September Update

General Garden Maintenance

• Fill compost heap with old flower heads and stems from around the garden making sure not to compost diseased leaves.
• Improve drainage on compacted lawns by spiking the ground with a fork or aerator and apply lawn sand + sulphate of Iron to green up the lawn and kill moss. 
• Collect, wash with a garden disinfectant and store away canes, plant supports and pots.
• Trim hedges to keep them neat and to control their size and possibly the last cut of the year.
• Lookout for leatherjackets, found now on lawns, with a suitable and treat with insecticide or biological control.
• Collect any fallen leaves from around roses to reduce the risk of diseases carrying over to next season.
• Prune rambling/climbing roses back after flowering.
• Grow bulbs in “aquatic” baskets ready to drop into gaps in the border in Spring.
• Prepare ground ready for planting Spring bulbs by adding sand or a good bulb planting compost.
• Plant new evergreen hedges such as Laurel, Conifer, Pyracantha and Escallonia.
• Clear away faded bedding plants from borders and containers - then compost plants.

In the Allotment or Vegetable Patch

• Pick Apples, Pears, Plums and Gages as they ripen, wrapping Apples in paper for storage. 
• Plant Spring Cabbage plants now. 
• Save seeds from good varieties of beans for sowing next year. 
• Buy strawberry plants now, late Summer / Autumn is always the best time to plant. 
• Prune out fruited blackberry stems and tie in new ones. 
• Lift and store Onions. 
• Cut down the ferny shoots of Asparagus to soil level.

In the Greenhouse

• Line greenhouses with bubble wrap for insulation if temperatures start to fall at night. 
• Clear out exhausted crops and wash down with a garden disinfectant glazing, staging and framework. 
• Towards the end of this month wash off greenhouse shading paint.