By Alicia Paaso - Gardenscape Sales Team/RHS Level 2 Horticulturalist
As the days grow shorter and the temperatures start to drop, September marks the transition from summer to autumn. September possesses plenty of natural beauty like its crisp autumn mornings and the trees’ leaves starting to change colours, especially the autumnal hues that start to appear.
The beginning of this new season is the perfect time to get back into your routines and prepare your garden for the colder months ahead. Spend plenty of time outside this month to soak up the last moments of the late summer warmth, read below on what to do in your garden this September!
Harvest your crops!
Hopefully all the hard work that you have put into growing your fruits and vegetables have paid off, as you should have plenty of crops to harvest this month. Crops such as courgettes, runner beans, onions, and tomatoes will be ready to harvest throughout September.
Pick your blackberries and autumn-fruiting raspberries when they are at the peak of ripeness. Harvest any remaining potatoes now as the longer you leave them the more likely they are to get slug damage. Pick pears and apples when they are ready. You can tell when your apples are ready to pick when you can remove them from the branch by gently lifting and twisting them.
If you have more apples than you know what to do with, baking an apple-pie makes a cosy family autumn activity. Remove any apples from the ground as this can otherwise spread brown rot spores to the healthy fruit on the tree.
Lawn Care
September is the prime month for lawn-care and renovations with its regular rainfall and warm days. Give your lawn a boost for the coming season by applying an Autumn/Winter Lawn fertiliser 3.12.12. Autumn lawn fertiliser is lower in nitrogen than summer feed. This is because a fertiliser with a higher nitrogen content will encourage lush leafy growth, which in autumn would be susceptible to disease. The high levels of potassium and phosphorus will protect the grass from cold temperatures and traffic in wet weather as it stiffens the blade of the grass and promotes healthy root growth.
Raise the height of cut when mowing to help the grass to withstand the last warm weather. Mow less frequently, and mow in the afternoon when the grass is drier. The dewy grass in the mornings can easily build up inside the mower otherwise. Add the grass clippings to your compost bin in thin layers. Don’t add too many grass clippings at once as it will cause your compost to have a slimy texture. Why not fill one of our waste bags with the remaining clippings that are not needed for your compost? Currently we have an offer on where we can collect a waste bag for £50 including VAT when you have a bulk bag of material delivered from us at the same time.
If you’ve been waiting for the summer drought to pass before seeding your lawn, this month is the perfect time for grass seeding. The grass seed needs regular watering for successful germination, so for best results wait until the weather forecast shows regular but not too heavy rain. Apply a top dressing if you want to treat your lawn for even better results. Using a top dressing on your lawn will level the surface as well as improve drainage, which will be much needed these wetter months ahead when the soil is more prone to waterlogging.
September planting
By planting late-flowering perennials in early autumn such as sedums (e.g., Hylotelephium ‘Red Cauli’) and Salvias (e.g., Salvia ‘Amistad’) you will provide pollinators with valuable nectar throughout September to early October, as well as extending your garden’ growing season. For a gorgeous spring bedding display, plant spring-flowering bulbs such as hyacinths, snow drops, daffodils and crocuses. Don’t forget to continue deadheading plants to prolong their flowering season. Start moving any tender plants that are outside inside when the nights are getting colder.
Enjoy your September gardening!