Autumn is meant to begin but quite often we are spoilt with an ‘Indian Summer’. September brings a new range of flowers in the garden as well as the start of changing leaf colours. It’s a good time to start to do some tidying.
Lawns
- Now is a good time to sow new lawns from seed or laying turf.
- Feed existing lawns with an autumn lawn food.
- Give lawns a bit of TLC after the summer by aerating and removing weeds.
Flowers
- Once summer bedding and basket plants are finished remove and replace with pansies, wallflowers and other spring flowering annuals.
- Continue to dead-head Roses and spray for blackspot and rust.
- Water Camellias and Rhododendrons to allow buds to form and swell ready for flowering next spring.
- When leaves start to fall keep them raked up to prevent them sitting on the lawn.
Vegetables
- Harvest plants as and when ready.
- Lift onions and leave to dry on the surface of the soil before storing for the winter.
- Continue to remove weeds to prevent competition for water and food.
Fruit
- Protect autumn fruiting Raspberries with netting.
- Pick early cropping apples. These are best eaten as they do not store well.
- Remove old strawberry plants and replant using rooted runners or new plants.
General Care
- Plant spring flowering bulbs ready for a show next year.
- Plant forced bulbs such as Hyacinths now for a Christmas display.
- Don’t be tempted to cut down and tidy perennials too early. Leaving some of the ‘dead’ growth on top can help protect the crown of the plant through the winter and can be tidied up in the spring once the worst of the winter weather has passed.
- Feed borders with a slow release general fertiliser that will keep them going through the winter.