After such a baking hot and dry August, we have now seen a little rain so our gardens are not quite as parched as they were! The dry heat has accelerated the flowering season of many perennials so the Autumn clear-up may have already started in your garden.
There should still be plenty of warm September days to enjoy and hopefully we will get a lot more rain.
Lawns
When your grass has greened-up again, resume mowing and apply a general lawn feed which will boost your grass if needed. If you have dead patches or thatch in your lawn this can be scarified or raked out and you can spike the lawn with a garden fork to let more air to the roots of the grass. Regular mowing will also help collect the early Autumnal leaf fall.
Roses
Continue to dead-head as flowers fade and tie in new shoots on climbers.
Seed collecting
If you wish to, collect seeds from your summer-flowering plants, storing them in labelled paper envelopes or small paper bags.
Water features
If you have a water feature or pond, you can cover it with netting to prevent Autumnal leaves collecting and clogging the water.
Harvesting
Continue to enjoy the rewards of your hard work, pick your vegetables and late-fruiting raspberries and blackberries. Dig up any remaining potatoes, otherwise they may be destroyed by slugs.
Bulb Planting
If we have some more rain soon, the soil will be damp and warm so now is the time to start planting up your spring bulbs (except tulips, which should be planted later – in November).
Tidying up
Fallen leaves are an important organic resource, so try not to put them all in your brown bin. You can put them in black bin bags or create a separate pile next to the compost heap to make leaf mould which will be perfect for conditioning your soil next October.
Alpington and Yelverton 