September Tips
NOW IS THE TIME TO…
SEPTEMBER IN THE GARDEN.
Cut back lavender, as soon as it has finished flowering, so that the plants won’t become ‘leggy’. Cut as far back as you can without cutting into the dark, dead wood, which is unlikely to regrow. If you leave the plants unpruned, they will eventually split in windy weather and look unattractive.
Now is the time to order bulbs for autumn planting. As well as the usual daffodils, hyacinths and tulips, it is worth considering early spring flowering crocuses and anemone blanda and the early summer flowering bulbs such as Alliums and Camassias.
Don't forget to plant autumn onion and shallot sets. Formerly called ‘Japanese’ onion sets, if firmly planted about 4-6 inches (10-15cm) apart, with the tips just peeping out of the soil, they will be ready in late spring/ early summer, before the traditional onions and when prices are high in the shops. Check after planting to make sure that the birds haven’t pulled them out, hoping for something more tasty! Remembrer garlic is best planted slightly later in October or November.
WINTER SALADS. If you didn’t get round to sowing seeds for the winter greens and salads suggested last month, it’s still not too late to do so. These late sowings will escape the decimation often caused by flea beetle, which proliferate in the yellow fields of oilseed rape. The flea beetles make ‘pepperpot’ holes all over the salad leaves. When you touch the leaf, they leap away. If you are determined to catch them, you can put a non toxic glue on a piece of card and run it along the row of plants. The beetles will hop up and be caught.
DIVIDING PERENNIALS. Many perennials can be divided from September onwards. Choose those which have finished flowering and are getting too big and perhaps ‘woody’ and unproductive in the centre. (Those which are a little tender and are happiest in dry situations are best left until spring). You might need two garden forks back to back (and a strong back yourself!) to pull apart those which have been neglected for some years. You can then replant, watering the planting hole, the younger, fleshy sections of the original clump for a better display of flowers next year.
WJNSept2011
