cutting back – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

Pat’s 10 jobs for September 2025

1. Well at last the rain has arrived and is ready to drown all our plants! You may need to empty those saucers you put under pots for some of your more tender plants before they drown or rot…

2. This month and next is a good time to cut down and split many perennials ready for our sale at the Horn Fair on 19 October which soon comes round. I split sedum and Hesperantha the other day. I needed two forks back to back but made about fifteen plants! Check which plants are suitable for splitting in Autumn as some are better done in Spring.

3. Increase your supply of Pelargoniums by taking cuttings now below a leaf node. It also provides insurance for next year. We always love unusual varieties for the sales table if you can spare them.

This Aeonium will not like sitting in a saucer of water! — Don’t let your pots drown! Geranium clump ripe for division, and Pelargonium cuttings

A clump of Geranium macrorrhizum ready for division — Don’t let your pots drown! Geranium clump ripe for division, and Pelargonium cuttings

Pat’s 10 jobs for August 2025

1. Time to trim back lavender hard if it has finished flowering, but try not to cut into the old wood. If you’re lucky you may get a few late flowers.

2. And time to give that Wisteria and Campsis a hack back by removing all the whippy growth and tidying up for the autumn.

This lavender will need a cut back soon. — Promote flowers by cutting back and watering in good time.

Camellia flowering in Spring. — Promote flowers by cutting back and watering in good time.

3. Azaleas. Camellias and Rhododendrons are making their flowers for next year and need regular water at their roots or they’ll drop their buds and have no spring blooms.