Although September is the end of the summer with the garden. Most of the crops planted through the year and now yours to harvest and enjoy. It is an ideal time to have a quick tidy up in the garden, keep dead heading flowers to prolong the season and start planting lovely bulbs for spring flowerings.
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September Jobs
* Top tip – Now is the time to prune summer fruiting raspberries. Cut off the canes that have fruited and tie in new canes. New runners can be used to replace plants that are 3 years old.
- Runner Beans & French Beans: These will keep producing beans until the first frosts so keep harvesting. Remember if you want to plant the same beans next year you can leave some on the plant for as long as possible then dry and store over winter for next year. After the first frost compost the foliage but leave the roots over winter for extra nitrogen in the soil.
* Top tip – Top tip: Leave sunflower heads in place to help feed the birds through colder months.
- For a Splash of Colour: Use colourful autumn bedding plants like cyclamen, heathers, heucheras to plant up autumn containers. Buy spring bulbs now to make a wonderful display in borders or pots. Using Daffodil, hyacinths, bluebells, crocus, irises, and tulips.
* Top tip – For some culinary flavour during the cooler winter months plant up some chives and parsley and place on a sunny windowsill, perfect for any cooking dish.
* Top tip – Keep on top of Aphids and Blackfly pests in the greenhouse. You can use a strong jet of water, or a mixture of soft soap solution will help control the numbers. More recently I have been relocating ladybirds into my greenhouse to enjoy a feast.
- Christmas Hyacinth bulbs: Now is the perfect time to buy prepared hyacinth bulbs for pots or hyacinth glasses. This will give you home a fragrant hyacinth perfume just in time for Christmas. Simply arrange the bulbs closely together but without touching on a 5 cm layer of compost. Compost should be placed around them so that each bulb’s top can be seen. To lightly moisten the compost, water it. For about 10 weeks, keep them covered and in a cool, dark place until shoots start to emerge. Then, move them to a light, airy location to encourage flowering.
- Storing Chillies: It is a good idea to harvest and store chillies by threading the stalks with strong cotton or wire and placing them somewhere warm and dry to store. Alternatively, you could make some tasty chilli jam to accompany your culinary dishes to give and bit of warmth and heat and extra wow. Follow this link for the perfect recipe. https://www.nigella.com/recipes/chilli-jam
* Now Reduced – Don’t forget to protect your hands when sowing and planting bulbs. For some stylish comfortable and durable gardening gloves Visit My Shop or click on the picture for different coloured garden gloves – a perfect gift to protect your hands.
Autumn Tidying Ideas
They say it pays to prepare, and this can be true for this time of year. Even if it may appear like the garden is less active in the autumn and winter, there is actually a lot that can be done. Autumn is the ideal time to get your garden ready for the coming winter. Here are a few ideas to help spur you on:
