As we move into August, it is a good time to walk the garden and assess the state of the grounds. With the unusual weather pattern to date especially rains in early summer and late development of many of our summer trees and shrubs, now is a good time to prepare and repair as required.

Rain and heat produce rapid growth which creates ideal conditions for storm damage especially on large canopy trees; shrubby material with dense foliage also is prone to damage.

Pruning or thinning out the density of growth will reduce the damage as well as any pest and disease by enabling the plant to filter the wind vis a vis having the foliage act as a 'wall'.

Prune shrubs to an outward pointing bud and reduce the height to encourage growth below the cut area thus developing a good branch structure for future pruning.

Large trees should have work carried out by a tree surgeon that has specialised knowledge with regard to checking for problems higher up in the tree that may not be obvious from the ground, as well as pruning techniques to ensure a stable branch system.

The cut and blunder approach ruins the potential future growth of a tree as well as on many occasions disfiguring the head or canopy; once the shape of a tree is lost it takes many years of remedial work to restore it to a stable condition.

In reality pruning the canopy of a tree should result in adopting the same outline but in a reduced manner.

With the soft new growth, many insects are 'eating out' regularly with caterpillars, aphids, scale and mealy bug having a field day; many fungal problems are also becoming prevalent owing to the damp weather in combination with a mass of foliage creating an incubator type atmosphere for such problems to thrive.

Many chemical sprays have warnings on their labels actually they should be read it is very informative regarding sensitivity levels on specific plants, or warnings regarding application times, e.g. never use sprays when plants are under stress or the temperature is a seventy five degrees or more, as damage to foliage or even death in severe cases could be the result.

Another problem which raises its head every now and again is the problem of 'wayward' fertiliser falling on hard surfaces and causing staining, even in the case of swimming pools.

If all else fails, read the instructions!

How often do we create unnecessary work for ourselves or from a landscaping point of view, two tools not on my want list are the ubiquitous blower and the potentially dangerous strimmers.

Whilst having a meeting with a client, I observed that the gardener who had started 'blowing' at one end of the drive had worked his way along the drive 'supposedly' still blowing 'everything' from the end he started, and where he finished only he knows.

The problem was the length of time he took to get from one end to the other and the amount of 'blowings' that he arrived with were diminutive to the amount of labour output, and the fact he never picked anything up at the end of the exercise.

Strimmers can and do cause problems to the de-barking or ringing of plants in general especially when they are young with softer bark tissue, time is fine but it oft creates poor workmanship when the end product is not the desired effect.

One of the problems tends to be when individual plants are grown in lawns and the grass is allowed to grow up to the bark, thus creating the problem. Hand shears give a far better finish without the problem.

This brings up another point of time saving, planting single plants in the lawn is labour intensive, consider creating island beds which when designed and planted correctly make bold statements, with reduced labour needs.

Lawns consisting of more than one grass type should be considered a major concern in any garden, for a single species of grass will grow more uniform as it matures and even when verticut or hollow tined will regenerate itself in a uniform manner.

Mixed grass lawns are a nightmare to maintain to a high standard, they never in my opinion look good simply because of the different needs of the grasses, be it height of cut or weed control.

Invariably, the lawn has the appearance of a quilt, which at certain times of the year looks threadbare simply because of the mix and maintenance.

Tools and equipment are being used flat out at this time of year, especially mowers and chain saws; in fact anything with an engine needs a time out for general maintenance with the end result being a reliable piece of equipment that does not wear out before its time.

Tools are also worked on a daily basis oft for weeks on end, a sharp tool is a useful tool, whereas a blunt instrument can cause more damage than its worth; sharpening tools and oiling blades at regular intervals will make life easier for the worker and certainly do less damage to the plant.

Prevention comes in many guises, with the irony that damage by windstorm can be reduced by the use of well maintained tools be it before or after the event; remember the adage 'prevention is better than the cure' and that 'procrastination is the thief of time'.