September in the Garden ........................(Time to Start Digging)
This month :- Don’t forget the Autumn Show 4th Sept. Lodden Hall. We have The National Vegetable Society’s Exhibitors’ Guide available for perusal at the trading store on Sundays so come and find out how to exhibit at the show.
Fruit :- Pick summer fruiting raspberries & blackberries, prune out old shoots that have fruited and tie in new shoots. Prune Gooseberry & Currant bushes. Remove weak and overcrowded shoots then for Gooseberries trim back remainder by a quarter and for currents cut back this year’s growth by 50%. For black currents remember they fruit next year on this years growth so remove one or two old shoots at ground level, encouraging new growth at the centre. Pick apples and pears as they ripen, store in a cool dark place.
Vegetables :- Sow overwintering lettuce (Arctic King or Winter Density). Plant out Spring Cabbage. Lift main crop carrots. Lift potatoes and store in hessian sacks in a cool dark place. Marrows, squashes & pumpkins for storing should be left on plants till next month to mature, but harvest if frost is expected.
Lawns :- Aerate & scarify, repair & reseed worn patches, autumn fertilise.
Hedges :- Last clip this year except those flowering on new spring growth.
Herbs :- Sow parsley and chervil, Take cuttings of bay, lavender and rue.
Bulbs :- Gladioli:- leave new corms undisturbed until fully mature. Irises:- Cut off and burn leaves infected with leaf spot disease. Plant new rhizomes for flowering next year. Lilies:-Spray against botrytis. Plant new bulbs as soon as they are available. Hyacinths, daffodils and tulips:- plant bulbs in pots for an indoor display from Christmas till Easter. With all indoor bulbs, the bulbs must fill the pot with roots before leaves & stems start into growth, this can take up to three months and is best achieved in moist , dark, cool conditions, so cover the pot with newspaper and keep in the coolest place.
General Tasks :- Clear away any crops that have finished producing.
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