SEPTEMBER

ESSENTIAL JOBS CHECKLIST FOR SEPTEMBER

TOPICAL TIPS FOR SEPTEMBER

Flower Garden

Buy spring bulbs for next year. Most bulbs, including daffodils, hyacinths, lilies and small bulbs are best planted this month or in early October. Tulips are better planted towards the end of October
Give evergreen hedges a final trim to ensure they are neat for the winter
Now's the time to go around your garden collecting seeds from perennials and annuals. Collect seed heads in paper bags and leave them in a warm place to dry for a few days, before cleaning and storing in small envelopes. Some gardens that open to the public offer see-collecting days – a great way to find something unusual. Most seeds are best sown in spring
Sweet pea lovers may find that sowing seed in autumn produces stronger plants. Do not soak the seeds as they are liable to rot. Use Seed and Potting Compost and sow the seeds in root trainers, sweet peas tubes, pots or trays. It has been found that dark coloured seeds germinate well in fairly damp compost, but pale seed require compost that is only just moist. Cover the containers with glass or put them in a propagator and keep at around 15 C (59 F). When the seedlings appear transfer them to a cold frame. Pinch out the growing tips when the plants are about 10 cm (4 inches) high

Roses

Shrub roses and ramblers can easily be propagated from stem cuttings at this time of year. Take a length of stem about 30cm (12 inches) long and trim it off just below the bottom leaf. Remove the soft tip just above a root joint. Take off all but the top two or three leaves and push the cuttings into a well dug trench in the garden to about half their length. They should be left for 12 months to root and develop
If rambler and climbing roses have got a bit out of hand, spend a bit of time tying them in

Lawn

Aerate the lawn with a fork or special tool then apply Scotts Autumn Lawn Food to nourish your lawn through the winter months
You can continue to re-seed bare patches on your lawn. It's also a good time of year to prepare the ground for sowing a new lawn, while the earth is still warm

In the Greenhouse

Bring in cacti and houseplants that have spent the summer out of doors
Continue to take cuttings of tender perennials
Buy prepared bulbs for Christmas flowering and plant them in bowls of Bulb Planting Fibre. The added charcoal will keep the compost sweet even if the container has no drainage holes, but make sure you don't saturate it
If you have kept indoor cyclamen plants from last winter you should now start watering them. Water from the bottom by standing them in a shallow tray and allow to drain thoroughly.

Containers

Your summer bedding will probably still be looking so good that you can't bear to throw it out yet. Keep them going until they look tired. Remember that you can overwinter many tender plants. Take them out of their pots and brush off most of the old compost so that you can trim back the roots. Also trim the top growth. Then place them in a tray with some damp, but not saturated, peat covering the roots and store them in a frost-free place
When planting daffodils in containers its worth planting two layers of bulbs, slightly staggered one above the other. This will ensure a spectacular display. Plant the bulbs deeply enough to allow you to plant winter and spring bedding, such as winter pansies, primroses, violas and wallflowers on top

Vegetable Garden

Sweetcorn will be ready to harvest when the silks have turned from golden to brown. For the sweetest taste, cook them within minutes of cutting
Ripe onions should be lifted carefully and laid out to dry before storing
Continue to harvest runner beans and courgettes. Make sure you don't leave runner and French beans too long otherwise they will be stringy and tough
If you're sowing out of doors this month you can speed up germination by putting a cloche over the seeds

Herb Garden

Parsley can be sown now for an early spring crop
Tidy up your herb garden by dead-heading and trimming back perennials and discarding annuals

Fruit Garden

Cover autumn-fruiting blackberries and raspberries with netting to keep off the birds, but check daily to ensure no animals or birds get trapped
Pick early varieties of apples as soon as they're ripe and eat them – they won't keep.