THE GARDEN

Select strong short-jointed side shoots and cut just below a leaf joint so that the cutting is 8 -10 cm (3-4 inches) long. Remove the bottom leaves and any flower heads and push the prepared cuttings around the edge of a pot filled with a suitable compost. As geraniums prefer a freely draining medium you will find that a mixture of two thirds Levington Multi-Purpose Compost with one third sharp sand will suit the roots best. Water in the cuttings, place in a bright but not sunny position and cover the tops with newspaper for a few days until they pick up.

After a few weeks the new plants will have rooted and can be potted up individually in pots of fresh Levington Potting Compost.

Drying soils at this time of the year will tend to encourage the spread of powdery mildew on roses. When you see the first spots of white powder spray the plant with a specific fungicide such as FungusClear or one which also contains a greenfly killer such as Roseclear 3 or RoseClear Gun!.

Where bindweed is climbing through roses and shrubs take remedial action by cutting back stems down to ground level during the summer. The weed will regrow, so provide it with some stakes or twigs to clamber up, away from your wanted plants. In this way you will be able to spray the weed easily with Roundup or Tumbleweed Original Extra Strong during its most vulnerable time of life in late August or September. This is when the plant is transporting sugars down to the roots and will be most vulnerable to good control with one application.

If your soil habitually dries out in the summer it might be wise to switch to some of those plants more suited to the soil conditions. Shrubs to consider include berberis, the brooms, euonymus, hypericum, lavender, rosemary, sage, tamarisk and yucca. Perennial plants that enjoy hot, dry conditions include bergenia, dianthus, iris, oriental poppies, sedum, thyme and viola.

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ON THE PATIO

To encourage the plants to flower until the first frost, pick off all fading blooms before they set seed.

To ring the changes in your plant display, re-arrange your pots and containers depending on the most attractive plants now on show. Think about raising the height of fuchsias so that the flowers are more easily seen. You can use large pots turned upside down or even construct a stepped display stage against a wall. Keeping your containers all together will help to reduce the work of watering and make feeding the containers with the Miracle-Gro Feeder a much quicker job.

Patio living will include barbecues and outdoor eating. Keep any weeds under control with a spray of Pathclear Gun! This will kill the weeds that are popping through any paving and help to control germinating weed seeds for several weeks.

At this time of the year wasps and ants are a common problem on patios as they search for food and work to enlarge nests. If you can see an entrance to a wasp or ant nest, dust this with Ant Stop! Powder. The pests will distribute the powder among the colony to kill the whole nest. Indoors, especially in the kitchen, use Ant Stop! Ready-For-Use trigger sprayer that can be sprayed around doors, window frames and into cracks and crevises to give longer-term control of foraging ants. The insecticide is present in in the form of micro-encapsules that attach themselves to the insect's body and are taken back to the nest where the insecticide is released slowly over a period of time. One application of Ant Stop! Ready To Use will give up to 3 months protection. If you prefer to set a trap that gives control for a similar period, use Ant Stop! Bait Station. Round red boxes contain a sweet bait to attract the worker ants and a special ant killer that they take back to the nest to feed to other members of the colony with lethal results.

LAWNS

In most summers, lawns don't get to the stage when watering is vital. If August is average then all you will need to do is give it a light feed using a soluble lawn fertilizer. There are now several lawn treatments available in crystal or liquid form, so choose the one that suits the needs of your lawn.

If your lawn just needs a quick boost to get it green and lush then use a bottle of EverGreen Lawn Food Liquid or a box of Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Lawn Food. If you have a small area, simply dissolve and apply through a watering can. If the lawn is too big for that much carrying, buy a Miracle-Gro Feeder which will apply the Miracle-Gro Lawn Food automatically when fitted to the end of your garden hose. Fill the jar with the soluble plant food and remove the fine rose fitting. You will then be able to apply the ready dissolved lawn tonic as a good jet to do the job quickly and easily.

As with most lawn tonics, you will see a richer, greener lawn in only a few days.

If weeds are a problem then EverGreen Feed & Weed Liquid is the bottle for you. The 1 litre bottle treats 100 sq. metres of lawn and with three different weedkillers, ensures good kill of many broad-leaved weeds, including dandelions, white clover and daisies.

If your lawn has developed moss patches in the shaded, wet areas and weeds in the sunny spots, then a triple-action soluble lawn treatment is the one you need. Try EverGreen Complete Soluble to feed and green the grass, kill the weeds and control the moss in just a few days.

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FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

Cut courgettes and squashes every few days or you will be faced with big and tougher fruits if left for over a week. Continue to water and feed the plants weekly using a general purpose plant food such as Miracle-Gro.

Keep weeds under control throughout the vegetable and fruit garden either with Weedol or a hoe.

Lift garlic and shallots and dry off the bulbs thoroughly. The best way is to dry them in the sun on an elevated bed of chicken wire so that air circulates all around the bulbs. Handle the garlic bulbs carefully so that the foliage remains intact and you will then be able to plait a string. Store the garlic in your driest spot, away from steamy cookers and washing machines.

There is still time to sow a row or two of carrots for autumn. Select a quick maturing 'early' variety such as Early Nantes and be prepared to cover the rows with cloches when November frosts are prevalent. Sow spring cabbages now for a tasty crop of greens early next year. Sow in seed drills outside or in trays of Levington Multi-Purpose Compost if there is no room in the vegetable garden. Freshly germinated seeds will need to be protected from slugs and snails and a sprinkling of SlugClear Mini-Pellets will give good control in showery weather.

As the summer continues, so some fruit trees can become unwelcome hosts to increasing populations of aphids. In some seasons these greenfly can be a serious problem causing yellowing and curling of leaves, stunting of shoot growth and disfiguring of fruit with the excretion of honeydew. To get the aphids under control spray the foliage of apples and pears with a general purpose insecticide such as BugClear, spraying as much foliage as the tree height allows.

Strawberries will have stopped producing fruit and instead divert all their energy to growing runners and new plantlets. As strawberry plants often need replacing every three or four years as virus disease spreads use this natural propagation to your advantage. Replacing half your stock, taken from disease free plants, every three years is a good way to ensure full cropping and a tidy strawberry bed. Where new plants are developing on the ends of runners sink a pot containing Levington Multi-Purpose Compost. Pin down the plantlet with a wire grip and leave to root. After three or four weeks cut the runners and dig up the old plants you are replacing. Refresh the soil with Levington Soil Improver & Mulch and a dressing of Osmocote granules and position the new plants in tidy rows 30 cm (1ft) apart.

If you have a greenhouse where you can encourage an early picking of strawberries, you can pot up the old plants in Levington Multi-Purpose Compost. Leave outside until February and then take inside to encourage a very early crop of tasty fruit.

Canes of summer raspberries will have finished fruiting and should be cut out at ground level. Tie in the new canes along wire supports and dress the surface with well-rotted garden compost waste.

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IN THE GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY

Restart cyclamen corms into growth that have been resting since May.

It's almost impossible to ensure that during a holiday absence greenhouse crops will be adequately watered by capillary or automatic watering systems. Move pots and other portable plants to a shaded part of the garden, preferably a few days before you leave. Try tempting a friend or neighbour to water the remaining plants with the promise of all the crops that mature while you are away. Make the job as easy as possible by leaving watering cans and feed close to hand and leave all the ventilation open.

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