September 2015 Newsletter

With the children about to go back to school, and with the torrential rain we’ve recently had, summer feels officially over, doesn’t it? We can now start to look forward to lovely mellow autumn days, with the wealth of vibrant colour the season always brings.

Whilst I love the exuberance of spring, and the long lazy days of summer, autumn has always held a special place in my heart. I just adore that final fanfare of colour before the winter months …. it makes me think Mother Nature is jubilantly shouting of wonderful things to come.

Autumn signifies a time of renewal, as well as one of slowing down. It’s one of the busiest times in the gardening calendar, as it’s the ideal time to add new plants to your garden. The reason for this is that the earth is still warm and welcoming, thus allowing roots to establish quickly. However, plants are not in full growth, so can focus on just getting embedded and settled in, before their winter slumbers. It means that they’ll be ready to burst into full growth as soon as spring kicks in, and you’ll normally find that plants put into the garden in autumn are stronger, bigger and more robust by the following summer than those planted in spring.

So, consider where you noticed gaps during the gardening year and fill them now. Have you got anything that is about to give you glorious autumn colour? Was there a lull in mid-summer with nothing of particular interest to focus on? Was your early spring garden less spectacular than your neighbour’s? If so, come and choose from the wealth of new stock we have at the garden centre, including from our Italian growers:

• 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
• Euonymus elatus – with possibly the most startling autumn leaf colour of all
• Acers - in a range of sizes and colours
• Skimmia - evergreen, shade tolerant with glorious berries
• Ginko biloba – the most ancient of all trees on the planet, unchanged in their genetic makeup since the time of the dinosaurs!

Perennials that are fabulous at present include:

• Anemone japonica – still going strong
• Helenium, Coreopsis and Rudbekia – such a vibrant range of ‘hot’ coloured flowers
• Chrysanthamums – love ‘em or hate ‘em, they certainly give you a lot of bang for your buck!
• Grasses – at their peak just now

For a short time only, we’ve got winter vegetable strips in stock, including:

• Broad beans
• Brocolli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Chard

Of course, it’s also time to start planting spring flowering bulbs, and the sooner you get the narcissi and crocus’ in the ground, the better. Tulip planting should be held off until it’s colder (around early November is ideal) but buy the varieties you want now, as we can’t guarantee they’ll still be available later on. Just keep them somewhere cool, dark and dry until you plant them. We’ve got an amazing range of bulbs in stock, so there’s bound to be something that floats your boat … just come and take a look.

Many of you have already discovered the wonders of ‘Rootgrow’, so you won’t be surprised to hear that there is a formula especially for getting bulbs off to a good start. Make sure you grab a pack along with your bulbs.

If you have our typical London clay soil, it’s also worth adding some sharp sand or grit to the base of the planting hole, to stop your bulbs rotting off if we have a wet winter. Alex has sourced some really handy little carry tubs of grit if you only need a little bit, or we have the usual larger bags if you need more.

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 on which to throw all the weeds and clippings as you move around your garden … makes life SO much simpler
• 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 Lawn Food available, along with a handy information sheet on how to tend your lawn at this time of year.

The other important job this month and next is to mulch your beds and borders. I can’t over-emphasise how much you have to gain from this process, which is simple and pain free to do. Just mound a thick layer of mulch on your beds and around your trees, and let the worms and the winter frosts do their job in pulling it down into the soil, helping improve both the structure and nutritional balance therein. Use any of the following:

• Well-rotted horse manure, which slowly breaks down into the ground nourishing and improving your garden soil. Particularly useful for improving the structure of clay soil.
• Lakeland Gold – this bracken based organic compost is a fantastic ‘clay buster’. Dig it into your beds or use to mulch on top for impressive results.
• Decorative bark, which stays on top of the soil for longer, forming a barrier against weeds, and holding moisture in the ground.
• ‘Strulch’, which is made from mineralised straw, and has won numerous awards.

Our special offer this month is on well-rotted horse manure …

BUY 3, GET 4^th FREE!

Sally’s Garden Tasks follows, so you’ll see that, all in all, there’s plenty to keep us all busy outside this month. Let’s hope for some clear bright days in which to get it all done.

Warmest wishes for a glorious September

Karen

Garden jobs for
September 2015

What a glorious summer it's been, not blazing hot, but we've had so many lovely days. And now we move into the mellow months of autumn, with hints of colour beginning to appear. It's time to think about shaping and planting the garden for next year, as well as how it will look over the winter months.

My top 2 jobs for September

1. Keep deadheading Penstemon, Dahlias and Roses to prolong their flowering season.

2. Start choosing and planting spring bulbs, for a colourful display in the garden and containers from January onwards.

Plant and Garden Maintenance

• Start to clear away garden debris from beds and borders and from around containers.
• Give evergreen hedges their final trim of the year.
• 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 climbing and 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. Water them in well.
• 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.
• Think about installing a compost bin to collect the leaves and pruning that you will be collecting over the next couple of months. Vegetable gardens will generate a lot of compostable material too. Your garden will thank you for good compost once it's rotted down.
• A water butt will collect all the rainfall over the next months, which is particularly good for ericaceous plants like blueberries, camellias and rhododendrons.

Lawns

As the weather begins to cool, the lawn will benefit from an autumn work over. It's worth spending some time and elbow grease in the next couple of months:

• Remove old “thatch” (dead grass) and moss – use a springy rake to clear the congestion that has built up over the growing season.
• Aerate – to improve drainage and help protect against a buildup of moss – use an aerator designed specifically for the job, or a fork.
• Fertilise – a thin layer of lawn dressing (a combination of top soil, sand and fertilisers) 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, foot traffic on the lawn is typically less in the autumn than the spring, therefore you are less likely to damage the newly laid turf. 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.

Fruit and Vegetables

• 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 cabbage, cauliflower 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.
• Pinch out the top of cordon tomatoes now to concentrate energy into ripening fruits.
• Pot up herbs such as parsley, mint and basil for the kitchen windowsill to enjoy over the winter.

Planning and planting

• Fill gaps in borders with late flowering perennials such as Sedum, Echinacea, Anemone and many more.
• 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. As Karen has advised, leave planting tulips until later on.
• Bulbs should be planted at the right depth - general rule is a depth equivalent to three times their own height, the pack will give planting instructions.
• 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

• Keep an eye out for slugs and snails, and make sure you don't leave places where they can settle in for the autumn and winter months.
• Check for vine weevil in containers.

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, they'll help us in return by eating unwanted insects in the garden.

Enjoy what I hope will be a glorious September, get jobs done while the days are still fairly long!

Sally