As summer slowly gives way to autumn, September is a busy yet exciting time for us gardeners, filled with planting, harvesting, and preparing the garden for the colder months ahead.

Start Planning for the Spring:
Sowing hardy annuals like cerinthe, cornflowers, and marigolds now will reward you with beautiful blooms next spring. It’s also the perfect time to begin planting spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths and fritillaria, which we include in our September boxes. Not only will these bulbs provide you with flowers from late winter, but they will also provide an essential food source for bees and butterflies emerging at a time when food is scarce. You can plant your bulbs in garden beds, lawns, or pots and it’s a great activity to get children to help with! Consider trying a ‘bulb lasagne’ to create a multi-layered flower display –- check our blog on how to plant one here.

Early-autumn is also an ideal time for dividing and replanting your existing perennial plants, giving you free plants to keep or share with friends and family!

September harvests

September is still very much harvest season in the garden, with fruit like apples, pears and autumn fruiting raspberries, and veg including onions, beans, maincrop potatoes, courgettes, fennel, tomatoes, aubergines, beetroot, carrots, and peppers all ready to gather and enjoy now.

Continue to sow hardy salad crops such as mizuna, rocket, and lamb's lettuce (which we include in our September box), for winter pickings. Spinach and pak choi can also be sown now if you have somewhere they can shelter as the weather gets colder.

Lawn care

If your lawn is looking a bit tired after the summer season, now is a good time to give it some TLC! Scarifying (removing dead grass or moss) and reseeding bare patches will help maintain a healthy, lush lawn. Why not try sowing a wildlife-friendly seed mix, such as a clover lawn, which is not only provides a food source for insects but is also more drought-tolerant, meaning your lawn looks great without as much watering.

Author: Alison Kenehan, RHS-qualified gardener and mother

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