What to do in the Garden in September

September in the Garden "Misty starts, dewy toes, and the thud of windfalls"

September, the ninth month of the year, in roman times it was the seventh month which is how it got it’s name, Septem in latin means seventh.

Anyway we need to discuss what we should be doing in the garden right now:

1. Divide your herbaceous perennial’s now, this will not only give you more plants but will maintain a healthy and happy plant next year.

2. Collect and sow seeds from hardy annuals and perennials’, which you liked seeing in your garden this year.

3. Now is the time to plant your favorite bulbs for spring flowering, be creative with colour and shapes, use bulbs which you have never used before.

4. Think about erecting nets over your ponds or water features to prevent the first leaves that fall from clogging and rotting in the water.

5. Freeze or dry the last of the summer herbs, make the most of your mint and other favorites by always having them on hand through out the winter months by keeping them in a handy Tupperware box in the freezer or decoratively hung in your kitchen so you can easily access them.

6. Check your lawn now for crane fly larvae or otherwise know as Leatherjackets. The best way to do this is with an insecticide or biological control. You can use BHC Bromophos powder, this is a chemical so always read the label, alternatively use nematodes.

7. Now is great time to lay turf so if you are repairing parts of your lawn or are creating a new lawn area then September is your month as the temperature is now cooling down and we should see a nice bit of moisture in the earth and skies. Click here for more turf information.

8. Sow spring cabbage, winter lettuce, spinach, endive and cress.

9. Prune ambling roses after they have flowered, this will do a number of things, it will conserve the plants energy, encourage more flowers and also remove hiding places for the kinds of insects we don’t want in the garden.

10. Take cuttings of your favorite roses. How to take cuttings of roses.

11. Cut down annuals once they have flowered and put them on the compost heap, this sends the energy back into the plant and also makes everywhere look nice and tidy.

12. Pick your Apples: Make cider, chutneys and crumbles.

As the birthstone for this month is Sapphire, I thought I would inspire you to plant something in your gardening which is a beautiful shade of blue and flowers in this wonderfully month of September:

• Agapanthus
• Buddleja
• Caryopteris
• Ceanothus
• Ceratostigma
• Clematis “Cote d’Azur”
• Clematis “Lilacina’
• Blue Sea Holly
• Hyrdranga “Enziandom’ or Mophead
• Lavender
• Lophomytus
• Blue Passion Flower