[GPI]

Six Garden areas for attention during September.

Over the past week, as summer flowering plants valiantly forced out the last of their blooms, and the first of the trees begin to shed their leaves, it became clear to me that autumn had begun to close in around us. The fair-weather summer gardeners, at this time, contract a form of outdoor amnesia, where the garden is totally forgotten about until next spring. The diligent gardener, though, will see the month of September as an opportunity to take their garden in hand, before it enters the darkness of winter.

So lets look at six areas within your garden that will reward your care and attention this September.

Bulbs.
A vast selection of bulbs for planting now, and blooming next spring, are available in garden centres and large supermarkets. A small selection those available include…. Allium (flowering garlic), Anemone (wind flower), Crocus, Cyclamen, Galanthus (Snowdrop), Hyacinth, Iris, Narcissus (daffodil), Scillia (bluebell), and Tulip. I could go on, but I think you should pay a visit to the garden centre and have a look for yourself, at all the autumn planted bulb has to offer.

Perennials.
Many spring/summer flowering perennials whose leaves have begun to fade, can now be cut back and tidied up. Don’t forget to mark these perennials locations with rocks or sticks as they may be forgotten, which leads to disturbance/damage when you are digging next spring.


Heather in its many forms, photo / pic / image.

Shrubs.
For unbeatable colour over the upcoming winter right through into spring, you should plant heathers now. Failing to do this will cause your garden to loose an essential piece of seasonal colour. Heathers are easy to accommodate in even the smallest garden as most of the popular varieties can be planted at approx 0.6 metre (2ft) spacings.

Vegetables.
Carrots, peas, radishes, mustard cress, and winter lettuces can still be sown in grow-bags, under glass, in a poly tunnel or on a windowsill for the smaller veg. Outdoors, you can also plant autumn onion sets for a crop in early to mid-summer next year. Above all, this time of year is a good time for digging over vacant areas of the vegetable plot, as the approaching cold weather will help to improve the soil structure by breaking it down into crumbly particles.

Fruit.
Prune out any raspberry canes which have fruited, plus any weak or damaged canes. Tie in some strong newly sprouted canes for fresh fruiting next year.
Before any frosts arrive, take stock of your rhubarb and strawberry plants, transplanting any malnourished specimens to fresh nutrient rich locations.

Lawns.
It will benefit your lawn now if you raise your lawnmowers height of cut by 1cm above your summer mowing height. This will give you an ultimate mowing height of 3cm (1 ¼ inches), allowing for the decline of grass growth during autumn. September is also a good time of year to over-seed bare areas of lawn with some lawn repair seed.

With these jobs to keep you busy through September, I wish you happy gardening.
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[Sugar_Ape]

Great article as always GPI. Is this the heather's favourite time of the year to be planted?

[GPI]

Heather's can really be planted at any time of year provided they come in a pot and the ground is not excessively wet or frozen.
But now is an ideal time to plant them to provide you with upcoming colour.

[Sugar_Ape]

Thanks GPI!