September is likely to be the most prolific time of the year for harvesting. While the gardener is lifting vegetables and picking fruit, thoughts must also be turned to next year with spring bulbs needing planting.
Vegetables
Outside
One of the most versatile and popular vegetables, the potato, will be ready for harvesting this month. They can be stored in hessian or thick paper sacks in a dark frost-proof place.
Lift maincrop beetroot and carrots. Dig them up carefully and store in a frost-proof cellar or shed.
Plant spring cabbage from July sowings – it’s a good idea to put in ground where onions have been removed.
Continue to earth up leeks and celery.
In a sheltered place, make a small sowing of cauliflowers.
Pick all tomatoes as outdoor varieties are not likely to ripen any more – stand in a sunny window to finish ripening. You may wish to turn green fruits into chutney.
Harvest sweetcorn as soon as the silky tassels at the end of the cob turn brown.
Thin out vegetable seedlings from any sowings made in August such as winter spinach and endive.
In the Greenhouse
Watch night ventilation in your greenhouse as it will now be colder. Ideally you should look for a minimum temperature of 10 deg C at night.
Continue to water greenhouse vegetables such as tomatoes and chillies.
Make successional sowings of lettuce, radishes and cress.
Ripen off melons – place on an inverted flowerpot.
Make a mushroom bed – this is generally the best time to make a bed in a frame, outhouse or shed.
Fruit and Berries
Outside
Apples and pears will be ready for picking this month. They need to picked at the right time – too early or too late will affect its taste.
Too soon, they will shrink and lose a great deal of flavour too late it will be mealy or even rotten.
Gently twist and it should easily come away from the tree.
Complete planting of strawberries
Fix grease bands to fruit trees – these are usually greaseproof paper covered with a tacky substance which will catch all manner of insects that try to crawl over them.
By this time loganberries will have finished fruiting and they should be pruned as soon as possible.
Flowers and Shrubs
Outside
There should still be plenty of plants in flower in your garden in September such as the purple coneflower, dahlias and yellow and gold marigolds.
Plant heather which will give your garden some colour in the winter months.
Plant bulbs ready for flowering next spring – include tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, snowdrops.
When buying bulbs, the bigger the bulb, the greater the bloom. – make sure they are smooth skinned and firm to the touch.
| Plant | Depth | Distance apart |
|---|---|---|
| Chionodoxa | 60mm (2.5”) | 75mm (3”) |
| Crocus | 50mm (2”) | 75mm (3”) |
| Dog’s tooth violet | 50mm (2”) | 150mm (6”) |
| Hyacinth | 150mm (6”) | 200mm (8”) |
| Iris | 100mm (4”) | 150mm (6”) |
| Lilies | 175mm (7”) | 300mm (12”) |
| Muscari | 75mm (3”) | 100mm (4”) |
| Narcissus | 125mm (5”) | 200mm (8”) |
| Snowdrop | 75mm (3”) | 75mm (3”) |
Divide irises
Take cuttings of evergreen shrubs and root in a frame or sheltered border.
Sow hardy annuals – sow thinly where they are to flower in May and June next year. Include annual alyssum, calendula, cornflower, godetia, larkspur and viscaria.
Plant anemones – the tubers should be planted 75mm (3”) deep and 150mm (6”) apart.
Pot ‘Christmas flowering’ hippeastrums in 100 -125mm (4-5”) pots.
Pot on primulas and calceolarias from April sowings.- plant sinly into 75mm (3”) pots.
Shelter tender plants including pelagoniums, marguerites, tender fuschias, tender hydrangeas, heliotropes, camellias, genistas and arum lilies.
September is a good time to overhaul borders as you can see where everything is and how much space it takes up.
In the greenhouse
Take cuttings of bedding plants including calceolarias, verbenas, violas and pansies, antirrhinums and violets.
Pot lilies – they are best to be grown singly in 150-175mm (6-7”) pots according to the size of the bulbs.
Prick off schizanthus from August sowings.
Pot cyclamen seedlings from August sowings.
Bring all chrysanthemums into the greenhouse.
Lawns
September is a good month to sow grass seed to repair any bare patches in your lawn.
Remove any deep-rooted weeds such as dandelions – use a knife or a daisy grubber.
Building
September is a good month to consider buying and erecting a greenhouse if you do not have one. Your choice will depend on your budget.
Other Jobs
Deal with slugs – the more you destroy now, the fewer you will have next year.- they can be dropped into a bucket of salty water. If you can afford it, try shallow dishes filled with beer as this will attract them and they will drown.
Plant out container grown trees.