September Gardening

September is a relaxed time in the garden as the fight to keep plants watered and deadheaded has eased, However, there’s plenty to keep you busy because Autumn is a fantastic time of year to plant spring bulbs, feed your lawn and plant for winter. Tasks for September: • Plant bulbs for colour at Christmas and Spring • Deadhead and prune roses • Rake, aerate and apply autumn fertiliser to existing lawns. Sow new lawns. • Take cuttings of tender Salvia and penstemon. • Bring tender perennials indoors before the first frosts. • Sow Now: Sew hardy annual seeds into gaps in borders for an early display in 2021 • Plant Now: Now is a good time to plant most shrubs and perennials as the soil is still warm and increasing rainfall should be on its way. • Prune Now: Give hedges a final prune so they stay neat all winter. Feature on: Conifers These shapely and statuesque evergreens dominate the landscape especially in autumn and winter as other trees and shrubs lose their leaves. Their impact is further enhanced by the fact that cold weather intensifies the coloration of the foliage, often turning somewhat ordinary plants into eye catching features. They are indispensable for providing form, structure, textures colour and interest all year round and bringing harmony to any planting scheme. "Conifer" is an arboricultural term meaning, a cone-bearer. There are over 630 species of conifers which means you’ll find one to suit any garden situation including ground covering varieties, dwarf/slow growing types for containers and rockeries, as single specimens or for hedging. Conifers lend themselves to formal gardening, as solitary garden specimens or stand-alone plants they are unsurpassed, growing with a natural, symmetrical shape. Conifers are undemanding plants, they require little fertiliser a once a year application of a general purpose granular fertiliser is sufficient in most cases. Once established they usually do not require watering, unless they are in containers. Pruning is unnecessary and most conifers will not regrow if you cut into old wood, a light trim of hedges is all that’s required. If a conifer has outgrown its space its best to replace it. Brown patches in conifers can be caused by a number of reasons. Pests (including Cypress aphid and scale insect) or diseases (including Honey fungus and Phytophthora root rot) are responsible for some cases, but others may be caused by adverse growing conditions such as drought, frost, or cold, drying winds. Planting conifers in containers as a centre-piece to annual planting schemes is extremely effective. The annuals can be changed as the seasons pass.