With temperatures heading for ouch-levels gardeners may be tempted to take it easy but if you want your garden to continue to both flourish and produce then, sorry, it’s work as usual.

For starters though, let’s get on with the relatively easy job of sowing some late summer annual flowers and transplanting those that, if you are organised, are ready and waiting to be transferred to their final growing positions. Both are tasks which, if performed carefully, are not at all difficult and provide a degree, when completed, of personal satisfaction which is hard to beat.

Easy-to-sow flower seeds to put in this month include the following: spectacular, stop-you-in-your-tracks, sunflowers for the back of the border or , with supports, to beam brightly throughout the blistering heat of the next few weeks as long as, that is, you are able to give them a reasonable drink of water each evening when they will be very grateful indeed. You can quench their thirst with water recycled from the shower, from hand washing or, as long as it is first strained to remove bits, washing up water providing that you are not in the habit of going overboard in the chemical detergent department.

Then there are those medium to tall cosmos in white, pink, carmine, yellow and orange and brilliant orange, medium-tall tithonia too, which are equally at home in full sun as are those wonderfully versatile marigolds and tagetes. Also, we must not forget these colourful characters, zinnias in every shade and form with, preferably, emphasis on a ‘dazzle-factor’ which will have you reaching for your sunglasses whenever you so much as glance their way.

Many of you new gardeners seem to be puzzled about two essential jobs: 1. How to sow seeds. 2. How and when to transplant seedlings, so we will take a quick look at these issues before getting on with this month’s other tasks.

Sowing seeds: Some seeds, sunflowers and cosmos for example, plus, those of root vegetables, are best sown directly were they are to grow. Soil should be prepared by, if necessary, a little light digging to break it up, during which you should remove weeds and stones. Top it off with good quality organic compost or, if you don’t have this, then with a reasonable amount of old, well rotted, organic manure worked in to provide food for the months to come. Water very dry ground the night before sowing seeds and lightly water all ground/pots after seeds have been planted.

Large seeds should be individually sown and spaced out at the distances and depths recommended for that particular species — this varies widely and instructions should be on the seed packet, if not, then ask an experienced gardener or look it up. The smaller the seed, the closer to the soil surface it needs to be as it does not have enough built-in strength to struggle through deep soil. Something like petunia seed should be surface sown with just a little fine compost/soil sprinkled/sieved over it to cover.

Planting distances are important: planting seeds too close means that they have too much competition to develop as strongly as they should — this is equally applicable whether seeds are sown directly in the garden or started off in seed trays/pots. After sowing, keep the area/trays/pots damp but not wet otherwise the seeds may rot. The same applies to emerging seedlings.

Transplanting: Most seedlings are ready to transplant when they have developed four to six ‘true’ leaves. This does not include the initial seed leaves which are the first to develop when the seed germinates. Seedlings are delicate and must be handled with care. Transplanting should be done in the cooler hours of the evening so that the seedling has less stress to deal with. Water the soil before and after transplanting but be careful not to overdo it.

Carefully ease seedlings out of the soil/compost to transplant, keep as much of the soil/compost attached to their delicate roots as is possible. Plant the seedling at exactly the same depth as it was in the seed tray/pot — no deeper or its stem will rot. Carefully pat the soil down around the new transplant — do not stamp it down hard as this could damage the roots. If seedlings have grown together in a clump, carefully ease them apart — do not pull as this will damage them. Remember that they are living plants in the early stages of life and that they need all the love and gentle handling you can offer.

Right, having dealt with this, in brief, let’s get back to the subject of what else you can sow right now. Amaranthus of all kinds — opt for edible species if possible — are ideal for partial shade although, if they have adequate water, they will tolerate full sun. Nicotiana, with its gorgeous fragrance, is best in partial shade and dwarf species are ideal in pots on the balcony. Then there is gompherena, matricaria and those amazing single-flowered, ‘old-fashioned’ petunias which just go on and on and on and will self seed all over the place quite unlike the ‘modern’ hybrids which can be stubborn and temperamental.

A quick look in the vegetable department now: sSow even more tomatoes, capsicums, chillies, ladies finger, summer cabbages and cauliflower, French beans and yes, they will grow now as long as they have shade during the hottest part of the day and, also in shade, lettuce, spinach, leaf beet and arugula.

Whoops! Have run out of space before I can tell you about all of those extremely — sweatily so — jobs I have lined up for you to do so you are, you will be relieved to know, going to get a reprieve but not for long…this I promise!

Please send your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer will not respond directly by e-mail. Emails with attachments will not be opened.