Hello autumn, hello new blog
Early autumn - where temperatures cool off, but we still get lovely moments of sunshine too - a lovely combination, giving you the perfect weather to get out into the garden and enjoy it still. I love September because I celebrate my birthday early in the month, and Virgo season brings the back-to-school, organisational vibe which is always welcomed!
I’ve just finished working on a huge and very exciting project that I can tell you more about very soon. I was also lucky enough to visit the stunning No. 131 for my birthday celebrations and had the most fun weekend! I also visited Malvern Autumn Show this month, where the big veg this year for the Canna UK Big Vegetable Championships were more mammoth than ever before. Autumn walks are also to be enjoyed this month aren’t they!? With the leaves falling and those burnt orange tones really starting to come through.
In the garden, dahlias are in full bloom in pots and in the ground; they’ve thrived with the late summer sunshine and they bring lovely colour into the garden. I am cutting my dahlias almost daily and enjoying fresh blooms even still. What a joy.
If you’re new into gardening, you might be wondering what you can do in the garden this month and the answer is quite a few things!
From mulching, to planting out bulbs for spring and preparing your lawn for winter… If you get these things right, you’ll reap the rewards…
Plant up containers with autumnal bedding flowers. There’s nothing better than seeing bursts of colour out in the garden as the season changes. Flowers such as cyclamen, heathers and violas are low cost, look great in pots and will last you much of the winter months.
Mulch your pots and borders - much like self-care for us is all about feeling cosy and getting all our vitamins, it’s the same for plants too! Mulching your borders and plants is a great way to give some self-care to your garden now ready for winter time. Get your hands on some peat-free organic matter (for example manure), and put a thick layer on your borders and around your plants. This will suppress weeds, help the soil maintain its moisture and will give your plants lots of goodness!
Plant bulbs now for spring! Put a little bit of time in now and you’ll be so smug in spring when tulips, daffodils, alliums all pop up in your pots. Plant spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils, crocus and hyacinths, preferably by the end of September, plant lilies and alliums in September and October and tulips in November. Plant deep into pots, make sure your bulbs are the right way up and water them in well. Then place in a sheltered, sunny spot until the spring.
Look after your lawn. If you’re anything like me, your lawn will have taken a lot of wear and tear over the summer months. So if your lawn needs a bit of a boost, add an autumn lawn feed to give it some life. Autumn feed has all the nutrients your lawn needs to keep it healthy over winter. You could also rake and spike your lawn to help drainage and get it into even better shape for next year.
Pruning is one of my favourite gardening jobs for autumn, to get the garden in shape through the winter months. Having said that, I like to leave some of my flowers at this time of the year to go over a little, (particularly things like stunning salvia) because they make a great haven for wildlife as we say goodbye to summer. Although it’s really satisfying to have a good tidy up. So, when it comes to pruning, thin back any fruit bushes you have. Rosemary and lavender will also benefit from being pruned ahead of winter. Only cut back slightly, going too hard on it may mean it doesn’t recover!
Happy gardening this September!
Daisy x