I’ve been really lucky to get away a lot over the summer months, to a range of places, and doing so has re-ignited my interest in, and passion for, plants. I was blown away by some of the alpine plants and mountain meadows I hiked through in the French Alps, and was enchanted by the vast hedges of Pittosporum tobira, sending heady delicious scent my way as I passed by, on the Greek island of Naxos. It just confirmed for me how lucky we are to live in a part of the world with such diverse flora. Here in the UK, the range of plants we can grow really is extraordinary.

However, with the extreme weather conditions we have experienced this year (remember the endless Siberian winter, followed by meltingly hot summer?) it can be hard to know what to plant to cover all the odds! Right now though, it’s nice to be able to look forward to the blaze of colour that heralds the arrival of autumn in the coming weeks. And the great news is there’s still plenty of time to do some planting – especially useful if you lost anything over the winter that needs replacing.

In fact, September is one of the very best times to plant, as the ground is still warm so roots can grow fast and get their feet settled in before the winter takes hold. We have a large range of shrubs and trees recently arrived from our Italian growers, including:

• Betula – utilis and jacquemontii – with their ethereal silvery trunks
• Autumn flowering Camellia sasanqua, with pink flowers against glossy green foliage
• Nandina domestica, with its lovely fiery autumn foliage
• Rhynchospermum jasminoides, including a new variety that flowers even more profusely in the shade
• Pyracantha on frames, with gold, orange and red berries
• Cryptomeria (or ‘Tina Turner’ as we like to call them … come and see why!)
• Olive trees laden with olives, in a variety of sizes

It really is a great time to fill that gap or add a statement plant to your borders, and you won’t find better value than with our Italian-grown plants.

It’s also time to plant spring bulbs again. Get the Narcissi and Crocus’ in as soon as possible, but don’t plant Tulips until it’s colder (you can hold off until November even). However, as I always say, buy them NOW as we simply can’t guarantee that we’ll still be able to supply all the varieties later on, and keep the bulbs somewhere cool and dry until you plant them. Colchicum can be planted immediately, and will flower within a few weeks; Cyclamen coum, Fritillaria, Muscari, Crocus’ and Iris reticulata all flower in early spring, followed by later flowering Tulips and Allium. We have an informative “how to plant bulbs” sheet by the till in case you’re unsure of how to plant them.

Within the next month or so you’ll need to start the ‘Great Autumn Clear Up’! We have all you need to do so, including:

• Rakes – metal and plastic
• Ground sheets and garden bags (make life SO much easier!)
• Leaf composting sacks
• Secateurs
• Pruning saws and shears
• Gloves, including gauntlets

It’s also a good month to sort your lawn out. We have lawn dressing and Autumn lawn food available, along with a handy information sheet on how to tend your lawn at this time of year.

The other big job this month and next is to mulch your beds and borders. I always think of this as tucking the garden up in a big fluffy duvet for the winter! There are a range of mulches available:

• Well-rotted horse manure slowly breaks down into the ground nourishing and improving your garden soil.
• Decorative bark stays on top of the soil for longer, forming a barrier against weeds, and holding moisture in the ground.
• ‘Strulch’, a new product for us, made from mineralised straw, has won numerous awards and has been recommended to us by several customers.

There’s certainly plenty to keep us all busy outside this month, so let’s hope the sun continues to shine.

With warmest wishes for a glorious September

Karen

Opening Hours

Monday to Saturday: 9:30am – 5:30pm
Sundays and Bank Holidays: 10am – 4pm

Except

Jan: 10am – 4pm (Fri, Sat and Sun only)
Feb, Aug, Nov: 10am – 4pm (every day)

Contact Us

Web: www.alleynpark.co.uk
Email: info@alleynpark.co.uk
Phone: 020 8670 7788

Rear of 77 Park Hall Road
(Entrance opposite Café Rouge)
West Dulwich, London SE21 8ES

First, a quick update on my balconies: I’ve been enjoying Sun Gold tomatoes since early July, and 'Shirley', is ripening nicely now. The chilli plants keep producing flowers and fruit, sweet peas fill several vases each week, and I haven’t bought any herbs from the supermarket for months. There’s not much space, but it’s worked out well this year. I hope you are happy with your patch too.

And now we head into autumn, and hopefully good weather to prolong flowering displays for a while yet. Enjoy the warm September days with jobs around the garden, and look forward to fiery autumn colour.

General Maintenance

• Start to clear away garden debris from beds and borders and around containers.
• Give evergreen hedges their final trim of the year.
• Pot up tender herbs such as basil and bring them indoors for the winter.
• Replace faded summer bedding with winter flowering pansies and violas and spring bulbs.
• Prune late summer flowering shrubs when the flowers have finished.
• Once lavender flowers have faded, cut the plants back with secateurs, within the green growth, not brown wood. Doing this each year will maintain neat, compact plants and encourage more side shoots to grow.
• Divide and replant spring and summer flowering herbaceous perennials.
• As leaves begin to fall, cover ponds with net to prevent leaves falling in and affecting water quality. Nets also protect fish from herons and other predators.
• Rake leaves regularly, especially from lawns where a thick layer of leaves can kill off the grass.
• Keep camellias and rhododendrons well watered to ensure good bud development for next year's flowers.
• It’s worth mounding a good layer of compost or horse manure around established trees and shrubs, including fruit trees, roses and wisteria. They’ll really benefit from an autumn feed, and will produce stronger growth and more flowers in the spring if mulched now.
• Keep tidying the garden, removing dead and dying leaves from plants, pulling up weeds and generally cleaning to help prevent pests and diseases overwintering.
• Tackle perennial weeds such as bindweed with glyphosate based weed killers.

Lawns

• As the weather begins to cool, lawns benefit from an autumn work over – in 3 easy steps:

• An autumn lawn feed can be used. Don't be tempted to use a spring lawn product, which contains the wrong fertilisers for this time of year.
• September is an excellent time to lay a new lawn with cut turfs, as they will establish their roots quickly, without putting on too much top growth, avoiding the need to mow. Additionally, you are less likely to damage the newly laid turf as the temptation to be out on the lawn is reduced in the cooler autumn months than in the spring. You can revitalise worn out patches in your lawn, either with seed or by cutting in new turfs.
• Use a lawn weed killer to control perennial weeds before the weather cools.

Fruit and Vegetables

• Keep picking raspberries, and prune the canes once fruiting is over.
• Net fruit trees to protect fruit from the birds.
• Remove fallen fruit from around trees and shrubs before it rots.
• Fix grease bands round the trunks of apple trees to trap the wingless female winter moths as they try to climb the trunk to lay their eggs (which would turn into bud eating caterpillars!).
• Root vegetables can be lifted and stored, but it’s best to leave parsnips and swedes in the ground to be frosted as this improves their flavour.
• Plant vegetables such as leeks, broccoli, cabbages etc to enjoy through winter and spring.
• Pinch out the top of tomato plants to halt growth and divert energy into ripening fruits. Remove yellowing leaves and leaves which are covering the fruit. This will increase air circulation and help to reduce the risk of grey mould.

Planning and planting

• If most of the flowering is over in your garden, think about introducing some nectar rich autumn flowering plants to continue to support beneficial insects. Sedums, echinaceas, heleniums and many more will bring new colour to the garden.
• Autumn is an ideal time for planting many trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. The ground is warm and roots have a chance to get established before the winter cold. Autumn planted trees, shrubs and perennials often have a head start on those planted in the spring, putting energy into top growth at the first hint of warmth in the spring.
• Prepare areas for new planting next year by digging in good quality, well rotted horse manure. If possible, dig down at least one spade depth. The winter frosts will break the soil up even more, making less work for you in the spring.
• Look forward to spring colour and start planting spring-flowering bulbs now in beds or containers. Small bulbs such as crocus, dwarf iris and small narcissi can be put in window boxes to grow through pansies or violas. Most bulbs can be planted from late summer until late autumn. Daffodils should be planted as soon as possible to get some good root growth, while tulips are best planted in November in the cooler temperatures to avoid infection by tulip fire, and so that their shoots don’t appear too early and get frosted in the spring.
• Bulbs should be planted at the right depth, the general rule being at a depth equivalent to three times their own height. Check on the pack for specific planting instructions.

Pests and disease

• Slugs and snails continue to plague our gardens. There are different ways to tackle them:

• Dispose of any diseased foliage and plants in garden waste, not in the compost bin, including blight affected tomatoes, mildewed foliage and rust affected plants.

Wildlife

• Keep feeding the birds, and leave water out for them too. Encouraging birds and other wildlife into the garden helps to control pests. Blackbirds love pecking at snails,and frogs will munch away on slugs, so a small pond to encourage them might reap benefits!

Enjoy what I hope will be an Indian summer in September, and we'll be back with more autumn cleanup notes and advice in October

Happy gardening!

Sally

Opening Hours

Monday to Saturday: 9:30am – 5:30pm
Sundays and Bank Holidays: 10am – 4pm

Except

Jan: 10am – 4pm (Fri, Sat and Sun only)
Feb, Aug, Nov: 10am – 4pm (every day)

Contact Us

Web: www.alleynpark.co.uk
Email: info@alleynpark.co.uk
Phone: 020 8670 7788

Rear of 77 Park Hall Road
(Entrance opposite Café Rouge)
West Dulwich, London SE21 8ES