Here is my September garden to-do list - quite short, don't you think? By this time of year I'm starting to get tired... it's just maintain, maintain, maintain and no new projects left to achieve (the ones I didn't get done this year can wait until next year!)
However, September is a good time for planting - either moving or adding perennials while the changes you want to make are fresh in your mind. Despite this latest heat wave, the shorter days and cooler nights mean the plants don't get quite as stressed when their roots are disturbed, but there's still plenty of time for them to get established before winter. Anyway, here's what I hope to get done this month:
Keep up with weeding, deadheading and watering (except stop deadheading the roses to discourage fresh growth).
Continue to fertilize pots (in my case, annuals and tomatoes) until killing frost.
Plant bulbs – this year I’m going to put in lots of ornamental onions and things that multiply such as siberian squill, grape hyacinth and species tulips.
Empty at least one of the compost bins and spread on the garden and lawn (I was meaning to do this in May and June, and by July I didn't even put it on my to-do list because I knew I wasn't going to get to it, but I can see some of my plants are not appreciating the lack of compost this year and I have vowed to make this more of a priority in the future. Now I am forced to empty at least one bin for sure this month to make room for all the new material I will be putting in the bins in October after the perennials start to die back.)
This is a great time to plant perennials and shrubs – see what you can find on sale! I’m going to be filling up my new retaining wall area soon.
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