As the days become warmer take the time to prepare your garden beds if you want to ensure a bumper growing season. Here are the top tasks to add to your September gardening list
Your September gardening to-do list
The weather mightn’t be markedly different, nor does the garden suddenly spring into life, but there is no doubt that the official arrival of spring on September 1 is accompanied in a gardener’s mind by an undefinable yet definite lightening of spirit, a fresh sense of hope and expectation.
It’s the perfect time for northerners to start sowing carrots, beetroot and basil.
Early birds
Northern gardeners can start sowing basil, chillies, eggplant, melons, cucurbits (pumpkin, squash and courgettes), peppers and tomatoes under cover (in glasshouses, cold frames or sunny window ledges). Gradually expose them to the outdoors and the cold as they mature. Those in cooler regions are best advised to wait until later in the month.
Again, while southerners and those in cooler parts could hold off for a few weeks, northerners may sow directly into the garden beetroot, carrots, chives, coriander, celery, celeriac, kale, leeks, lettuce, pak choi, parsnip, peas, radish, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, spring onion, swede, sweet corn and turnips.
Flower seeds can be sown now, but first check seed catalogues, books and the internet for the best timing to plant perennials and annuals according to the different regions.
Dianthus is also commonly known as carnation, pinks and sweet William.
On the move
A colour combination failed to please? Textures clashed? Are the heights out of sync? Many perennials may be lifted, divided and replanted now – and moved around, with ease. That’s much of the joy of ornamental gardening, improving on the last season, trying to get it perfect. Best to keep plants out of the soil for the shortest time, then water in the well.
Delphinium is native throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
At stake
Place stakes and supports in now while plants are still small. Many larger perennials, especially, need them to avoid flopping. These include dahlias, peonies and delphiniums. Check stakes on larger trees to ensure they have not become too tight and are rubbing, damaging the trunk.
Verbena bonariensis create an effortlessly beautiful looking garden
Steal this look
Purples, blue greens and hazy whites combine to create a restful garden scene – so cooling in the heat of midsummer. Simplicity is the key to this sophisticated arrangement. While restraint is needed for these dichromatic colour schemes, planning makes them easily achievable.
The purple flowers are the fabulous Verbena bonariensis, a perennial that self-seeds gratifyingly readily. Borne on long thin stems, the clusters of tiny blooms appear to float above the garden like flocks of violet butterflies. Any of the many variegated grasses and associated plants would be suitable for the ribbon of strappy blue-green and white foliage edging the border.
Consider Carex ‘Everest’ with its pleasing arching foliage; Iris pallida (aka I. glauca) which has the benefit of beautiful mauve blooms; or Dianella variegata, famed for its striking upright leaves. The gentle grey-green mounds of lavender in the foreground contrast beautifully with the variegated grass while keeping within the colour palette.
Propagate your kūmara in a glass jar on the windowsill.
Kūmara junction
The easiest way to propagate kūmara is by placing a tuber in a glass of water with its bottom submerged. Keep it somewhere warm until shoots and roots form and all danger of frost is past. Then gently prise them off and plant them in a sunny spot in well-drained soil. Or in a container, which is especially good where summers are shorter.
Landscaping 101: Mazes
Getting lost in the garden can be fun, especially in a maze. Reaching peak popularity in the 16th century with numerous smaller revivals since then, a garden maze or labyrinth can be as easy or as hard to create as you desire. They are suited to almost any size garden and can be temporary or permanent.
While both mazes and labyrinths commonly feature a reward, such as a birdbath, statuary, arbour or the like, at reaching the centre goal, they are different. The former is designed to get lost in and have several paths and exits even; while the latter usually only having one path to follow is designed more for contemplative walking. At its simplest, a maze or labyrinth may comprise a mown path wandering and twisting and turning through long grass. More complex ones might be designed on paper first, and laid out and planted with hedges. In between, there are those of a shingle path carved in a lawn or a track through a patch of sunflowers or paddock of sweet corn.
Patterns are readily found online or in library books. Slow-growing shrubs are most suitable for hedging. Though they might take longer to reach optimum height, they will demand less frequent clipping. Remember, too, hedges needn’t be high to serve their purpose. In the Middle Ages, low ones were often favoured by householders as they could double up as places for drying the washing. Lavender was particularly popular as it imbued the laundry with its fragrance. The likes of thyme or chamomile paths are well-suited to labyrinths, the release of their scents while being trod on adds to the slow thoughtful walk.
Top tip: to foil maze cheats, prickly plants can be used, such as holly, roses, or even matagouri.
How to make glass cloches
Traditional cloches will protect tender young plants from frost and cold and are bell-shaped and made from glass. Posher ones with knobs to make carrying easier can still be found, but the knobs can concentrate the sunlight and burn a plant’s leaves. While these bought cloches tend to be larger (at least 20cm across), smaller ones are just as effective and, by the time most plants outgrow the large cloches, the need for them is long past.
Any glass jar, from a jam jar up, is suitable, and more attractive in the garden than plastic soft-drink bottles, which are also suitable. For aesthetics, matching jars, and those with more bulbous shapes are preferred. Alternately, if you have access to a glass cutter, the top third of clear-glass wine bottles make excellent cloches as they have built-in ventilation.
Read this next:
- Spring flowers: which ones to plant in September
- Kidding around: Easy ways to get children into gardening
- How to grow raspberries in New Zealand
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