SEPTEMBER
SEPTEMBER is time to PLANT, HARVEST, MULCH and PRUNE.
CHECKLIST OF KEY TASKS FOR SEPTEMBER:
PATIOS & BORDERS
Now is the time to plant ‘cottage garden’ hardy annuals such as calendula, nigella, cornflower and larkspur.
All can be sown directly into well prepared soil where you want them to flower.
They are hardy enough to over-winter without frost protection and will give a good show next summer.
Check cuttings of fuchsias, pelargoniums and other tender perennials for roots.
If well rooted, pot them on into pots filled with good potting compost. If not, leave the potting until spring.
Cut back earlier flowering herbaceous perennials close to ground level unless they produce attractive seed heads.
Lift, divide and replant the youngest bits of herbaceous perennials that have finished flowering.
Most perennials benefit from dividing every 2-3 years. Improve soil and water in well to get them re-established.
Take cuttings of border pinks (dianthus) this month. They root easily, even in a glass of water, and it is a plant that benefits
from being regularly rejuvenated by replanting regularly
Replant pots and hanging baskets with autumn, winter and spring flowering and foliage plants.
Take cuttings of pelargoniums, fuchsias and other tender plants.
Dry off begonia corms. Cut back and pot up any tender perennials worth keeping in the greenhouse.
TREES & SHRUBS
September is the best time to plant hardy plants. The soil is moist and warm and plants soon get established now.
Check roses regularly for black spot and rust fungal diseases.
Remove and burn infected leaves and continue regular sprays of fungicide.
Make sure that any lavender plants not pruned earlier are done now. Cut off faded flowers with about 2-3 cm of leaf shoot.
BULBS
Plant shady borders and areas under large shrubs with small flowered crocus, scilla, anemone blanda, snowdrops and bluebells.
Pot up prepared hyacinths to get them in flower for Christmas. Get them potted this month unless you are happy to have them in flower in January.
Gladioli corms of the non-hardy type (the majority) should be lifted, dried off and stored in a frost free place. The small corms that form around the base are probably best discarded as they can take several years to reach flowering size.
THE GREENHOUSE
Remove the leading shoot when your greenhouse tomatoes have set five trusses of fruit.
This will encourage all the fruit to ripen before late autumn. Regular feeding will help and also makes the fruit taste better.
FRUIT GARDEN
Pick ripe apples and pears now. If they come off the tree easily without having to tug hard, then they are ready to harvest.
If you cut one or two in half look for brown pips to show that they are ready.
Varieties harvested now will not store well and should be eaten or cooked straight away.
Remove and destroy any mummified fruits affected by brown rot.
This reduces disease spread from year to year. Fix grease bands to tree trunks to trap wingless winter moths.
Spray peach and nectarine trees from peach leaf curl.
Any trained forms of tree fruits should have the summer pruning completed now.
Plant strawberry 'runners' (plants). Take care to get the planting depth right.
The crown of the plant should be half in and half out of the soil after the soil settles.
Autumn fruiting raspberries should be ready to pick now.
VEGETABLE GARDEN
Plant spring cabbages in well prepared soil. Space them 30cm [1ft] apart.
Apply a fertiliser that has low nitrogen content; the nitrogen can be added in the January.
Lift root crops such as carrots and beetroot this month and store them in a frost-free place.
Bury them in boxes filled with damp sand and keep them in a cool building, such as the garage.
Lift and store potatoes. They need a frost-free, dark, cool place.
Harvest marrows, squashes and pumpkins before first frosts. Store in a frost-free shed or garage.
Cut them leaving an inch or two of stem attached. Harvest sweet corn when the tassels are just going brown and the tops kernels produce milky sap when a thumbnail is pushed into them.
Plant garlic cloves.
Sow hardy salad onions.
Plant winter onion sets and banana shallots for the first crops of next summer.
Remove yellowing leaves from the bases of cabbages, cauliflowers, sprouts and provide extra support by staking now.
LAWNS & HEDGES
Scarify and feed your lawn to remove old dead grass.
Spike compacted areas of your lawn with a fork and brush in a turf dressing of premixed compost.
This is the best month for establishing new lawns.
Sow new seed or turf, both after careful soil preparation.
Rejuvenate tired looking lawns by over-seeding with a mix of fresh seed and lawn dressing compost.
Fast growing hedges such as leylandii will need trimming again and will look better for it throughout winter. Give evergreen hedges a final trim.
SOIL
Sow surplus areas of your vegetable patch with quick growing 'green manure' crop.
This will improve the soil structure and reduce nutrients being washed out of your soil by the winter rains.
If it is difficult to get specific green manure varieties of seed sow Mustard which is very fast growing.
Dig it all into the soil when it comes into flower.
PONDS
Erect a net over your pond to prevent falling leaves from trees and shrubs getting into the water and increasing the nutrient levels when they breakdown.
They may also deprive the fish of oxygen as they decompose.
Remove dead leaves from pond plants as they die back.
WILDLIFE
Clean out nesting boxes and give your bird table a good scrub before the main bird feeding season gets underway.
Start feeding birds again (if you ever stopped).
Provide log piles in odd corners to act as wildlife refuges.
Put up lacewing and ladybird shelters to provide over wintering refuges for these very useful predators to stay in your garden.
Plant or sow native plants. Install a hedgehog shelter. Leave some seed heads and fruits for winter feed.
SEPTEMBER CHORES
CHECKLIST OF KEY TASKS FOR SEPTEMBER:
- Plant hardy annuals.
- Lift, divide and re-plant perennials.
- Re-plant pots and hanging baskets.
- Prune lavender.
- Lift and store gladioli.
- Plant crocus, snowdrops and bluebells and garlic.
- Plant cuttings of tender perennials.
- Lift and store carrots, beetroot, potatoes and onions.
- Pick apples, pears, marrows, squashes and pumpkins before the frosts.
- This is the best month to establish new lawns and repair established lawns.
PATIOS & BORDERS
Now is the time to plant ‘cottage garden’ hardy annuals such as calendula, nigella, cornflower and larkspur.
All can be sown directly into well prepared soil where you want them to flower.
They are hardy enough to over-winter without frost protection and will give a good show next summer.
Check cuttings of fuchsias, pelargoniums and other tender perennials for roots.
If well rooted, pot them on into pots filled with good potting compost. If not, leave the potting until spring.
Cut back earlier flowering herbaceous perennials close to ground level unless they produce attractive seed heads.
Lift, divide and replant the youngest bits of herbaceous perennials that have finished flowering.
Most perennials benefit from dividing every 2-3 years. Improve soil and water in well to get them re-established.
Take cuttings of border pinks (dianthus) this month. They root easily, even in a glass of water, and it is a plant that benefits
from being regularly rejuvenated by replanting regularly
Replant pots and hanging baskets with autumn, winter and spring flowering and foliage plants.
Take cuttings of pelargoniums, fuchsias and other tender plants.
Dry off begonia corms. Cut back and pot up any tender perennials worth keeping in the greenhouse.
TREES & SHRUBS
September is the best time to plant hardy plants. The soil is moist and warm and plants soon get established now.
Check roses regularly for black spot and rust fungal diseases.
Remove and burn infected leaves and continue regular sprays of fungicide.
Make sure that any lavender plants not pruned earlier are done now. Cut off faded flowers with about 2-3 cm of leaf shoot.
BULBS
Plant shady borders and areas under large shrubs with small flowered crocus, scilla, anemone blanda, snowdrops and bluebells.
Pot up prepared hyacinths to get them in flower for Christmas. Get them potted this month unless you are happy to have them in flower in January.
Gladioli corms of the non-hardy type (the majority) should be lifted, dried off and stored in a frost free place. The small corms that form around the base are probably best discarded as they can take several years to reach flowering size.
THE GREENHOUSE
Remove the leading shoot when your greenhouse tomatoes have set five trusses of fruit.
This will encourage all the fruit to ripen before late autumn. Regular feeding will help and also makes the fruit taste better.
FRUIT GARDEN
Pick ripe apples and pears now. If they come off the tree easily without having to tug hard, then they are ready to harvest.
If you cut one or two in half look for brown pips to show that they are ready.
Varieties harvested now will not store well and should be eaten or cooked straight away.
Remove and destroy any mummified fruits affected by brown rot.
This reduces disease spread from year to year. Fix grease bands to tree trunks to trap wingless winter moths.
Spray peach and nectarine trees from peach leaf curl.
Any trained forms of tree fruits should have the summer pruning completed now.
Plant strawberry 'runners' (plants). Take care to get the planting depth right.
The crown of the plant should be half in and half out of the soil after the soil settles.
Autumn fruiting raspberries should be ready to pick now.
VEGETABLE GARDEN
Plant spring cabbages in well prepared soil. Space them 30cm [1ft] apart.
Apply a fertiliser that has low nitrogen content; the nitrogen can be added in the January.
Lift root crops such as carrots and beetroot this month and store them in a frost-free place.
Bury them in boxes filled with damp sand and keep them in a cool building, such as the garage.
Lift and store potatoes. They need a frost-free, dark, cool place.
Harvest marrows, squashes and pumpkins before first frosts. Store in a frost-free shed or garage.
Cut them leaving an inch or two of stem attached. Harvest sweet corn when the tassels are just going brown and the tops kernels produce milky sap when a thumbnail is pushed into them.
Plant garlic cloves.
Sow hardy salad onions.
Plant winter onion sets and banana shallots for the first crops of next summer.
Remove yellowing leaves from the bases of cabbages, cauliflowers, sprouts and provide extra support by staking now.
LAWNS & HEDGES
Scarify and feed your lawn to remove old dead grass.
Spike compacted areas of your lawn with a fork and brush in a turf dressing of premixed compost.
This is the best month for establishing new lawns.
Sow new seed or turf, both after careful soil preparation.
Rejuvenate tired looking lawns by over-seeding with a mix of fresh seed and lawn dressing compost.
Fast growing hedges such as leylandii will need trimming again and will look better for it throughout winter. Give evergreen hedges a final trim.
SOIL
Sow surplus areas of your vegetable patch with quick growing 'green manure' crop.
This will improve the soil structure and reduce nutrients being washed out of your soil by the winter rains.
If it is difficult to get specific green manure varieties of seed sow Mustard which is very fast growing.
Dig it all into the soil when it comes into flower.
PONDS
Erect a net over your pond to prevent falling leaves from trees and shrubs getting into the water and increasing the nutrient levels when they breakdown.
They may also deprive the fish of oxygen as they decompose.
Remove dead leaves from pond plants as they die back.
WILDLIFE
Clean out nesting boxes and give your bird table a good scrub before the main bird feeding season gets underway.
Start feeding birds again (if you ever stopped).
Provide log piles in odd corners to act as wildlife refuges.
Put up lacewing and ladybird shelters to provide over wintering refuges for these very useful predators to stay in your garden.
Plant or sow native plants. Install a hedgehog shelter. Leave some seed heads and fruits for winter feed.
SEPTEMBER CHORES
- Get compost containers ready for the autumn clean up.
- Construct extra or perhaps purchase new ones before the leaves start to fall.
- Shredders are very useful and can turn most trimmings and modest prunings into useful mulching material.