September is more relaxed in the garden

Things to do this week

• This is the perfect time to plant. Plants planted in September will be well established and ready for winter.

• Now is the time to harvest onions. Don’t pull them green; bend over the tops and after two weeks lift them carefully. Put them in an open shed where they will be protected from rain and will dry over a number of weeks.

• Herbaceous plants that have finished flowering can be tidied up a little now.

September is my favourite month of the year, except for May – I suppose after the winter May is such a relief.

There’s a drama about May, all of nature is busy. September, on the other hand, is more relaxed. Most summer flowering plants have retired and the autumn flowers are at their best – Hydrangeas, Fuchsias, Agapanthus and summer flowering Clematis, to name a few.

The Begonias that I planted in May have really proved their worth. I think they are especially suited to our climate.

Plant three bulbs in a large pot, in good compost, and they will flower continuously from June to October, in sun or shade.

You may have to dead-head them a few times but the display of flowers is not equalled by any other plant that I know.

Put it on your to do list for next year.

If your windowboxes and front door containers are looking a bit sad, now is the time to plant new colour for autumn and Winter.

I don’t have space in this column to go into detail, but suffice to say, there’s a vast choice.

One that is overlooked by many gardeners is Cyclamen, probably due to past experiences with the plant that have not been favourable (the flowers only last a couple of weeks and the plants looking rather sad).

This scenario can be avoided by planting Cyclamen at the right depth; in essence you don’t plant them at all, you only make an indentation in the compost 1.5 inches deep and place the plant at that depth.

That will keep the plants very dry. Do not water them over the top; a little water for the first week or two applied to the compost is sufficient. They will bloom from now until Christmas.

If you put in some spring flowering bulbs underneath, they will take over in spring, more on that next week…