Flower Garden

• Plant spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils, crocus, muscari and scilla but not Tulips
  
• Continue with dead heading and weeding so that you extend the flowering season and keep soil nutrients and moisture for your plants and not the weeds
  
• If you have any large clumps of perennials or alpines then now is a good time to split and divide. Most plants can be separated into many smaller pieces which can all be replanted or given away. Discard the very old centre portion as this will not make a good new plant
  
• Plant out new spring bedding such as wallflowers, primula and Bellis
  
• Bring inside any tender perennials such as fuchsia or geraniums before the first frosts. If you have somewhere frost free they can be kept over winter or if not then take cuttings
  
• After the first frost lift cannas and dahlias or if you live in a sheltered spot you can try to leave them in the ground but cover them with straw or bracken

 
Lawn

• Raise the height of the mower and mow less often
  
• This is a good time to sow or turf a new lawn or to repair bald patches in an existing one. If the edge of a lawn has broken down then cut out a patch round it of about 1 foot square and turn the turf round so that the broken edge is now next to the lawn and the good edge is facing out. The bare patch can then be sprinkled with fine soil or compost and then seeded
  
• It is a good time to scarify (rake out all the thatch and debris with a long tined rake) and aerate (make holes all over the lawn with a fork and brush in compost). It is hard work but well worth doing as the lawn looks much better and it prevents problems such as moss and water logging
  
• After scarifying and aerating put on an autumn feed that is high in potassium. Don’t use a summer feed as you will get soft growth which will be prone to disease
  
• Finally top dress the lawn with loam or sand working it in with a still brush or the back of a rake
  
• If this all sounds like too much hard work you can buy scarifiers and aeraters to make life easier

 
Fruit and Vegetables

• This is the last chance to put in new strawberry plants and pot up any rooted runners
  
• Remove any canes that have fruited from summer fruiting raspberries and tie in the new canes
  
• New fruit trees can be planted if the ground is moist. Wait until later if we are having a dry spell.
  
• Remove any diseased fruits to stop the spread of disease
  
• At the end of the month wrap grease band around the trunks of fruit trees to prevent the wingless female moths from climbing up to lay their eggs
  
• Continue to sow over wintering seeds such as spinach, turnip, lettuce and onions
  
• Any outdoor tomatoes should be picked before frosts and brought indoors to ripen. Leave them on the vine and place the whole truss in a greenhouse or on a windowsill
  
• Lift onions and shallots but do not bend over at the neck as they wont store as well. If the weather is not wet leave them to dry on the soil otherwise bring them into a dry shed
  
• Lift all root vegetables and sore in a cool, dark and dry place. Leave parsnips in the ground as they are better tasting after being frosted

 
Wildlife

• Clean out birdbaths and keep them topped up with water
  
• As the breeding season for birds is not quite over it is still not safe to put out peanuts and other large bird food but continue with small bird food
  
• If you have the room put a pile of twigs or logs in a quiet corner of the garden as these will become home to lots of wildlife. To make it an attractive area plant around the logs with primroses, ferns etc.
  
• Do not cut back any plants with seed heads, such as sunflowers, as they provide a useful source of food for birds
  
• Make or buy a hedgehog hibernation box and leave it under a pile of dead leaves at the back of garden where it will be undisturbed. If making it yourself add a tunnel to the entrance hole to stop predators from entering the nest

 
Looking Good This Month

Agapanthus - African lily. Strap like leaves with tall white to blue flowers
Aster Novi-belgii - Michaelmas daisy. Colourful flowers popular with butterflies
Caryopteris - Grey-green leaves with true blue flowers
Dahlia - Stately tall plants with bright colourful flowers
Eryngium - Sea holly. Spiny leaves with mauve thistle shaped flowers
Plumbago - Leadwort. Grown in a warm spot will have blue flowers
Sedum Spectabile - Ice plant. Flat heads of flowers loved by butterflies & bees
Solidago - Golden rod. Bright yellow flowers attractive to butterflies
Stipa Gigantea - Giant feather grass. Very tall fountain like grass
Viburnum Opulus - Guelder rose.  Bright red berries at this time of year

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