It's feeding time in the garden as citrus and winter vegies fight for space. Preparations for a bounteous summer should begin in earnest, writes Helen Young.

Timely tasks

In all but the coldest areas, planting now will give new vegetation time to become established well before summer. Rejuvenate potted plants: transplant into larger containers if pot-bound and feed with liquid fertiliser. In cold areas, prune roses this month. In warm climes, get stuck into gardenias, reducing height and reshaping if required. It's also time to prune hibiscus, fuchsias, geraniums and poinsettias. If your lemon tree is straggly or too tall, prune it hard.

Overgrown bottlebrush (Callistemon) and melaleucas can also be rejuvenated by pruning. Cut ornamental grasses almost to ground level to remove tatty foliage; feed with pelletised poultry manure and they'll produce fresh growth in no time. Feed deciduous magnolias and camellias as they finish flowering, and give citrus some complete fertiliser. Use special fertilisers for native plants that need a low-phosphorus formulation.

The productive garden

Sow carrots every few weeks. In pots or shallow soil choose small varieties or baby carrots. Start tomato seeds on a warm windowsill now to have tomatoes by Christmas. To prepare beds for summer veg, replenish the soil with compost, manure and blood and bone, then allow to settle for a few weeks. Sow radicchio, radish, spring onion, peas and English spinach. In warmer areas, plant potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke and passionfruit. Feed berry bushes, strawberries and fruit trees. Stake broad beans as they get taller. Seedlings and leafy vegetables easily dry out in August winds, so protect soil with plenty of lucerne or sugarcane mulch.

August in bloom

Wattles, jonquils, banksias and Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) are all coming into flower this month. Blossom trees such as flowering plum and ornamental peach put out delicate pink and white petals, and fragrant daphne has the sweetest perfume of all. Native Geraldton wax lasts for weeks in a vase, while native clematis (C. aristata) bears delicate, fragrant white flowers.