Garden jobs month by month
Garden jobs in August
In August you trim the hedge a second time, prune plums and cherries after picking, and at the end of the month plant evergreen hedges such as yew and holly. The nesting season ends in mid-August, but still check the hedge for late nests.
Updated for 2027
What to do in the garden in August
August is a good month for the second hedge trim and for the summer pruning of stone fruit. The nesting season is drawing to a close.
- Trim the hedge a second time so it goes into winter looking neat.
- Prune plums and cherries after harvest.
- Shorten the long summer shoots of wisteria and kiwi.
- Harvest early varieties of apples and pears.
- In late August, plant evergreen hedges such as yew and holly.
What to prune in August?
100 trees and hedges from the guide. When and how for each plant in its pruning guide:
Nesting season (mid-March to mid-August): don’t prune hedges and shrubs hard, and check for nests first.
Pruning calendar for AugustWhat to sow and plant
- Sow outdoors
- chervil, Chinese cabbage, columbine, coriander, lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, Loose-leaf lettuce, oxeye daisy and 5 more
- Planting out and planting
- Chinese cabbage, endive, florence fennel, lettuce and strawberry
- Harvest from the vegetable garden
- aubergine, basil, beetroot, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chives and 36 more
What to harvest
From trees, shrubs and garden plants:
- Apple fruit
- Pear fruit
- Plum fruit
- Sour cherry fruit
- Raspberry fruit
- Bramble fruit
- Blackcurrant leaves
- Highbush blueberry berries
- Fig fruit
- Peach fruit
- Apricot fruit
- Walnut leaves
and 110 more
Recipes
- Apple purée Apple
- Stewed pears in red wine Pear
- Plum jam Plum
- Sour cherries in syrup Sour cherry
- Raspberry jam Raspberry
- Blackberry jelly Bramble
What’s flowering for bees?
Trees and shrubs with nectar or pollen for bees and bumblebees:
- Butterfly bush
- Bramble
- Alder buckthorn
- Snowberry
- Japanese rose
- Syrian hibiscus
- Common honeysuckle
- Traveller’s joy
- Russian vine
- English lavender
- Heather
- Cross-leaved heath
Nature in August
- The nesting season ends in mid-August; by then most young birds have fledged.
- Swifts already leave for Africa in early August.
- Young hedgehogs set off to find a place of their own: keep the gap under the fence clear.
What you can see now
- Heather turns the heathland purple.
- Rowan berries and elderberries ripen.
- Rose of Sharon starts to flower.
Challenges of the season
All challenges- Discover 10 speciesSave 10 different trees or plants in your guide.
- Put out a water dishPut out a shallow dish of water with a stone in it, for birds, hedgehogs and insects. Refresh it every few days.
- Harvest 5 cropsMark the harvest of 5 different crops in your vegetable garden.
Wildlife garden in August
All wildlife garden guidesRead more
All articles- Pruning fruit trees: apple, pear, cherry and plumPrune apples and pears in winter, cherries and plums in summer. How to prune a young fruit tree and an old one, and how to avoid silver leaf and gummosis.
- When should you cut your hedge? The nesting season and the best timesMost hedges are trimmed twice a year, at the end of June and the end of August. How to take nesting birds into account, and when to trim each type of hedge.
Coming up
Garden jobs in October
Each monthly page is online six to eight weeks ahead, so you can plan in time.