Your Garden This Month!
You will be noticing by now the nights beginning to draw in which means less time to spend working, entertaining or romancing outdoors! This month we have early morning mists, the days aren’t as balmy as August so it’s a good time to be doing jobs outside. It is also a time for gales, so be prepared, ensure your plants, shrubs and trees are staked properly.
The ‘North South divide’ is more noticeable at the moment with some jobs being more urgent in the North due to the possibility of frosts towards the end of the month.
For the gardeners amongst us, experienced or not, this is the time to take cuttings from tender plants like fuchsias, harvest your fruit and veg and sprinkle a little TLC on your lawn.
The RHS recommend lawn care this month so that we reinvigorate them for next year by removing thatch, aerating and applying a top dress. So, for those of your like me who aren’t experienced here’s how to do just that and have a fabulous lawn next year!
Removing Thatch
That is basically moss and dead grass so removing it increases air movement and drainage which discourages the re-growth of moss. So you can remove it either by using a rake or a powered scarifier. If you use a rake, beware it is hard work and pretty tough on your back. Be warned though, your lawn will look awful after doing this but, it won’t take long to recover!
Aerate
Your lawn needs to breath and it is likely after all the entertaining you’ve been doing on it it is fairly compacted. All you need to do is push your garden fork into the ground about 6-7 inches deep and about 9 inches apart. This isn’t too bad a job (albeit a bit boring!) but if you have a big lawn you may want to consider hiring a machine to do this for you.
Top Dress
This job needs to be done as soon as you have aerated the lawn while the holes are still open. Our research shows this recipe to be the favoured one:
Mix three parts of sieved garden soil, two parts of sharp sand and one part of garden compost.
Now sprinkle half an inch to a full inch of the mix onto the lawn and using a stiff brush or a broom spread it all over. This is to renew the upper soil layer. Again, beware your lawn will look really awful for a few weeks but the grass does grow though the soil again!
If you don’t fancy having a go at those jobs, here are some more to keep you out of mischief:
- Buy and plant spring flowering bulbs
- Continue to harvest your vegetables and fruit
- Make any repairs to the greenhouse
- Remove dead or dying summer bedding plants
- Remember to be vigilant about garden hygiene
- Put net over ponds to stop leaves falling in
- Shelter any tender plants and if possible bring inside or put in cold frames to over winter
- Buy new plants from garden centres or nurseries for a bit of colour this winter
- Continue to dead head plants to make it look tidier it is too late to encourage more flowers now
- Buy a compost bin
- Complete any garden construction before winter takes its toll
- Empty and clean water butts with garden disinfectant.
