What to sow outdoors in August
August’s the time for a few key sowings that will benefit your garden in the long term and produce rich harvests. This is the perfect time to sow autumn and winter vegetables like lamb’s lettuce and winter spinach. These winter-hardy varieties will produce fresh harvests through into late autumn and winter. It’s also worth sowing green manures like mustard and phacelia. They grow fast, improve the soil structure and suppress weeds.
Leaf vegetables like rocket salad and Asian varieties like pak choi and mizuna are great for August sowings, too: they grow quickly, tolerate cold conditions and provide spicy leaves for salads through into autumn.
And don’t forget overwintering plants like leeks and other winter-hardy vegetables that can be planted in August for harvesting in late autumn or early in the new year.
