September Gardening Jobs

With the summer slowing fading into the distant memory September is the month in which you should begin getting your garden ready for the colder months ahead. At the beginning of autumn you should be getting your greenhouse and plants ready for the winter, harvesting fruit and vegetables and also planting spring bulbs ready for next year.
In the Garden

• Divide herbaceous perennials – September is a good month in which to do this thanks the moist weather. The roots will still be active but the tops will be dying back.
• Tidy your greenhouse – When the colder weather arrives you will need to bring certain plants into the greenhouse to help them survive the winter. Make sure your greenhouse is ready for this.
• Plant spring bulbs including tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocus. Each bulb should be planted three times deeper than the diameter of the bulb. For example a crocus bulb which is one inch in diameter should be planted three inches deep.
• Compost your summer bedding plants once they are over. Dig up the plants and lightly feed the flower bed which can be used for other plants now that these are over.
• Rake fallen leaves from your lawn.
• Clear the pond of fallen leaves.
• Tidy your borders – cut down faded perennials and pull out finished annual plants.
• Plant out potted trees.
• Prune your rose bush and remove the last of the flowers once they have withered.
• September is a great month to sow a new lawn from seed.
• Force hyacinth and narcissi bulbs for Christmas.

Fruit and Vegetables

• Onions – Your onions will be nearly ripe when the tips of the leaves begin to turn yellow. When this occurs break them at the necks as this will speed up the ripening process. Loosen the soil around them to encourage growing. After a couple of days take them out of the soil and leave them to cure on dry ground.
• Tomatoes – Any unripe tomatoes should be hung upside down in a cool dark place still on the vine to ripen.
• Rhubarb, Strawberries and Raspberries – Relocate these three fruits before the first frost occurs as they deplete the soil of nutrients in a very short space of time. These plants should be moved every three or four years.
• Pears – Early pears will be ready to be picked now.
• Marrows – Cut and store before the frosts.
• Plant spring cabbage, kale and Savoy’s.

For more great gardening tips check out my blog. At Jacks Garden Store you will find great price greenhouses and cold frames which are perfect for protecting your plants during the winter months ahead.
Good Luck!
Gardener Jack