September is a fantastic time to be gardening. The weather is typically mild, the days are still long, and the garden is bursting with colour. There’s a lot to be done to prepare for the colder months ahead, but with a bit of planning, you can enjoy a beautiful garden well into the winter.
Let’s dive into some of the key tasks you should consider tackling this September, and where better to start that those beds and borders that will appreciate a bit of care!
Beds and Borders Care
- Make it your mission this month to deadhead spent blooms on herbaceous plants, cutting back those that have started to go over. However, be sure to leave any alone that are valuable for their winter seed heads.
- Trim mounds of Alchemilla Mollis, tall hardy geraniums and peonies to remove old, diseased or tatty leaves. A flush of fresh new growth will soon appear.
Tending to Trees and Shrubs
If you are lucky enough to have a bounty of trees and shrubs in your garden, now is the ideal time to offer them some care. Start by taking a look at any ties and stakes, tightening those that are loose, or loosening any biting into stems. Typically, a stake should only be needed to support a tree for 18 months after planting, before being removed.
Control powdery mildew on roses by spraying shoots covered with the white fungal growth with fungicide. Prevent future disease by ensuring soil doesn’t dry out, then mulch to retaining moisture.
Ornamental cherry trees can be sprayed with fungicide to control shot hole, which is a disease that causes brown spots on leaves. These brown spots can expand into patches eventually, fall away to leave holes.
Spruce up Jerusalem sage, also known as Phlomis fruticosa, by cutting out dead flowers and thinning out older shoots.
Evergreen hedges will appreciate one final cut to keep them looking good until next spring, and lavender can be clipped with a pair of shears after they’ve finished flowering, to remove spent blooms.
Spread a 7.5cm layer of leaf mould, manure or garden compost around rhododendrons and azaleas, to help retain moisture and reduce the risk of weeds from breaking out.
Prepare the ground for planting new roses. Dig over the soil, remove perennial weeds and add plenty of garden compost, manure, or another well-rotted, organic material.
September Jobs in the Kitchen Garden
- Fruit should easily twist away from stems at this time of year, so harvest those apples and pears with ease. Prevent the foliage of these fruit trees from being defoliated by winter moth caterpillars by wrapping sticky bands around the trunk. This will stop female moths from crawling into the branches, where they’ll lay eggs.
- Gooseberries and blackberries should be tidied up by cutting off any shoot tips infected with mildew and cut canes that fruited this year down to the ground. Tie in strong new shoots to canes or supporting wires.
- Create a perfect environment for growing strawberries by digging in some well-rotted farmyard manure into weed-free soil.
- To save the last of your tomatoes from frost cut off entire bunches of fruit waiting to ripen and place them out of direct sunlight indoors. They should then turn red within a week or so.
- Reduce asparagus stems to within 5cm of the ground when ferny foliage starts to yellow.
- Plant out spring cabbages 15cm apart in rows 30cm apart. Cover with fine mesh or fleece to prevent birds from eating the leaves.
- Sow early carrots in the ground and cover with a cloche for an early crop next year. Alternatively, pot them and place in the greenhouse.
- Pick yellowing leaves off Brussels sprouts and ensure stems are staked to prevent them collapsing in windy weather conditions.
Our Final Tips For September Gardening!
Give your lawn some attention, revitalising by removing debris from the surface with a spring tine rake. Then aerate the ground by pushing a garden fork into it at 15cm intervals. Finish by spreading a top dressing of soil, sand, and balanced nutrients, over the surface, working it into the holes with a stiff broom.
