August Blues In Clapham

Clapham is deliciously quiet in August.

As the tourists elbow each other in Trafalgar square and the moneyed Claphamites sun themselves in the South of France and beyond, the water hose regularly hisses in my end of Clapham. With the melancholy that surrounds the garden in late August I try to keep what plants are still flowering moist enough to continue until the cooler months of autumn.

In my cottage garden the nasturtiums still offer their sunset hues, and the self seeded borage seduces the bees. The runner bean flowers are still shining orange and the verbena bonariensis is as slinky as ever to a backdrop of exotic plantings of bananas, tetrapanax and Fatsia. But I do crave spring with all its fresh hope (without the backbreaking work mind!)

Blackberries are another tasty treat but slightly unpredictable in flavour. Not quite as bad as those sweets eaten by Harry Potter that could be peach or bogey or strawberry Sunday or vomit, they do have a flavour that can be very sweet, slightly sour or even a little bit dirty tasting. Nevertheless there is a bumper crop at my allotment this year so at least I have some produce to enjoy (my allotment is mostly covered in carpet at the moment!) What is especially charming about my introduction to the allotment world is that I now have a place in the country (except it’s in Brixton). But it has an old windmill, swaying holly hocks, lacy cosmos and even a dusky scabious.

I have also been feeding my tomatoes as they are in pots with a high potash fertilizer, digging up weeds  -  especially the hateful Euphorbia relative that loves recently dug soil - and cutting back the vines and wisteria to a manageable length (back to 6 buds is supposed to be the correct method in summer but I can’t say I can be bothered with that baloney). Christopher Lloyd adopted a similar attitude in his garden by doing a job in the garden when he wanted to (so I am in good company!)

Sam MacDonald is a plantsmen and horticulturalist living in Clapham who undertakes garden design and garden maintainence work.

Visit the website