September 2006

September brings summer to a close as the nights get shorter and the temperature drops. The leaves on the trees begin to change in colour to offer a palette of shades that should be admired. Now is the time to use the energy you have restored on your summer holidays in the garden!!

Autumn is the ideal time of the year to plant new trees and shrubs. Start having a look at your garden and make a note of the areas which could be enhanced by a new shrub, fruit tree or ornamental tree. The plants will benefit from being planted early because the warmth in the soil, combined with the autumn rains (hopefully!), will encourage the plants to establish their roots before winter arrives. A full range of stock can be found in plant centres from the end of September.

Overhaul your herbaceous borders while it is possible to see where everything is and the space they take up.

If the clumps have become overcrowded then it is a good idea to lift the plants and split them. Use two garden forks inserted back to back into the clump, prise the clump apart and discard the dead looking centre parts. Replant clumps which have healthy growth using a generous amount of well rotted compost or manure.

Collecting seeds from the garden can be both productive and fun. Choose a dry day and look for flower heads containing brown dry seedpods. Cut the whole head off and carefully put it into a paper bag. Label the bag clearly and leave them for a week or so to dry. Tip the contents onto a sheet of paper and break open any closed pods and sieve or blow away any chaff which could harbour disease.

Most hardy perennial seeds can be sown straight away on top of moist compost and covered with a shallow layer of coarse grit. Put them in a cold frame and they will germinate in a few weeks or next spring.

There is a wide range of spring flowering bulbs on offer to be planted out now. As a general rule, the ideal planting depth for a bulb is roughly three times its own size from tip to base. Start with daffodils and crocus now leaving the tulips until early November to help prevent slug and fungus damage. Before planting, scatter the bulbs on the ground to create informal drifts rather than formal rows.

The dry summer has left many of us looking at our lawns in dismay as they changed to the colour of straw. This is the time to administer intensive care on your lawn by removing deep-rooted weeds by using a special tool or by cutting them out with a knife. Dead growth (‘thatch’) which has built up over the summer can be scratched out with a spring tine rake. The lawn will then have bare patches which can be re-seeded using a mixture of grass seed, soil, compost and sharp sand.

Put grease-bands on fruit trees to prevent the winter moth caterpillar from laying their eggs on the branches. With the sun having cooled down for the moment, don’t forget to ripen your tomatoes. Tomatoes ripen with warmth not sunshine, so pick the green ones and store them in a cool, dry place then bring them up to the kitchen to ripen as you need them.

Prepare onions for lifting by inserting a digging fork under the bulbs and slightly loosen the roots without breaking them. Plant out spring cabbage plants which were sown last month.

The main attraction towards the end of September will be the Japanese maples showing their fabulous autumn colours. Caryopteris will be in bloom with deep blue flowers together with the colours of Ceratostigma and Abelia. Admire the berries on the flowering trees like rowans and hawthorn.

Happy Gardening!

Contacts
The regular "In the Garden" features for Monkey Magazine are written and researched by Cat Wilkins. If you have a comment, or would like to make a suggestion for possible future topics, please feel free to email her by clicking on this link: Cat Wilkins