Autumn is just around the corner and as the darker nights draw in, our gardens need a little extra TLC as the temperatures begin to cool. September is still a bustling month in the garden, and who better to guide us than Sunday Times best-selling author, YouTube sensation, and gardening enthusiast, Huw Richards? Here, Huw shares his top tips to keep your garden thriving and to start prepping for next Spring.
Create your own nutrient-rich compost
Huw says: “September is a very big month for composting; because you’re beginning to clear out plants that are starting to die, leaves may begin to fall but we’re still cutting grass. This combination of natural resources make fantastic ingredients for nutrient rich compost."
Plant garlic cloves
Huw advises that September is also a great time to invest in garlic cloves for planting out late September / early October; hard neck garlic is a great variant to plant. You can plant your garlic cloves in pots or raised beds; top tip - always plant garlic cloves around five centimetres deep and space them around 10cm apart.
Prepare for a blooming Spring
Even though memories of Summer are still fresh in our minds, September is a great month to start preparing for the following Spring. You can start planting Spring bulbs such as Daffodils, Iris, Hyacinth, Alliums and Crocus now, to ensure a burst of colour in your garden in Spring. I love using the GARDENA bulb planter; it saves so much time and effort, you use the bulb planter to create the hole for the bulb (there’s a handy measure at the side so you can make sure you plant at the right depth), pop your bulb in, then use the release mechanism to release the soil back into the ground.
Dead-heading
Huw says: "Many flowers, such as roses may still flower into Autumn, and so to ensure flowering for as long as possible it’s important to keep on top of dead-heading. This will allow the plant to put all its energy back into fresh, healthy growth. It’s super important to make a clean, healthy cut when head-heading or pruning back plants, to avoid any damage to the stems. I highly recommend GARDENA’s range of secateurs or fresh cut micro-cutting secateurs, as they have high-quality, precision ground blades for a clean cut."
Harvest Herbs
September is the time to harvest herbs like mint, oregano, basil, coriander, and fennel, advises Huw. If you’ve got a bumper crop, preserve them for winter by drying them or freezing them in ice cubes or compound butter.
Take time to reflect
“Finally, as the season starts to slow down, it’s the perfect time to reflect on what worked well in your garden this year, what you might like to change, and take the time to think about what you want to achieve in your garden next year.”
