Holidays allow extra time for our homes and gardens

Enjoy home & garden holiday tips below from The Bromsgrove Standard.

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With the school summer holidays now it is important to make the most of the extra time off - whether that is by maintaining or improving our gardens or by sorting out our homes or enjoying some quality time with love ones.

If you want to make some home improvements, there are plenty of DIY stores and other places across the country where you can get all the materials, and the tools, you need to have your homes looking the way you want them too.

Alternatively, if you want to grace your place with some new furniture, fixtures and fittings, there is a multitude of retailers which will offer you their expert advice and opinion to help you find those items that are right for your and your home.

In the garden, late July and August brings plenty of flair and unexpected freshness and, with it, a real harvest season.

Home-grown veg and other produce should be ripening nicely and coming to 'fruition', meaning you can enjoy some of your creations in the summer sunshine, maybe to accompany a barbecue or a bit of back garden al fresco dining.

The real heat we have seen in recent days has left our gardens starved of water but a move to more changeable weather may help deliver some much-needed rain.

No matter the weather it is important to stay on top of it all ensuring weeds are cut down and the grass is kept nicely mowed.

But, while that is important, in truth, this month is ideal for relaxing in the garden, and having friends and family round to really appreciate your efforts. And it can be a relaxing time for yourself to enjoy the garden whilst watering, feeding and deadheading.

The golden month of August brings out contrasts in amazingly colourful borders, which seem to reach a heated climax as fiery Montbretias and Crocosmias jostle with vibrant Rudbeckias and Echinaceas.

This warm, ripening time brings rewards for the kitchen too, as tomatoes and courgettes provide a feast for barbecue side-salad bowls and relishes. Runner beans should now be ready for the Sunday roasts and sweet peas add decor to the dining table.

One of the real pleasurable jobs of this moth is absorbing the moods and nuances of the garden and assessing the displays in general.

Vegetables are certainly becoming abundant - no more so than tomatoes and runner beans. The latter are best picked when really young and tender, just a few centimetres long, and are really tasty if you can rush them straight to the kitchen.

Now is the time to plant an autumn border if you never had the chance to before. With plenty of preparation, digging and compost the plants can go in straight away to really sing in a month or two's time.

The usual watering will be needed, but otherwise stand back and watch the show unveil. Try Fuschia Genii, Sedum Pink Ice, Aster Monch, Schizostylis Sunrise, Nerine Sarniensis and Japanese Anemones for a long-lasting display.

Dead flower heads, which do look attractive in winter, should not be removed until May as these protect the young shoots from spring frosts. When planting out young plants - less than two-years-old the heads could even be left on until June to be on the safe side.