Garden Planning, Tips and Planting Advice

Garden Tips: Lawn Care

Continue to mow your lawn regularly with the lawn mower blades set to medium/low.

As leaves start to fall, you should clear them from your lawn using a good rake or blow vac. This is important, as a carpet of leaves can smother grass.

Now is the time of year to work on your lawn to improve it ready for next season. Use a lawn rake to rake up any dead grass and moss. It is a good idea to use a garden fork to make air channels every 4in or so across your lawn. To do this push the garden fork into the lawn as far as you can and wiggle it backwards and forwards. On larger lawns you can use a powered aerating machine. Sprinkle a Top Dressing over the lawn to fill the holes and improve drainage, level bumps, feed and nourish the grass. You can spread the Top Dressing by hand or use a Spreader.

Garden Tips: Pruning

Once all the flowers have faded, prune any rambling roses or climbing roses, to remove thin or diseased branches. Consider the space you have for the rose and the shape of the bush and take out branches that are ruining your shape or taking too much space. To prune your rambling or climbing roses, use secateurs, or if the branches are thick, you may need to use loppers.

Perennials can look untidy this time of year and you will need to remove any faded flowers and support stems with stakes so they do not flop over.

Garden Tips: Planting / transplant

To plant, the type of equipment you will need includes:

• Trowel
• Shovel
• Rake

Garden Tips: Watering can or hose

When planting or transplanting, use compost from your compost bin, manure or purchase compost. Once you have dug a hole big enough for the plant, add 2-3in of compost or manure into the hole to feed the plant. Fill the hole with water, preferably from your water butt and let the water sink in. Place the plant in the hole and water again. Fill in the hole with soil to the top of the root ball and water again.

Examples of the type of plants you can plant in September are:

• Evergreen shrubs can be moved and transplanted at this time of year and cuttings can also be taken.

Garden Tips: Flowers

• Spring bulbs, for example, daffodil, iris, snowdrops and crocus ready for next spring.

Garden Tips: Sow

Note: Always check the instructions on the seed packet concerning time of sowing and transplanting. Different varieties are designed to grow at different times. The information below is a general guide for common vegetable and flower seeds that can be sown this time of year.

Garden Tips: Vegetables

The following are examples of vegetable seeds you can sow under cloches:

• Early carrots
• Hardy lettuce, for example, Imperial and Arctic King.

The following are examples of vegetable seeds you can sow in seed trays in greenhouses or propagators:

• Cress
• Lettuce
• Radishes

As cold weather approaches watch out for any green tomatoes and bring them into the warm so they can ripen.