August in the Garden - Lilybud Gardens by Design: Brighton Garden Designer

A few weeks ago, a phone call out of the blue had me blushing, and it's not what you think. It was a local Fiveways resident asking if I'd judge a "Best front garden" competition in a forthcoming street party. I was both very chuffed and mildly terrified at the prospect (never having done such a thing before) but I decided to go for it. The fact that I spent 2 happy years living in Sandgate Road and had considered organising a street party there myself, tipped the balance. As there are so many great gardens in the road, it was really tough singling out the winners. I considered the overall design including choice of plants - for colour, foliage and seasonal interest - and use of hard materials, such as pebbles, slate and driftwood. Although there could only be one winner in each category, it was great to see so much time, effort and imagination had gone into these small spaces. It really goes to show that even if you hanker after a very low maintenance front garden, you needn't settle for a single hard surface. Just mixing a few materials, for example stone and gravel, and maybe one large container with carefully selected specimen plant will give you a garden you're happy to see every day.

Thanks to all involved and I hope you had a great day.

Hopefully, August will be full of hot sunny days, when lounging about and maybe mustering the energy to have friends round for a BBQ are the main priorities. If you must expend a bit more energy though, here are some things to be getting on with. Now that young birds have fledged, it's a good time to trim back hedges, evergreen and deciduous. Remember, if practical, it's best to use secateurs on the larger leaved shrubs such as Aucuba or spotted laurel. Shears or hedge trimmers will leave lots of half-leaves that will brown and look grotty.

A few minutes dead-heading and cutting back tatty looking plants is well worth the effort. Also, remember to feed container plants and keep an eye out for vine weevil. Blackfly seems rife right now, and if you're not squeamish these can be squashed. Alternatively spray with an insecticide containing pyrethrins or birenthrin - but remember to do this when there's no breeze and well into the evening when beneficial insects are inactive. Sadly, bumble bees in particular, are struggling this year and need our help.

Best wishes,

Lisa

For an initial consultation call Lisa on 01273 500407 or 07957 751218 or email her at info@lilybud.co.uk