WHAT TO DO THIS MONTH?

September is the month where summer starts to leave and autumn starts to appear. Sometimes we can be lucky and get an Indian summer, well maybe for a few days, but the nights are drawing in and it’s definitely cooler at night. Above all September is the month for harvesting your vegetables. Whatever this September brings here’s our tips on what to do this September.

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General Maintenance

1. Growth of grass starts to slow down this month, mow lawns less often and on a higher blade setting. Keep your lawn healthy by scarifying, aerating and feeding with an autumn lawn feed high in potassium by the middle of the month.  

2. If there is a late summer sun don’t forget to top up bird baths so that there is always a supply of water for our feathered friends. They’ll repay you by eating the bugs that have been nibbling at your plants.

3. Raise pots onto feet to help drainage and stop them getting waterlogged. This will help them to not get frozen over winter.

4. Remove any greenhouse shading as the light levels drop through the month.

5. Keep weeding throughout your borders and vegetable patches. While is warm and wet the weeds will thrive.

6. Trim evergreen hedges before the temperature drops.

 

Flowers & Shrubs

1. Sow poppies, nigella, cornflower and other hardy annuals now for a fantastic display of flowers next summer.

2. Keep deadheading your plants to get that last flush of flowers. Dahlias, Roses and Penstemons all benefit from being deadheaded.

3. Lift and divide overgrown clumps of perennials like Hostas, Salvias and hardy Geraniums. 

4. You can continue to plant new perennials while the ground still holds onto the summer warmth for a few weeks. This will help the new plants establish their root systems before they die back over winter.

5. Continue to water Camelias and Rhododendrons regularly while they are developing their buds for next year’s flowers.

6. Plant daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, bluebells and other spring bulbs, except tulips which are better planted in November when the weather is colder to reduce the risk of viruses. 

7. Plant winter bedding in gaps in the borders and containers to brighten up your autumn and winter displays.

8. While the ground is still warm now is a good time to move small shrubs and trees if they need repositioning. This will allow the roots to establish themselves ready for next spring.

9. There is still time to sow lawn seed to repair patches or cover a new area. The seed should germinate in about a week. Prepare the area by forking and raking the soil before sowing the seed.

10. Identify your tender plants and start to move or protect them against the colder nights. Some will need moving indoors away from the sub-zero winter temperatures.

 

Fruit & Vegetables

1. Strawberry plants will still be producing runners. Peg these down in the ground or in little pots, and they will grow into new plants for next spring. If you don’t need any new plants, cut the runners off.

2. Keep picking French and runner beans. Once the plants have finished, cut them down to ground level, so that the roots can release their stored nitrogen back into the soil.

3. Harvest the last of your maincrop potatoes. Cut off the foliage a couple of weeks before you harvest, then dig up the potatoes and leave them to dry for a few hours before storing in paper bags or hessian sacks. 

4. An array of fruits should be ready to harvest, plums, pears and apples as well as blackberries and autumn raspberries should all now be ripe and ready for eating.

5. It’s time to prune summer raspberries, cutting back the fruited canes down to ground level and tying in this year’s new canes to supports for next year’s crop. 

  

Whatever you plan to do in your garden this September and you find you need spring bulbs, autumn lawn feed, fleece, pot feet or anything else for the garden come and see us at Thorp Perrow Garden Centre and see how we can help. We look forward to seeing you. 

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