looking lively while you patiently wait for your summer bulbs to go through their growth cycle)

Planting tip: Create plant name tags to keep track of your growing varieties—like introducing your leafy offspring to visitors without the awkward pause of "Uh, what's this one's name again?"

You can plant these summer flowering bulbs from mid-August 

• Canna
• Crinum
• Hemerocallis
• Water lilies 
• Zantedeschia hybrids 
• Zephyranthes 

These bulbs are either available for preorder on hadeco.co.za or shop them at your local garden centre or nursery from the third week of August. 

Protect your winter bulbs from frost 

If frost is nipping at your garden, fear not! There are several ways to shield your bulbs and other plants from winter's icy grip. Try any of the following to keep Jack Frost from snacking on your leaves and blooms.

• Mulch with compost 
• Cover your plants with large enough pieces of fabric but remove before warm spells (you can use stakes to balance the fabric if necessary) 
• Bring delicate potted plants inside
• Use a cover to create a greenhouse effect over your plants (you can get creative with cutting large or small jugs to place over your precious plants)
• Water in the mornings to dampen any frost that may have occurred overnight 

Lift these bulbs 

Perhaps you are redesigning your garden, moving homes, or simply need to move some plants around. If there is a need, you can lift the following bulbs this month. Otherwise, don’t disturb their peace. 

• Agapanthus 
• Dierama
• Zantedeschia aethiopica 

Enjoy the winter blooms of these bulbs

Winter bulbs are in bloom, bringing vibrant colour and cheer on cold days. If you grew these bulbs this season or bought them as plants from a local garden center or nursery, savour the beauty they bring. You can bring containers indoors or cut a few stems to brighten up a vase. On a blooming tasty note, it's waterblommetjiebredie season. 

Feed your winter and spring-flowering bulbs after flowering 

Make sure you give your bulbs a healthy dose of Hadeco Bulb Food or similar after flowering because after blooming, they start bulking up for the next season’s spectacle. This is a vital step to ensure an encore of flowers for years to come. 

Discard select bulbs

Keep in mind that the following bulbs may be discarded after flowering, as our spring and summer climate may suit us, but stunts select bulbs’ ability to create new blooms for the next year. So don’t shed a tear, just make space for other bulbs to bloom. 

• Anemone
• Dutch iris
• Hyacinth
• Ranunculus

Happy August gardening friends!