Garden Jottings for September

This August, as you all know, has been the hottest and driest for as long as we can remember. Strong winds have also added to the dehydration. 1976 was similar, but not so prolonged and disastrous. Hopefully we’ll be back to normal by the time you read this article, but I wonder how many of your garden plants will be able to recover? Lawns will always revive, but border plants and tender shrubs have had such a baking that I am fearful for their recovery.

I will say that Roses have been especially wonderful, as have Hibiscus and Lavatera bushes. Wisteria, strangely, has had a second lovely array of blossom and leaf, and will need much pruning back after their blooms fade. Pelargoniums (geraniums), as always, have given a good display along with blue Ageratum and white Marguerites. They have survived with minimal moisture, managing to give a brave show in pots and troughs.

So, where to start – saving and reusing water should be at a premium. Obviously, pots and greenhouses need a prolific amount of water, so water pots carefully, putting hosepipe or spout under leaves, and really soak most needed areas every few days rather than a sprinkle each day. If water is really well applied it will go right down to the roots, pulling them down, while a sparse dribble only brings roots to the surface where they will be baked and shrivelled in the heat of the sun. If possible, move pots into a shady position. They can withstand half a day in the sun, but will surely perish if left baking all day. A suggestion was given to plant up perennials – readily available in garden centres – in pots. This sounds an ideal way pf brightening beds and borders, and is more sustainable than annuals, but how can you dig a hole for it and water it and continue to give it all the extra moisture and attention needed to keep it alive and flourishing? This solution is all well and good if we get an appreciable quantity of rain in the next couple of weeks; then the above idea may be feasible.

In the meantime, deadhead and shorten or remove stems on any dried or desiccated perennials, remove faded blooms on roses, and prune at the same time to keep a good open shape. Cut back Lavender now to give time to make a little new foliage to cloak the stems. Don’t cut too hard into old wood or they won’t regrow very successfully. Cuttings of Lavender and Pinks will take in early September planted into pots of one-half coarse sand and one-half potting compost. Penstemons and any other plants that are not fully hardy are worth propagating in this way. Lavatera and small shrubby grey-leaved white Marguerite daisies, which tend to go woody and die off after a few years, are well worth growing from cuttings to have new plants for replacements. Dahlias and Fuchsias will give some late colour, along with Michaelmas daisies, Rudbeckias and Gaillardias. Look at your borders and see where there are gaps and the need for late colour. Japanese Anemones, Sedums, Heleniums and Chrysanthemums will all be good additions for next year. Thinks about growing some hardy annuals to make sturdy plants to bloom next year, such as Clarkia, Godetia, Candytuft, Pot Marigolds and Antirrhinums. These should withstand the winter as we don’t seem to have severe winter weather now; however, judicious placing of fleece over the area will ward of all but the most harsh weather. 

Biennials such as Sweet Williams, Wallflowers, Hollyhocks etc. sown in July should be making good plants if you have already pricked them out in an area of the vegetable plot. Do keep these small plants well weeded as they can soon be overwhelmed, which will stunt their growth.

Apple trees can be trimmed back in late August/September taking back any overlong side shoots, being careful of any remaining fruit on the tree. However this summer, with such hot days, apples are ripening earlier, and autumn raspberries are also giving a good crop. Early windfall apples chopped and cooked go well with lovely blackberries from the hedgerows. A few of any soft fruit with a little apple make a lovely compote when gently poached with a little sugar and water. If there is too much juice, it can be thicker with a little cornflour, but of course the best dessert at this time of year is summer pudding and cream!

Keep checking brassicas for caterpillars. Butterflies seem to find their way through even the best-fastened and finest netting and cause devastation very quickly. Keep picking beans and tomatoes regularly to encourage more. Herbs can be tied into bunches and hung up to dry, when they can be crushed and put in to jars. Mint, chives and parsley can be potted up to grow for winter in a cold frame or greenhouse. I don’t find these grow very well on my kitchen window sill where I would like them to, but other people may be luckier than me!

Plant up cauliflower, spring cabbage and lettuce where potatoes and onions have been harvested. If your French or runner beans finish cropping in spite of watering, regularly spraying blossoms and mulching plants, save some pods of beans to dry for next year’s crop. Try to leave some big coarse old pods hanging on the plant to mater before removing them to dry off. 

Collect seeds of Hollyhocks, Poppies, Nigella (love-in-a-mist) and dry them in paper bags, having them upside down to transfer to used envelopes after labelling and storing somewhere dry. Start looking for bulbs to buy. Daffodils need to be planted at the end of the month and into October. Tulips are to be planted later on into November. Most bulbs will flower well even if planted rather late; the flowers will arrive later in the spring. Crocuses, Snowdrops and Aconites can be planted this month. These look good around the bases of trees and shrubs, near the front or back doors and pathways near the house. Hedges can be cut back now and some mulch can be placed along the roots to conserve moisture and deter weeds. Keep an eye out for Ivy and wild Roses that can easily grown among the hedge and take over if not removed.

These notes are what we should be able to undertake at this time of year in a normal season. Who knows what the next few weeks will bring, but I have a firm conviction that, as always, whatever goes around comes around. We should be aware of the changing climate and try to adapt and plant accordingly, and try to keep enjoying all types of plants in our gardens, many of which I hope will have survived the past harsh few weeks to flourish anew.