Now that September is here I think that we can finally say that the drought is over. The much needed rain that we have had in the last few weeks has done the world of good in our part of Hertfordshire. The grass is starting to green up and once again plants are spurting into growth.
1. Dead head the lavender if you haven’t already done so. Trim the flower stalks to an inch into the new growth. Garden shears are best for this.
2. Watch out for diseases. The weather has started to turn very humid which means that certain fungal diseases such as black spot on roses and potato and tomato blight will start to become more prevalent. Pick off infected leaves as soon as you see them, try to increase ventilation, avoid watering at night and try to only water the soil and not the foliage.
3. Make some notes on the position of your herbaceous perennials in your borders. Now is a good time to think about where to move them to later on in the autumn if you are not happy with their current position or height in the border etc. It is always a good idea to mark them with a stick as they die down so that you don’t dig them up by accident in the spring.
4. Lift and shift. Towards the end of the month you can lift those perennials, divide them and then move them somewhere else.
5. Start thinking about buying and planting spring bulbs. Daffodills are best planted towards the end of the month and tulips are best planted in November.
6. Cut summer fruiting raspberry canes down to the ground once they have finished fruiting if you didn’t do so last month. The new canes which will still be green will provide fruit for next year so leave these and tie in for next year. Pick autumn flowering raspberries.
7. Continue to collect seed from perennials and annuals once the seed pods have dried out to either give to friends or re-sow yourself.
8. Don’t be tempted to forget about your hanging baskets and pots; keep watering, feeding and deadheading to prolong flowering. Most will flower quite happily until the first frosts.
9. If you are thinking about re-turfing your garden or re-seeding your lawn, now is a good time to do it as the soil is still reasonably warm and there tends to be more rainfall.
10. Continue to harvest your veg, potatoes, sweetcorn, runner beans and tomatoes. If, god forbid, there are any light frosts at the end of the month, cover your outdoor tomatoes with fleece for protection and don’t forget to keep feeding them with tomato feed. Don’t forget keep picking runner beans, ideally when they are young and not stringy, to keep encouraging continued cropping.