Gardening tips

Flowers

  • Sow calendula, cornflowers, poppies and love in a mist directly in September to give you a flush of colour in early summer next year.
  • Keep summer bedding flowering in hanging baskets and pots going until the first frosts by deadheading and feeding regularly.
  • Plant spring bulbs such as daffodils, crocus and bluebells.
  • Collect ripe seeds from your favourite flowers and store in labelled envelopes, ready to sow in spring.

Veg

  • Plant up onion and garlic crops from mid September.
  • Cut away any leaves covering the fruits of pumpkins, squash and marrows to help the skins ripen in the sun.
  • Lift maincrop potatoes, dry off and store in hessian or paper sacks, in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place.

Fruit

  • Pick apples and pears before the wind blows them down, and store undamaged fruits if you can’t eat them fresh.
  • Prune summer raspberries once they’ve finished fruiting.
  • Plant more fruit trees and shrubs now, with the soil still warm and with more moisture in it, it’s the perfect opportunity to increase the varieties you have! Why not try a blueberry bush or a cherry tree for beautiful blossom in the springtime.

Wild bird care

  • Leave sunflower seedheads in place for birds to feed on.
  • The breeding season is not yet over so avoid large chunks and peanuts.
  • Winter birds will start arriving late in the month.

Pest control

  • Wasps can be a nightmare at this time of year with so much fruit around to get sugar drunk off! Make sure you pick ripe fruits straight away and any fallen to minimise wasps hanging around.
  • Check roses for signs of fungal diseases, such as blackspot, and pick off and bin all affected leaves.
  • Inspect chrysanthemums for signs of white rust.
  • Consider building or buying a bug hotel to help lacewings and ladybirds over the winter (these will then control your aphids and whiteflies once the larvae emerge!)

Pond

  • Remove duckweed, pondweed and algae from water features and ponds.
  • Put netting across ponds to stop autumn leaves falling in and rotting
  • Froglets and toadlets can still be leaving the pond until September so keep an eye out for a mass pilgrimage.

Lawn

  • Rake leaves from lawns, aerate well-trodden areas by spiking with a garden fork, and re-seed bare patches.
  • Now is the time to cut your lawn for the final time before winter on the highest blade setting and trim the borders to give it a tidy up.

Houseplants

  • Bring any houseplants that you moved outside over summer back indoors, before temperatures start to drop.