This Month - September

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless with fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run. From John Keats - To Autumn.

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Editorial

    It's 30°C as I sit down to read this, I don't know what that is old money, but it's only 7°C off my body temperature and that makes me very uncomfortable indeed. When I pull back the curtain though that's keeping the sun out of the study I do like what I see, a very green garden, apples hanging off the branches, purple plums readying themselves for tomorrows harvesting sessions by the family and sons friends - we gave up picking them and putting in baskets a couple of years ago, they now get eaten off the tree, the best way. Most of all though everything is just so verdant and lush, the intermittent rain of the last few weeks has come at just the right sort of time so even the lawn is healthy and not a straw-coloured rough carpet like it can sometimes become.

The only sign of impending autumn at the moment, besides the fruit, is Vitis coignetiae, the Crimson Glory Vine where the leaves are starting to turn yellow in between the veins.

We went to my brother-in-laws a couple of weeks ago for a barbeque, we'd just recently returned from holiday somewhere ridiculously hot and parched. As we sat under his tall trees in the shade and I looked up at the shafts of sunlight shining through, each one with its own group of midges dancing about, I thought it was almost the very essence of an English summer. Those dancing (harmless) insects in the sunbeams in late afternoon are one of my strongest summer memories from childhood, calming, hugely atmospheric and yet some indication that even the very last of the sun's rays were being used to benefit.

I'm currently really looking forwards to September, it's the next best gardening month of the year after May.

It makes it all the more poignant that there are people in and around New Orleans at the moment who are experiencing a very different kind of nature to the kindly climate that we take for granted in England. There are many subscribers to this website and newsletter who live in the USA, please stay safe and take care.

    Do you remember to enjoy your garden? In the sitting and relaxing way I mean? A few weeks ago, I was sitting inside reading when my wife suggested I go and sit out instead (in the Adirondack chair and stool I'd made from teak planks for the purpose) as it was so lovely. Sure enough, it was "so lovely" and I settled to read, then felt a drink would be nice, on the wide chair arm, specifically designed for the purpose. Drink acquired and a couple of pages were read, then I saw.... so one thing led to another and 20 minutes later I received the admonishment "You just can't do it can you?". I had secateurs in hand, trowel at my feet and a tub for clipping with me, I was also at least 30 feet from the chair, so a last minute dash wasn't going to be convincing.

Funny thing is though, I find it very easy to relax in other peoples gardens, even though I can see dozens of little jobs that would be beneficial, maybe it's because there's some-one with me and so my mind doesn't wander. I've decided I just enjoy my own garden in a different way, and my family enjoy it in a different way to me, so I reckon alls well that ends well.

Garden Futures by Roger Noakes

All forecasts turn out wrong. Despite that here are some thoughts on the future of gardens and gardening.

Science and technology: The lawn mower was invented in the 1840s since when we have had electric and petrol driven mowers, hover mowers and most recently robotic mowers. Pretty soon you will be able to contact your computer house control system to instruct it to activate the watering system, mower and open/close the greenhouse windows. With genetically modified plants we might have blue roses and black tulips – or slug killing Hostas.

Green and conservation: These attitudes are being taken up by increasing numbers of people and this trend will continue. So there will be more home composting, wider use of peat free composts, reduced use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides more, greater use of organic methods, perhaps more people growing their own fruit and veg.

An ageing population: People will be looking for easy maintenance gardens and labour saving solutions. Demand for garden maintenance services will increase. Garden product and service suppliers will increasingly target the “grey” market.

Smaller gardens: We have a housing shortage and the government has plans for large scale housing development particularly in the south east. This probably means higher density housing (i.e. smaller houses and gardens) so people will have to find ways of making the best use of the space they have. There will probably be more housing developments with communal gardens.

Life styles: Many people now have busy lives and this is likely to continue. The number of single households and single parent households is likely to continue. The demand will be for low maintenance gardens and socialising gardens.

But what do I know?

    Smaller gardens - now that's a trend I've seen more and more of recently. There's two new housing developments being built near to where I live (within about 5 miles) and both have houses and apartments going up to three storeys with the largest gardens being small and many houses/flats having none at all. The one that gets my vote for the worst ever is near to Hinchingbrooke Country Park on the outskirts of Huntingdon, maybe the builders think that having a country park on the doorstep is compensation for building Dickensian street scenes in the countryside. The worst part of it all though that takes it to a next level is the communal garages / parking spaces (no garden, many flats, no driveways) where there are armies of wheelie bins lined up in serried ranks like an Abominable Terracotta Army. Huntingdon likes wheelie bins - we've got three - 2 too many and I never use the green one as I'm a compost fanatic - if you have no garden, you end up putting them where everyone else does and it looks horrible. Rant over.

    I've always said that this is a good time of the year to look for garden bargains. The phenomenon seems to be increasing. Unsold every-growing plants have always been a good bet, but recently I've been spotting one and two-offs of lawnmowers, shredders, containers etc. at bargain prices. I bought a new lawnmower this year for instance, it cost me £289 and very pleased with it I am too (Honda IZY) but I saw another model that was about £400, for about £200 instead last week. Old stock being cleared out for next year, and who buys a lawn mower now? If yours in on its last legs, you'll be hoping it manages this year and get a new one in the spring, but if you can bear the unseasonal expense, it's a really great time for bargains. The down side? - like I said just one and two-offs end of lines in the garden centres.

 

 Jobs / Tips

    Tidy the garden. This helps to reduce the amount of hiding places and food that slugs and snails in particular will have to tide them over the winter, which is good news for you next year. Don't be too enthusiastic though, some plant seed heads can look good through the winter, particularly of ornamental grasses.

    If your plants have been affected by disease or pest pay particular attention to tidy-up hygiene so as not to give them (the diseases and pests) a head start next year. Diseased leaves should be burnt or taken out of the garden and disposed of, likewise fruit that is damaged by apple scab, plum sawfly or anything similar. The pest or disease needs the host tree and they do what they can to make sure they hang around it through the winter to feed on it again next year.

    Just time to prune any plum trees you have as soon as possible. The problem with plums (and all the Prunus) is that you're supposed to prune them in the summer, any other time means they're at risk from developing "silver leaf" a fungal infection that can easily kill the whole tree. If you do prune in summer then you lose the fruit on your pruned branches, not to mention what you would knock off adjacent branches as the pruned wood fell. A good compromise is to prune immediately the years crop has been picked, not quite high summer, but enough to keep the tree reasonably safe.

    Scour the retail outlets for summer plant bargains. The end of the year is the best time for new plantings, the soil is still warm and there's time for plants to get established before the winter. At the same time drought and being baked by the sun is much less likely so new introductions don't need the fussing over that they may do at other times of the year. Come the spring they're all ready in place and ready to perform as best they can with minimal intervention from you.

Shrubs and perennials that have sat in nurseries and garden centres all summer have been growing strongly in good conditions and are now large and vigorous. They pose a problem for the retailer in that they will need potting on to ensure they remain healthy, in the main, if the plants are not sold they will end up on the compost heap or in the skip. So this becomes an extra special time of year to buy and plant new introductions to the garden.

What stops people doing it? - the thought that things are now going to wind down and there won't be any reward seen until next spring from their efforts. Not a problem for the real gardener though - go on fill those gaps before you start pulling the purse strings tighter in time for Christmas.

    Sow hardy annuals for early flowering next spring. Calendulas, Larkspur, Nigella (love in a mist) Shirley poppies and my favourite blue cornflowers all do well if sown in rows in a sheltered position. Don't bother with the "broadcast" method of sowing as often advised for hardy annuals, the additional individual attention of short rows drawn in the soil with a stick, seed sown thinly and then covered properly and watered in is much more successful. The rows don't need to be straight or aligned, as long as the seeds aren't left so much to their own devices.

    Plant spring flowering bulbs for next year. Spring flowering bulbs and shrubs Plant hyacinths in tall containers for the best results indoors (not shallow bowls, the more the roots reach down, the more the flowers reach up so it seems). Lily flowered tulips are extravagant, but fantastic and only very rarely found as potted bulbs in the way that Hyacinths and Daffodils are.

    Detach strawberry runners and plant them out in well dug over and manured soil. You can get huge amounts of free plants if you've grown any strawberries. If you're not ready to plant them out, then place each little plantlet in a space of its own in a small pot or several in a seed tray and they'll soon root and be ready to plant out later. It's also a good way of getting extra plants to give away to friends and neighbours which is always one of the nice things about gardening.

    A good time to make a new lawn using seed or turf. if you've put it off over the summer (or for even longer). The cooler but still reasonable temperatures and more reliable rainfall at this time of year mean that it is one of the best times to do this.

    If you have any half hardy plants such as fuchsias or Pelargoniums watch out for cold weather and frosts that may kill them off, they need to over-winter in frost free conditions if they are to survive the winter. It's a good idea to take cuttings in a protected place as an insurance policy.

    Sow the seeds of any perennials or shrubs as soon as they're ripe. If you collect your own seed from existing plants, then sow them when nature intended them to be sown. They might not always germinate straight away, so keep them somewhere sheltered from too much rain and sun and they will do in time.

    In the 19th Century, Devon girls would go "crabbing for husbands". Crab apples, gathered on 29th September (Michaelmas Day) would be arranged in the shape of the prospective lover’s initials. Those best preserved on Old Michaelmas Day (10th October),  were thought to indicate the best prospects.

Still to do from last months list

    Still time to sow seeds of winter flowering pansies and violas, under cover if at all possible, in the space made by under cover crops coming to the end of their season. Pansies and violas are among the easiest plants to grow from seed and if started off now will be good strong plants by late autumn and so able to flower throughout the winter period finishing off with a final flourish in the spring. Strictly speaking they are perennials and can be kept going after the first season, but they are never again as good as they were in the first year, so are best discarded and replaced. One of the main reasons I grow from seed rather than buying them as plants (as well as the satisfaction of growing from seed) is that you can get a bed or group of all your favourite shades and colours.

    A good time to take cuttings of shrubs, preferably with some protection. Cut a piece of new stem about 6 inches long and remove all flower buds and all but the end 3 or 4 leaves. Place several of these around the rim of a small plant pot filled with a mixture of sand and compost. Water and place in a shaded place, don't allow to dry out. Check the bottom of the pot after a month or so and pot up individual cuttings when you see roots sticking through the drainage holes. It's worth trying with almost anything, maybe I shouldn't say that but even when I read up how to propagate a plant I usually try this method as well anyway as it's so simple and will work with lots of plants in many cases.