The Best Guide for the UB10 Area

September in the Garden

Whether it is climate change, wanting to know where your food is coming from, adding value to your property, creating a green sanctuary in an urban environment or just a love of horticulture, there is little dispute that gardening is now the UK's number one leisure activity and big business.  

Enticing photography in glossy magazines has led many a would-be horticulturist up the wrong garden path, so advice will be tailored for the local area and will disregard the tempting choices on offer at garden centres that will only struggle on our clay.

September is a great starting point, if not an obvious one, for a gardener.

The flower borders may be looking slightly tired, but the soil is warm, and in most seasons, not too wet! It is a good time to take stock of what is growing and what has not performed well and to decide whether plant material can be renovated or if it time for a change. Frosts have been pushed back later over the past few years, so there is more reason to bring in September interest that will extend into autumn and to plan for shrub planting in October. Spring bulb catalogues are falling on our door mats and the canny gardener can take the pick of the bulb crop from local nurseries and mail order services. I have listed below the jobs to consider for this time of the year and made some recommendations for plants that provide interest in the garden now.

Jobs for September

The Flower Garden

• Continue to dead head flowering perennials and annuals and make sure herbaceous plants are well supported to cope with wind and rain.
• Continue to liquid feed containers and hanging baskets.
• Hoe weeds and clear rotting debris from the ground. Ideal conditions for slugs and snails have seen increased damage by these garden pests. Use organic pellets, encourage a wide range of wildlife into the garden to correct any imbalances and rely on good gardening husbandry.
• Take cuttings from fuchsia and pelargoniums
• Prune rambler roses
• Clip hedges, if not done so already
• Order and start planting spring flowering bulbs and plant colchicum for autumn flowering.

The Productive Garden

• Harvest onions and shallots as they ripen.
  Pinch out the tips of runner beans as they exceed their supports.
• Continue to harvest herbs (freeze and dry some for winter use.)
• Sow spring cabbage
• Summer prune espalier and cordon apples if you haven't already.

Feature Plants

Herbaceous plants looking good at the moment are Erigeron, Helenium, Liriope muscari, Solidago, Verbascum and the commonly-named Japanese Anemone. Looking at the last of these, they provide a long flowering period, rarely require support, will tolerate a fair degree of shade and are happy in local conditions. They are widely available in a variety of colours ranging from white to deep pink.

Here are some of the cultivars available:

• Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert'. Single white flowers with yellow stamens, flowering from mid-summer and reaching a height of 75-90cm.
• Anemone ‘Prinz Heinrich'. Clusters of pink flowers, taller at 120cm, from mid-summer.
• Anemone ‘September Charm'. As the name suggests, this flowers a little later and into autumn, with pale pink flowers and a height of 80cm.

• Anemone ‘Whirlwind'. Strong growing semi-double white flowers from mid-summer and reaching a height of 75-90cm.
• Anemone X hybrida Pamina. This is a newer cultivar with dark red flowers; it likes a shady spot and is shorter at 60cm. It is strong growing and worth seeking out.
• Shrubs looking good in September include Callicarpa, Fuchsia, Hydrangea, Hypericum, Lavetera, Pyracantha, Rosa ‘Geranium' and Viburnum davidii.
• Ornamental grasses, rushes and sedges often look their best in September, with the Miscanthus sinensis cultivars being fairly reliable and hardy.

 Garden Advice by New Leaf Gardenscape

This article was kindly submitted by Jo Howes, proprietor of New Leaf Gardenscape. Through her articles, Jo will be advising us each month on what we should be doing in the garden. Look out for further monthly updates to guide us through the year.
In the meantime, for professional advice please contact Jo at Jo.Howes@newleafgardenscape.co.uk 

NEXT MONTH - With Autumn really starting to set in OCTOBER is a busy month in the garden. Time to remove moss, aerate the lawn . . . Read more next month

What do you think?

You will need to sign in to post a comment to this article. if you do not have an AboutMyArea account, you can join now for free.