September in the garden

[GlitterBiscuits]

I thought a monthly thread with jobs to do and photos of what's doing well, etc might be nice.

On the 9th of September it's traditionally time to cut back lavender.

I'm starting on some bulb shopping. I have a small area I could naturalise some daffodils etc.
My top tip is that Wilkos have good quality bulbs at good prices.

My compost bin has all the worlds wood lice in it. Can't see any worms now. I think that's a sign it's ready.

Lovely idea for a thread. I'm quite new to Mumsnet is there one every month please?

I've never cut my lavender back! It's a few years old and huge- I've googled the cut online and I feel like it's too brutal and will ruin the look of it

I read in the paper now is the time to plant bulbs, whilst the ground is still warm apparently.

Could the most experienced among you instuct us novices in our bulb panting endeavors?
To plant or not to plant?
Better warm or cold?
And how deep do you go?
And please explain "lasagne effect"?

Thank you!

I've just reseeded my very shabby lawn after a full renovation (scarifying a shit tonne of moss, aeration, fertiliser). It looks dreadful right now - hope the grass seed germinates!

I'm slowly clearing a very neglected rockery in the front garden, think of a sprawling mess and you've got it. Planning on digging in some fresh compost and then going wild planting layers of spring bulbs. I have just ordered mixed daffodils, tulips and crocus from Farmer Gracey. Also treated myself to some aliums which will go in pots once the bedding plants are over.

I have now cut back my lavendar as I didn't want it to get woody, poor bees, I felt awful. But next year's bees will be happy.

My cosmos are now the best thing in the garden. And my pansy has come our of dormancy, yay

It’s very late for bulb shopping! Mine have been pre-ordered since July. I don’t prune my lavender as long as there are bees on it, right now it’s still buzzing. I need to prune everything else though, pull up the dying annuals and dig out the weeds. When everything has died off I’ll fertilise and mulch. Soon it’ll be time to plant sweet peas, I like them planted in October so they’re ready to go in the garden around Easter.

What bad thing will happen if I harvest rhubarb in September?
It gets bitter and tough, and you weaken the plant so it doesn’t produce as well next year. It’s perfectly safe to eat though.

Could the most experienced among you instuct us novices in our bulb panting endeavors?
Sept-Oct is ideal but there’s no rush, I’ve been known to plant bulbs in January and still get flowers. Tulips shouldn’t be planted until November at the earliest, you need to plant in cold soil to avoid diseases like tulip fire. Plant at twice the depth of the bulb. Lasagne is where you put big bulbs on the bottom of the pot, then a layer of soil, and smaller bulbs on top. Then they all flower together.

@RosyPoesy

It’s very late for bulb shopping! Mine have been pre-ordered since July. I don’t prune my lavender as long as there are bees on it, right now it’s still buzzing. I need to prune everything else though, pull up the dying annuals and dig out the weeds. When everything has died off I’ll fertilise and mulch. Soon it’ll be time to plant sweet peas, I like them planted in October so they’re ready to go in the garden around Easter.

What bad thing will happen if I harvest rhubarb in September?
It gets bitter and tough, and you weaken the plant so it doesn’t produce as well next year. It’s perfectly safe to eat though.

Hi Rosey. I am new to gardening! May i ask why you shop for bulbs in July?

There's deals on bulbs at the garden centres here and I bought mine a couple of weeks ago but waiting for some space to plant.
My runner beans are at the end as our my sweet peas so will have a couple of pots of space.
Trying to keep colour going by dead heading dahlias which are still going,
Bought some cyclamen and mini ferns and potted up a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks is for this thread! Watching and place marking.

My pup is digging up all the bulbs so I've given up on them I think until he's a bit older.

Am going with interest through the seasons, some perennials and also tree roots planted with moss and ferns. Maybe some bulbs out the front where the pup doesn't go, but it's north facing.

@RosyPoesy would you mind elaborating on your sweetpea planting? I started mine in about march indoors and planted them out in about May
Next year I plan on having them all along my fence. I'm curious, you sow them outside on September and then grow for spring? Thanks

RosyPoesy would you mind elaborating on your sweetpea planting?
I fill toilet paper inner tubes with compost to plant the sweet peas. Put them in the greenhouse or cold frame, or even on a window sill indoors. Around January I plant them into bigger pots, then they go outside after Easter. I find that growing them over the winter gives me stronger plants and they flower sooner. I’ve experimented with planting at various times and the seeds planted in the spring never really catch up with the seeds planted the previous autumn.

May i ask why you shop for bulbs in July?
Bulb companies send out their autumn catalogues in July and August. I enjoy looking through them and picking out my bulbs to order. I always order around Jul-Aug because I find that lots of the prettiest and most unusual bulbs are out of stock by September (because the serious gardeners have pre-ordered them all!) Of course you can still buy lots of lovely bulbs in September, but perhaps not the ones I wanted.

Thank you. I think I'd like to try seeing some early. Do they finish sooner, and you also see in spring, or do they still last into late summer? I grew some things by using a cut up milk carton as a green house. But that was late winter. Do you think that would work over winter?

*sow/sowing

Great thread. I was going to wait for more rain before bulb planting , it's a job I hate especially in dry soil. Have got a box of bulbs from Peter Nyssen so might have a look at it next week and get started

No the sweet peas don’t finish earlier. By sowing around October you get much stronger plants which grow bigger and flower stronger and longer. The ones sown in spring never catch up to the autumn sown ones which have had an extra four months to grow loads of roots and get strong. If they start getting too tall before you’re ready to plant them outdoors you just nip off the tips. That way you grow loads of roots and not too many leaves. By about Jan you need to put a stick in the pot and tie them up because they’re literally desperate to grow.

I grew some things by using a cut up milk carton as a green house. But that was late winter. Do you think that would work over winter?
I’m not sure that would work because the ground will freeze, and the milk bottle isn’t transparent so they won’t get much light. You could put them in pots inside a little clear plastic cloche, or even on the window sill. You need to keep them above freezing and keep the frost off them.

Hi all I'm quite new to gardening and new to Mumsnet I have a few questions. I prefer growing things we can eat rather than flowers. We have a large greenhouse in our back garden that my toddler and I spend most of our days in as it means we can still be outside when it's raining I've set up a tuff tray in there for toys. This year we have grown lots of things, potatoes, tomatoes, broad beans, snow peas, strawberries, courgettes. Still waiting on sweetcorn, don't think it's going to work. We are also great fans of wildlife gardening

We have grown snow peas (mange tout) and I left some of the pods to dry and have now got the seeds out. They are drying in the boot room so warm. Do I need to do anything else or just plant them again in Feb time?

Wilko had lots of seeds reduced I got broad beans for 50p!

Re lavender I've never cut mine back! It's still full of bees but has recently dropped quite alot. Can anyone explain what to do?

Re. Spring bulbs as a family we traditionally plant them in October half term, have I been doing this wrong.

I have a walk in greenhouse which we used lots over the spring and summer but this will be our first winter with it. Will anything grow in there over the winter

I've bought some autumn violas for some autumnal colour at the front of the house. Never done this before how long will the flowers stay for?

Lastly I tried growing Christmas potatoes a few weeks ago and they got blight ☹️ it is too late to try again? Lots of places online are out of stock of Christmas ones now ☹️

Lastly my strawberries have finished now they are a mix of parent plant and baby plants. I know they will return next year but do I need to do anything? Shall I overwinter them in the greenhouse?

Thanks all sorry for the essay!

Thank you! I will find my sweetpea seeds!

DH and I had a good day garden yesterday; wasn’t really planned but the weather was beautiful and we got a lot of jobs done:

Mowed the grass on all sides and tidied the edges; quite a high cut but it’s hoovered up a lot of the fallen leaves, so looks much better.

Harvested a few late tomatoes and courgettes (and had for lunch!) The tomatoes were much better than the earlier ones which did not do well. I’ve been disappointed in most of my veg this year.

Removed ivy from outhouse roof. There was masses of it and I do like it but we had to do some work to insulate pipes and it was in the way. Pipes now all wrapped up and cosy.

Cut back honeysuckle along same outhouse. A bit experimental as it’s so pretty and smells gorgeous but it was out of control this year and completely blocked a path. I hope it comes back as it’s looking very bare!

Cleaned and put away some outdoor furniture; have left some chairs for impromptu meals and I like to read outside in winter but autumn is definitely in the air and I’m in tidying up mode.

Weather is not looking great today but ideally I’d like to do some sorting of logs and woodpiles and also weeding on gravel paths. I also have a lot of chores to do inside so hopefully I’ll watch a couple of episodes of Gardeners World and get some tips from Monty

@RosyPoesy

It’s very late for bulb shopping! Mine have been pre-ordered since July. I don’t prune my lavender as long as there are bees on it, right now it’s still buzzing. I need to prune everything else though, pull up the dying annuals and dig out the weeds. When everything has died off I’ll fertilise and mulch. Soon it’ll be time to plant sweet peas, I like them planted in October so they’re ready to go in the garden around Easter.

What bad thing will happen if I harvest rhubarb in September?
It gets bitter and tough, and you weaken the plant so it doesn’t produce as well next year. It’s perfectly safe to eat though.

Thanks @RosyPoesy - it's my first year with my own garden so didn't realise I could buy them so early (I'll know for next June eh?)

This thread is great! I've picked up some lovely bulbs in wilko (tulips and allium). I've given the lavenders a haircut and starting to pull out the fading annuals. One of my cosmos is having some kind of growth spurt and is now about 5 foot tall and covered in flowers which looks nice but sticks out like a sore thumb some nerines have just flowered out the front.

One question I do have please, what do you all do with faded summer baskets? The ones at the front still look relatively good but my others look pants now. I want to remove and put something else in there for the next few months. Are pansies and violas the best winter option for baskets? I've not done them over autumn and winter before.