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September signals the beginning of cooler nights and shorter days, a sure sign that autumn is arriving. Whilst this month there should still be some warm weather, we can begin to feel the cold particularly on gusty days.
Although your garden may seem to be slowing down, there is still plenty to keep you active out there! From fruit & vegetable being harvested, to spring bulbs being planted to saving seeds from spent flowers and so much more. Be sure you make the most of this years remaining warmth and complete as many of these tasks as you can before autumn officially arrives.
To help you manage your workload or skip task set that may not be relevant to you, this month’s jobs have been split into four categories:
September may prove to be the best autumnal month to get your garden in order and ready for the wonderful British winter.
On top of regular tasks such as keeping your lawn and hedges trimmed and tidy, there is also a collection of jobs to ensure your plants, flowers & trees are in the best condition possible, ponds & water features are kept clean and any types of disease doe do not take over your garden.
We recommend completing as many of these maintenance tasks as you can before moving on to the rest of this month’s gardening jobs.
To maintain hygiene, wash and disinfect your bird feeders and tables
From ponds and water features, remove any duckweed, pondweed and algae
In preparation for autumn rains, clean out water butts and check downpipe fittings
To deter any mildew be sure to water your autumn-flowering asters regularly
Ahead of autumn gales, check your tree ties and plant supports are firmly in place
To prevent autumn leaves from falling in and rotting, put netting across ponds
Lawns; rake thatch, aerate trafficked areas by spiking with a garden fork & re-seed bare patches
Made leafmould by collecting fallen leaves to store in a chicken-wire cage or bin bags
For planting later on in either autumn or winter, order your bare-root fruit trees now
On lavender and rosemary, pick off striped metallic rosemary beetles and their grey larvae
To prevent fungal disease spreading, collect up & bin apples, plums and pears infected with brown rot
Look for fungal diseases, such as blackspot, on your roses and pick off and bin all affected leaves
Greenhouses are a gardener’s best friend and they’re ready to prove that once again as Autumn arrives. Although temperatures may be starting to drop slightly, your growing structure will allow you to keep planting, producing and forward planning!
Follow the steps below to ensure your growing efforts are timed perfectly and your growing efforts will more than come to fruition:
Ensure your greenhouse heaters are all in good working order for colder days
Keep a close eye on your greenhouse ventilation and close vents on cool nights
By the end of the month, remove shade netting or shading paint as light levels fall
Watch for early frost forecasts and be ready to bring any tender potted plants under cover
Stay vigilant for greenhouse pests and diseases and be sure you treat any you find immediately
Move houseplants off particularly cold windowsills at night and begin to water less frequently
You should now move your potted peaches and nectarines into a cool greenhouse or porch
For spectacular flowers over the festive season, plant hippeastrum (amaryllis) bulbs in pots
For a vibrant indoor display in early spring, you should now plant Anemone De Caen corms
For early flowers, plant dwarf spring bulbs in pots, including irises, crocuses, chionodoxa and scilla
For fragrant indoor flowers at Christmas, plant prepared hyacinth bulbs in pots or hyacinth glasses
If your moth orchids look as if they are going to burst out after flowering, repot them as soon as you can
Pot up and bring indoors tender perennials, such as fuchsias and osteospermum before temperatures drop
Pick off faded blooms and dead leaves before fungal diseases can take hold to maintain good plant hygiene
You can be forgiven for thinking September may mean less flowering and colour but you will be surprised to know there is still plenty of late colour in your garden. Exactly what depends on your work in previous months and of course the weather. With a range of later flowering perennials, climbers and shrubs, you will have more than enough to keep yourself busy throughout the month.
Not all of the tasks listed may be relevant to your outdoor space, browse all of the jobs and just complete the right ones for your area.
From fuchsias, salvias and pelargoniums begin to take cuttings
To neaten them up and also control the height, trim conifer hedges
For birds to feed on, leave your sunflower seedheads in place
In pots & borders, plant spring bulbs; crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths, bluebells and snake’s-head fritillaries
In pots & borders, now is time to plant wallflowers, pansies, forget-me-nots and other types of spring bedding
In containers, plant up autumn interest, using cyclamen, heathers, heucheras and other colourful bedding plants
For flowers early next summer, sow hardy annuals, such as cerinthes, ammi, scabiosa and cornflower
Lift, dry off and then store your gladioli corms in a frost-free shed or garage over autumn and winter
Once they have finished flowering, lift, divide and replant congested clumps of perennials, such as achilleas
To provide nectar for pollinating insects into autumn, fill any gaps with late-flowering perennials, such as sedums
Until the first frosts, keep summer bedding flowering in hanging baskets & pots by deadheading & feeding regularly
Before temperatures start to drop, bring any houseplants that you moved outside over summer back indoors
Ready to sow in spring, collect ripe seeds from your favourite flowers and store in labelled envelope
If plants start to show the tell-tale sign of notched leaf margins, apply vine weevil control to affected pots
Whilst September signals the end of summer, we can sometimes strike a little lucky and experience an Indian summer with sunshine and blue skies blessing our gardening efforts.
However, nothing is ever certain with the weather! Typically the bulk of the harvest comes home now and your plot will begin to empty as crops come out. Some forward planning for winter pickings and spring harvests is vital this month!
All of the growing tasks for this month can be found below:
10cm apart and with the tip of each just showing above the soil, plant onion & shallot sets in a sunny spot
So you can harvest your own saffron this autumn, plant saffron crocus bulbs (crocus sativus) now
For winter pickings, sow hardy greens, such as kale, land cress, pak choi, mizuna, lamb’s lettuce & mustard
For early crops next year, start sowing hardy varieties of broad beans and peas for early crops next year
Before the weather turns cold, cut off trusses of unripe outdoor tomatoes then ripen them indoors
To help skins ripen in the sun, cut away any leaves covering the fruits of pumpkins, squash & marrows
To encourage good fruiting in future years, complete summer pruning of both free-standing & trained apple trees
Prune all the fruited canes of summer raspberries, cutting down to the base & tie in new canes to supports
Lift, dry off and store your maincrop potatoes in hessian or paper sacks, in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place
Pot up herbs and place on a sunny windowsill to use during winter such as chives and parsley
Before the wind blows them down, pick apples and pears & store undamaged fruits if you can’t eat them fresh
Thread the stalks of chillies onto cotton or wire and hang them up to dry somewhere warm and dry as storage
