Five simple gardening tips for September

Debi Holland shares five simple gardening jobs you can do in September to keep your plants healthy and prepare your garden for the months ahead.

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I’ve got five simple gardening tips for September. It’s been a difficult time for our plants weather-wise, but as we embrace autumn, here are five tips to perk up your garden.

Harvest your crops
The lack of water this summer has reduced crops dramatically, so make the most of what you’ve got. Pick autumn raspberries, blackberries, plums and damsons. Eat them now, keep them in the fridge for a few days or freeze them for later.

To see if apples and pears are ready, give the fruit a gentle twist. If it comes away easily, it’s ripe. Store it or try juicing it. Dig up maincrop potatoes and store them in a cool, dark, frost-free garage or shed, where they’ll keep for months.
Raise containers off the ground
Lift pots onto pot feet or bricks to help prevent waterlogging. Your plants will still get watered when it rains, but excess water can run out through the drainage holes. That keeps the roots from getting saturated and potentially rotting.
Give your lawn some TLC
Lawns have had a tough time this year, but they’re resilient. The recent rain has already greened up my lawn, and there are a few things I can do to give it a boost before autumn and winter. Rake out thatch, leaves and twigs, then spike the surface with a garden fork to aerate the soil and improve drainage. You can also give it an autumn feed, such as Richard Jackson’s slow-release Autumn Lawn Booster.
Deadhead your flowers
Keep removing spent flowers to stop plants going to seed too soon. Dahlias, cosmos, roses, pelargoniums, osteospermums and marigolds all benefit. Use clean, sharp snips to cut just above a pair of leaves. With osteospermums, cosmos and pelargoniums, you can also pinch off the spent flower heads with your fingers. This will extend flowering until temperatures drop or the first frost arrives.
Reclaim your borders
If the heatwave left your borders looking brown, give them a clear-out. Unwind and dig out bindweed, cut back brambles and trim away dead growth. Remove any plants that have died to give the survivors room to grow and make space for planting spring bulbs.