Gardening

Edition Six - September 2006  

This month I have looked at collecting seeds from your garden

Where did the summer go? Here we are in September already, with the nights rapidly closing in, and there are already signs in the garden of the approaching Autumn. The weather is still unsettled, but August did recover to give us some really nice days.. However, like people, the garden doesn`t really have time to get acclimatised to the warm weather before it`s back to the cold, wind and rain again. Such is the nature of our fickle climate...

I've just received Thompson & Morgan's New 2007 Press Pack and am pleased to see that there are more fruit and vegetable seeds than flower seeds amongst their newest varieties available for next year.. In particular the following varieties of both flowers and vegetables appealed to me:- 

Teenie Beanie Runner Bean The first true mini-podded runner bean available to the amateur gardener. Delicious stringless baby beans (As seen in this photo) Heavy cropper Very long picking season

Grow your own supermarket salads Eight new salad leaf mixes enabling home gardeners to grow a wide range of 'supermarket' salad leaves at a fraction of the cost. One of the biggest growth sectors for fresh produce is freshly prepared salad leaves in bags, which now dominate a large area of the supermarket shelves, yet no salads can be as healthy and fresh as those grown by a gardener's own fair hands.

The Viagra Foxglove! Foxglove 'Candy Mountain', the first upward facing Foxglove from seed, enabling you to look inside its dainty bells and view the delightful freckled throats. (I also would appreciate being able to see the bees inside)

Sweet Pea 'Elegant Ladies' This beautiful bi-coloured mixture was carefully selected by Thompson and Morgan's Horticultural Manager for its delicate pastel colours, comprising of highly fragrant small flowered heirloom types, many dating back to the 16th century.

Don`t forget to take some time out to visit a garden show or two while the weather is still reasonable, especially the Malvern Autumn Garden & Country Show on the 23rd and 24th September.. Have a look at the RHS website for events down your way: http://www.rhs.org.uk

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Jobs for the month - September

A mellow month hopefully, and the time when those of us who have fruit and vegetable gardens can reap the rewards of our labour....

Houseplants

Reduction in the watering and feeding rates should now begin gradually until the winter minimum is reached. Give the leaves of houseplants a misting with tepid water to clean them, and use a special houseplant leafshine for plants such as rubber plants and swiss cheese plants. 

Bulbs.

Bulbs are starting to come into the garden centres, DIY stores and supermarkets at this time of year, and September is the main month for planting them, with the exception of tulips which wait until October. If you are not planting bulbs soon after buying them, store them in a dry, dark place with plenty of ventilation, using paper bags not polythene..

Lawns

Now is the time of year to raise the blade of your mower and rake the lawn to remove excess debris, and runners of creeping weeds. Apply an autumn fertiliser which you will find in your local DIY store. Read the instructions carefully if you have animals or children.

Greenhouse

This month I usually fill the greenhouse with cuttings of plants such as shrubby salvias, artemisia, sage, hebes,  pelargoniums and anything else I could possibly lose through winter frosts.  I keep the greenhouse doors open, and shade the cuttings from the sun until the weather turns damper and cooler, then transfer them into the conservatory for overwintering, before the first frosts,

Hedges

Complete the annual cutting of established hedges of all types. Towards the end of September is a good time to plant evergreen hedging shrubs and conifers but the site can be prepared now with lots of compost added.

Fruit and vegetables

Prepare the ground for fruit bush planting and make sure to harvest any produce in the vegetable garden before the birds and rabbits get it. 

Flowers for cutting

Keep cutting flowers for the house and at the same time dead-head any faded blooms. Chrysanthemums are delightful this month as are dahlias which together with some greenery will give you a good floral display for indoors.

Herbaceous plants

Take time to dead-head any flowers that have faded, and cut down any plants that are finished for the year. At the end of this month any bedding plants left in the borders should be removed to the compost heap and replaced with biennials such as wallflowers, sweet william and stocks. 

Ponds and water features

Clear your pond of any decaying vegetation and cover the pool with netting to prevent falling leaves from going into the water. Reduce the quantity of fish food you give your pond fish. You will see that as the weather cools and the days shorten they will want to feed less and less. By the end of October they will have stopped feeding altogether for the duration of the winter. Depending on the weather, water features can be left going until the end of October.

Wildlife

Give bird feeders a good clean, by knocking out any congealed peanuts, and washing in a mild disinfectant. From now until the spring months make sure you always have a constant supply of bird food available to attract a wide variety of birds to your garden. They will come to rely on you for food so do keep them topped up in all weather.. Don't leave food on the ground though because it will attract rats!