Thank you everybody who supported our open garden day and for the donations received from U3A members and friends who couldn’t attend the event. The final amount collected was £536.30 which has been sent to the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity .

Deadheading! Don’t forget to cut back perennials and deadhead all dead flowers – this will encourage more flowers and prevent the plant making seeds. You can also prune lavender and rosemary after it has flowered. Cut to the dead wood to ensure plenty of flowers next year. The garden will start to look a bit tired now but following these tips will keep it alive that bit longer. You can continue to cut the lawn and  rake and spike it  to  keep the  grass healthy. You can stop feeding now until late  September.

This is time to feed your potted plants and shrubs to keep them looking good until the end of summer. Yellow leaves on the plants could be due to roots compacted or a deficiency.  Move to sunny place and feed with liquid seaweed – something I discovered at the garden centre. I thought I would try it and I am now a regular user on all shrubs –  it is also excellent for ferns.

I have decided not to open my garden in future and have decided to buy a greenhouse and put aside an area for growing vegetables so hopefully I will be giving some tips on the veg garden as and when I have completed the task.

Finally a BIG THANK YOU to  Ann Raw, Barbara Short, and Margaret Walton for the wonderful homemade cakes they made for the open day and thank you to Harry Walton for collecting the money at the door.

Norman.