September 2014 Newsletter

With the children back at school, summer is officially over, but here’s hoping that we’ll still have plenty of clear days in which to enjoy our gardens!

Before I tell you about what we have for your garden, however, I’d like to tell you now about the exciting event happening in West Dulwich on Saturday 20^th September. It is the launch of a new initiative called ‘Love West Dulwich’, organised and run by many of the shops, residents and businesses in the area, both round Park Hall Road/Croxted Road and also Rosendale Road. We want to showcase all that West Dulwich has to offer, to those who think they know it already as well as those who don’t.

So – what’s happening on the launch day? Well, there will be a wealth of events taking place during the day, including:

• Face painting
• Food tastings
• Furniture restoration
• Discounts in store
• Cookery demonstration
• Informative talks
• Style advice
• A ‘Where’s Wally?’ hunt round the whole of West Dulwich
• Children’s story telling

And much more besides!

( for more information on events and timings visit facebook.com/lovewestdulwich or follow us on twitter @lovewestdulwich)

It will certainly be a day to dawdle and explore the area, and will culminate in an evening soiree at the garden centre, starting at 6pm. We will have a live 3 piece jazz band, drinks and …. wait for it … Robby is FINALLY making good on his promise to cook a South African-style barbeque!!

We will be able to showcase some of the lovely new vintage pieces recently sourced, along with all the glorious new plant stock in from both our UK and European growers.

Please put the date in your diary and join us if you can. Remember, that’s

SATURDAY 20th SEPTEMBER!

Now onto gardening news ….

September is one of the very best times to plant, as the ground is still warm so roots can grow fast and get established before the winter takes hold. This is particularly true of trees and shrubs, so if you’ve spotted a gap in your garden over the year, now might be the time to fill it – perhaps with something to give you autumn or winter interest. We have a large range of shrubs and trees that fit the bill including:

• Betula (silver birch) - with their ethereal silvery trunks and whispering leaves
• Nandina domestica (heavenly bamboo) - with its lovely fiery autumn foliage
• Pyracantha - with gold, orange and red berries (watch out for the thorns!)
• Euonymus alatus - possibly the most startling autumn leaf colour of all
• Acers - in a range of sizes and colours
• Skimmia - evergreen, shade tolerant and produces glorious berries
• Viburnum davidii - another shade tolerate evergreen shrub, with startling purple berries

September is also one of the busiest periods of the gardening calendar. It’s time to plant spring bulbs (I know! Hard to believe it’s that time of year again). Get the Narcissi and Crocus’ in as soon as possible, but don’t plant Tulips until it’s colder (you can even hold off until November). However, as I always say, buy them NOW as we simply can’t guarantee that we’ll still be able to supply all the varieties later on. Just keep them somewhere cool and dry until you plant them. Fritillaria, Muscari, Crocus’, Narcissi and Iris reticulata all flower in early spring, followed later by the likes of Tulips and Allium. We have an informative “How to plant bulbs” sheet by the till in case you’re unsure about what you’re meant to be doing.

Within the next few weeks you’ll need to start the ‘Great Autumn Clear Up’. Check now to ensure you have what you need to make this as quick and painless as possible:

• A rake – metal or plastic – to gather leaves and other debris
• Leaf composting sacks in which to put them to rot down and make gorgeous leaf mould
• Sharp, oiled secateurs
• Pruning saw, topiary shears, loppers – you know which of these you need
• Gloves (including gauntlets if you’re tacking roses or brambles)
• A ground sheet (makes life SO much simpler!) on which to throw all the weeds and clippings as you move around your garden
• Brown council bags in which to put the waste that you can’t compost (these are free and we have plenty. Come and help yourself!)

It’s also a good month to sort your lawn out. We have Lawn Dressing and Autumn Lawn Food available, along with a handy information sheet on how to tend your lawn at this time of year.

The other big job this month and next is to mulch your beds and borders. I always think of this as tucking the garden up in a big fluffy duvet for the winter! There are a range of mulches available:

· Well-rotted horse manure, which slowly breaks down into the ground nourishing and improving your garden soil.

· Decorative bark, which stays on top of the soil for longer, forming a barrier against weeds, and holding moisture in the ground. It creates an attractive, neat finish.

· ‘Strulch’, which is made from mineralised straw, and has won numerous awards. I used this myself for the first time last year and have been very impressed with the results.

So, all in all, there’s plenty to keep us all busy outside this month, so let’s hope for some clear bright days.

Warmest wishes for a glorious September

Karen

Garden jobs for September 2014

I've enjoyed the summer months: things have grown well in gardens and put on a good show, and we've actually had some sun! There's still lots of colour around in borders and containers as we begin to move into autumn, and lots of opportunity to keep it going. I've noticed colour changes on trees already and look forward to the colourful show in the season to come.

General Maintenance

• Start to clear away garden debris from beds and borders and around containers.
• Give evergreen hedges their final trim of the year.
• Pot up tender herbs such as basil and bring them indoors for the winter.
• Extend the summer season by deadheading and feeding hanging baskets and containers. Replace faded summer bedding with winter flowering pansies and violas.
• Prune late summer flowering shrubs when the flowers have finished, including rambling roses.
• Once lavender flowers have faded, cut the plants back with secateurs, within the green growth, not brown wood. Doing this each year will maintain neat, compact plants and encourage more side shoots to grow.
• As leaves begin to fall, cover ponds with net to prevent leaves falling in and affecting water quality. Nets also protect fish from herons and other predators.
• Rake leaves regularly, especially from lawns where a thick layer of leaves can kill off the grass. Leaves can be used to make leaf mould – store wetted leaves in black plastic sacks for 2 years and you’ll have a fantastic soil conditioner.
• Herbaceous perennials which have got too big in their allotted space, or which look tired, can be divided and replanted immediately – this generates free plants!
• It’s worth mounding a good layer of compost or horse manure around established trees and shrubs, including fruit trees, roses and wisteria. They’ll really benefit from an autumn feed, and will produce stronger growth and more flowers in the spring if mulched now.
• Keep tidying the garden, removing dead and dying leaves from plants, pulling up weeds and generally cleaning to help prevent pests and diseases overwintering.
• Tackle perennial weeds such as bindweed with glyphosate based weed killers.

Lawns

As the weather begins to cool, lawns benefit from an autumn work over – in 3 easy steps:

1. Remove old “thatch” (dead grass) and moss – use a springy rake to clear the congestion that has built up over the growing season.

2. Aerate – to improve drainage and help protect against a buildup of moss – use an aerator designed specifically for the job, or a fork.

3. Fertilise – a thin layer of lawn dressing (a combination of top soil, sand and fertilizers) or horticultural sand, should be raked or brushed to fill the holes created by aerating. This will improve drainage and avoid winter waterlogging, especially in heavy clay soils.

• September is an excellent time to lay a new lawn with cut turfs, as they will establish their roots quickly, without putting on too much top growth, avoiding the need to mow. Additionally, you are less likely to damage the newly laid turf as the temptation to be out on the lawn is reduced in the cooler autumn months than in the spring. You can also revitalise patches in your lawn that are worn out, either with seed or by cutting in new turfs.

• Use a lawn weed killer to control perennial weeds before the weather cools.

• Apply Autumn lawn feed to lawns to strengthen roots and kill moss.

• Keep picking raspberries, and prune the canes once fruiting is over.
• Net fruit trees to protect fruit from the birds.
• Remove fallen fruit from around trees and shrubs before it rots.
• Fix grease bands round the trunks of apple trees to trap the wingless female winter moths as they try to climb the trunk to lay their eggs (which would turn into bud eating caterpillars!).
• Root vegetables can be lifted and stored, but it’s best to leave parsnips and swedes in the ground to be frosted as this improves their flavour.
• Plant vegetables such as Calabrese, Purple sprouting Broccoli, cabbages etc to enjoy through winter and spring.
• Continue to feed tomato plants with a high potash feed every week. Remove yellowing leaves and leaves which are covering the fruit. This will increase air circulation and help to reduce the risk of grey mould.

Planning and planting

• Prepare areas for new planting next year by digging in good quality, well rotted horse manure. If possible, dig down at least one spade depth. The winter frosts will break the soil up even more, making less work for you in the spring.
• Think about spring colour and start planting spring-flowering bulbs now in beds or containers. Small bulbs such as crocus, dwarf iris and small narcissi can be put in window boxes to grow through pansies or violas. Most bulbs can be planted from late summer until late autumn. Daffodils should be planted as soon as possible to get some good root growth, while tulips are best planted in November in the cooler temperatures to avoid infection by tulip fire, and so that their shoots don’t appear too early and get frosted in the spring.
• Bulbs should be planted at the right depth – a general rule is a depth equivalent to three times their own height, but the packs always give planting instructions.
• Why not try layering a few bulb varieties in a pot to create a real centrepiece in the spring? Put a layer of bulb fibre at the bottom and sit some tulips on it. Cover with more bulb fibre and have a layer of hyacinths, more fibre, and a layer of Muscari, grape hyacinths. There are lots of colours to choose from, and you can choose varieties which will complement each other beautifully.
• As Karen has said, Autumn is an ideal time for planting many trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. The ground is warm and roots have a chance to get established before the winter cold. Autumn-planted trees, shrubs and perennials often have a head start on those planted in the spring, putting energy into top growth at the first hint of warmth in the spring.

Pests and disease

• As usual, slugs and snails remain the gardeners enemy. It’s very disheartening.
• There are two main approaches – prevention and removal.
• Keeping the garden clean and tidy will reduce hiding places.
• Hand-picking and disposing of slugs and snails works - if you gather up all the adults before they reproduce, things will get dramatically better, because the tiny ones you miss don't do the most damage.
• If you don’t favour pellets, look up Nematodes. These are natural organisms already in the soil, which attack specific garden pests, such as slugs and snails. Some customers have reported success with these products, bought via the internet.

Wildlife

As we head towards the winter months, keep feeders topped up for the birds and leave water out for them too. If we look after bird life with food and water, in return they'll help us by eating unwanted insects in the garden.

Here's hoping we're heading into an Indian summer. Happy gardening!

Sally