GARDENING TIPS FOR SEPTEMBER February 25, 2008
Regular deadheading of your winter flowering annuals will keep them flowering for longer. Pull out any annuals that are starting to die and consign them to the compost heap.
Dig over flowerbeds – not deeper than a spades depth – to prepare them for summer plantings. Add old, well-rotted manure or bounce back, as well as compost, and a light dusting of hoof and horn.
Plant out annual seedlings on a cool day, or late in the afternoon, water well with a solution of Kelpac (see instr. on container) and protect the plants from slugs, snails and cutworms. Thereafter feed seedlings every 2-3 weeks with a suitable liquid food – Nitrosol, Seagro etc. It is a good idea to alternate the food. Once the plants are well established, feed with a food rich in potassium such as Organiksol to encourage flowering.
Vegetable seedlings need to be kept weeded and free of slugs, snails and other pests Feed with Nitrosol, Organiksol or Seagro, using alternately, and don’t forget the mulch!
Give your winter flowering bulbs a feed with a food rich in potassium and go on watering until the leaves turn yellow. Now is the time to plant out summer flowering bulbs e.g. gladioli and liliums. Remember to mulch with compost. Give irises an application of fertilizer.
Overgrown ground covers should be cut back to neaten them up and promote new growth. Don’t forget to mulch and feed them as well.
Feed roses. Give each bush a handful of fertilizer 3:1:5 Organic or Sudden Impact or well-rotted manure, as well as a handful of epsom salts. Water each bush very well after this application. Put mulch around each bush, but make sure it is kept away from the stem of the plant.
Give your lawn its first feed. Use an organic fertilizer such as Upsurge and water in well.If the lawn is compacted it will benefit from being aerated – spike with a garden fork, being careful not to accidentally spike underground irrigation pipes!
The whole garden will benefit from an application of Bounce Back or Rapid Raiser and compost, as well as a generous application of mulch.
Winter flowering trees, shrubs and climbers that have finished flowering can be pruned this month. Feed and mulch.
Pinch out growing tips of fuchias to make the plant bush out. Feed with a high potassium fertilizer or an organic equivalent to encourage flowering.
Feed hydrangeas with Rapid Raiser or 3.1.5 Organic fertilizer. A solution of iron chelate can be watered in to the root area. After a fortnight, if the leaves are showing signs of yellowing, water in a handfull of epsom salts around each plant. Remember to apply aluminium sulphate for blue flowers, or a light application of lime, which will enhance pink flowers. Hydrangeas have a shallow root system, so apply a generous layer of mulch to conserve water.
Camellias and azaleas are acid loving plants. Once they have finished flowering, feed with a fertilizer for acid loving plants and mulch well as these shrubs also have a shallow root system. Leaf mould made from oak leaves or pine needles is a good mulch for these plants.
