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What should you do in September?
This time of year you should be watching out for hungry caterpillars and removing them from your roses before they munch them all!
Hedges need their final trims.
Vegetable Garden
- You still have time to sow salads and greens for the winter
- Plant garlic and onion towards the end of the month
- Keep the birds off your produce by using netting, at least until they have put down their roots
- Make sure purple sproutin broccoli or brussels are earthed up and staked to prevent rocking
- Remove leaves around winter squash and pumpkins so they can ripen in the sun
- Place an old plate under pumpkins and squash so the dry evenly and don't rot
- Celeriac and leeks need a liquid feed for the final growth spurt while the weather is still good
- Cover tender crops such as lettuce, dwarf beans and other salad crops with polytunnels and cloches as the nights begin to get cooler
Flower Garden
- Dead head as many plants will not produce more flowers late in the season, keep pretty seed heads on for autumn and winter to keep the insects happy
- Try not to be too tidy! If you want to see more wildlife then a tidy-ish garden is the way to go
- Plant bulbs between shrubs and herbaceous plants, and in natural drifts in the lawn, discard any mouldy or shrivelled bulbs
- If you are lawn planting choose daffodils and crocus
- Clip new hedge growth, such as yew and box for the last time this season, weed around the base of hedges, compost the weeds
- Protect your tall plants from strong winds by staking them
- Fruit trees should be planned now, the cheapest trees are bare-root plants sold to plant in late winter/early spring. Frost resistant varieties are Apple Falstaff
Seeds
Saving your seeds is an easy way to grow your seed collection. Easiest are poppy, nigella and beans. Leave your beans until they rattle in the pod, shake poppy and nigella seeds into airtight containers. Store in a cool dry place for next time
What Bulbs should I plant now?
Dutch Iris
Parrot Tulips
Alliums
Crocus
Daffodils
Hyacinths
My favourites are Daffodils and Hyacinths, I have Hyacinths in various colours growing in pots - just gorgeous!
