“Autumn begins truly to clutch at the garden, gently showing its fingers in heavy morning dew.” Gardening in September is actually one of my least favourite months. Summer has sadly come to an end (not that we really had one in the UK this year) and, unlike this time last year, our September garden is looking decidedly shaggy and soggy. But I’m not really complaining as we still have plenty of flowers, fruits, and vegetables to enjoy, even though my September gardening to do list doesn’t seem to get any shorter…
What to do in the garden in September
Gardening in September is a time of taking stock. The lack of prolonged hot dry weather this summer has meant far fewer September flowers than usual, even if we’ve had plenty of fruits and vegetables. Yin and yang, I suppose. But even if there’s less to enjoy visually this year, I still have a few September gardening tips to share – mainly about decluttering (yes, even gardens need tidying up!) and planning ahead for next year. While trying not to disturb any of our snoozing cats, of course.
September flowering plants
The cover shot in this month garden update is one of our beautiful purple osteospermums, and the flash went off when I took it. Not my usual type of photo, but rather lovely, don’t you think? So, what other flowers are blooming in September? I’m still cutting sunflowers and sweet peas for our houses and hope to do so for a few more weeks yet. After the sunflowers have gone over, I’ll leave the seed heads out for the birds to feast on. And once the sweet peas have finished, I’ll cut them down and leave their roots to slowly release nitrogen back into the soil.
Regular readers will know I’m not a huge fan of pots and hanging baskets because they always need watering so much. But I couldn’t resist picking up this gloriously vibrant red Geranium at our local ALDI recently. I’ve just popped her, pot and all, into a gap alongside with some yellow Cosmos and purple Lavender in the main pot by our front door. Isn’t she pretty?
And those baby Cosmos seedlings I had in April are still going strong, growing new blooms as fast as I deadhead the old ones. On the left is Cosmos Lemonade* in the same pot as the Geranium, and on the right is Cosmos Dazzler* in a couple of pots by our wildlife pond.
Returning to the lavender, now is the time to prune all lavender plants. And you need to be quite harsh, even if you still spot the odd bloom. Chop everything back to around a couple of inches of green growth, but not into the old, brown wood as it may not regrow.
Tip: don’t forget to keep all the dried flower heads for scent bags, and for their seeds, so you can sow and grow lots of lovely new lavender plants for free next year.
And lastly, another tip, save a few of the pruned lavender cuttings with some good green growth and healthy stalks to pot up. Keep them warm and moist, and as soon as you see new growth, you know you’ve got some new plants for free as well. Really, lavender is the perennial that just keeps giving 🙂
Even better, you can do exactly the same with salvia, pelargonium, and fuchsia cuttings this time of year too. Plants for free, what’s not to love?
Other flowering perennial plants for early autumn displays are Japanese anemones – like these lovely white ones that light up the shade by our wall every year. And my favourite Hydrangea by our front door too – just one stem in a vase looks lovely.
Honourable mention to my beloved, ever-reliable Geranium Rozanne, which I have scattered around our garden in pots, in beds, and any random spare space. And to our pretty little purple Asters glowing happily by our smaller ponds.
One of the blooms in our September garden that I’m very happy to see is my last surviving dahlia – Penhill Watermelon, grown from a tuber a few years ago. I have to confess, I’ve neglected all my other dahlias shamefully over the last few years 🙁 But silver linings, I can buy some more tubers next year and grow some new dahlias again. And in the same bed as my dahlia, we have some self-seeded blue Borage and yellow Welsh poppies growing again – both very pretty but also impossible to eradicate, you’ll never need to sow either of them more than once!
And I’m very happy indeed that some of our roses are flowering again. The pale pink climber and bright pink shrub rose are both relentless repeat bloomers, and also viciously ungrateful when I need to deadhead them. But the one rose I’m really thrilled about is the little white climber. She’s an off-shoot of the parent plant that met an untimely end thanks to Alan’s over-enthusiastic strimming earlier this year. Nature is full of surprises!
Vegetable gardening in September
Yes, it’s harvest time, but it’s also time to plan ahead. Vegetables to plant in September for winter meals in particular. The soil is still warm so seeds to plant in September that will germinate quickly include fast growing salad leaf crops* and radishes*. And don’t forget your cabbages*, Swiss chard*, and turnips* either. Really, when you can grow your own with seeds that cost as little as 1p each, what’s stopping you from having a go?
Over in our raised bed vegetable garden, our multi-coloured climbing French beans* are still cropping and yielding a good couple of handfuls each week. Once they’ve finished, I’ll treat them the same as the sweet peas, ie, cut back to ground level and leave the roots behind to fix nitrogen in the soil. Sadly, I think we’ve harvested the last of our delicious tomatoes* for this year. And unlike last year, we have very few unripened green tomatoes left, so unless I can beg some from a neighbour, I won’t be making any green tomato chutney this month either <sob>.
The outdoor cucumbers* have a few flowers left, but I don’t know if it’s warm enough to grow any fruits at this stage. And we’ll need an Indian summer for sure to harvest anything from our greenhouse chilli plant. Oh well, vegetable gardening doesn’t always go to plan! Although that’s very much not the case with my Romanesco* cauliflowers, I’m delighted to say. On the left is the photo from last month, August, when despite my investment in a zip up netted cage* to shield them from pigeons and egg-laying butterflies, I wasn’t that hopeful. And on the right is the photo from a couple of days ago. Wow, what a difference in only a few weeks!
Gardening in September is also when I can harvest all kinds of produce from our fruit trees as I work. There are still a few apples left on our beautiful old apple tree and the Victoria plums are ready to harvest now. Time to dig out my recipe for damson and plum jam…
Our solitary three pears look pretty pathetic, but we have a few figs that are slowly going brown, and just look at these fuzzy little kiwis!
And last but not least, our second apple tree has some healthy looking fruit too. If you squint very closely, you might just be able to see from the label that we got her from B&M a few years ago, for £5.00, I think. You really don’t have to spend a lot of money on plants, you just need to have patience, and to trust in Nature. Speaking of which, the birds will be very happy in due course thanks to our grapevine and its prolific annual crop.
September gardening to do list
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that weeding, pruning and dead heading continue to feature high on my September jobs list. And although, unlike this time last year, our grass is in fairly good condition, early Autumn is a good time to fill in any bare patches with turf or seed. Will grass seed grow if you just throw it on the ground? No, it will not, you need to prepare the soil by raking it to a fine tilth and then gently press the seeds into it. Tip: water the soil first, or wait for a rainy day, then scatter your seed, otherwise you’ll end up washing it away. And for more established lawns, don’t forget to raise the height of your mower blades as grass growth slows down. Alan is mowing our lawn and orchard grass on alternate weeks now.
Now is also the perfect time to plan ahead with some hardy annual seeds to plant in September for flowers early next Summer. Think colourful Calendulas*, Cornflowers*, Ammi*, Scabiosa*, and Poppies* – all beloved by pollinators. And, in the same way as I harvested my Lavender seeds, I’ll be collecting more ripe seeds from my favourite flowers, like this lovely Rudbeckia*, and storing them in labelled paper envelopes, ready to sow in Spring. I won’t harvest all my Lunaria* seeds though, I’ll pick a few seed heads to spray gold for Christmas decorations, just like my mother did without fail every year. I have very fond memories of her taking anything that stood still and either spraying or covering it with Fablon…
And last but not least, it’s time to settle down with a glass of wine and my gardening catalogues so I can order and plant all my spring bulbs, including flowering bulbs such as crocuses, daffodils, and tulips later this year.
Wildlife gardening jobs for September
Do you remember last month I said how thrilled we were to see so many baby goldfish in our wildlife pond? Well, I’m less happy this month because I’ve caught a heron stalking around the edges of our pond on quite a few early mornings (around 6.00am) and we’re not sure what to do. Netting our pond will be tricky due to all the plants, but if anyone has any ideas, please do let me know in the comments, thank you. Meanwhile, we’re still spotting a few electric blue male and deep brown female damselflies, as well as plenty of water boatmen skating across the surface of the water 🙂
And Alan is still filling up the bird feeders with nuts and fat balls every day, although we’ve had to move a few around because Loki is such a prolific leaper… I wish he’d start eating some of our gazillion garden spiders instead, I’m getting fed up with being bitten all the time!
Gardening in September – a summary
And that concludes my September gardening update – the first month of Autumn. While there are always lots of other gardening things to do in September, I’m only sharing what we’ve been doing in our outside space in the South West of England. Even so, I hope I’ve answered any questions, such as:
- What to plant in September?
- Are there any specific garden care tips for September?
Have you enjoyed your virtual visit to our garden and orchard this month? While September isn’t my favourite month, there are a few highlights I’m looking forward to. As I type, I’m waiting for our neighbour to drop off a couple of kilos of his damsons so that I can make some damson gin and vodka, ready for Christmas drinks 🙂 So, with my best wishes for the rest of September, I hope you’ll join me again for October’s garden update in a few weeks time.
Have you been enjoying any gardening in September? Which of my September gardening tips did you find most interesting or helpful? What’s your favourite flower, fruit, or vegetable I’ve been growing this month?
* This post features affiliate links but all opinions are my own (see my Disclaimer).
Beautiful garden. I love the flowers. The sleeping cat made me laugh!
Thank you – yes, that’s typical Ginger!
Your garden and cat are beautiful!
I have mini apples growing in my garden. Great tip about the lavender too.
Thank you very much – and yes, lavender is very easy to grow from seed and propagate too – good luck!
I love your gardening posts! So many beautiful flowers and exciting vegetables to have xx
Thank you so much, Della! x
Love September because it’s full of fruits at my garden- figs, pumpkins, grapes, apples. Love the flowers at yours..
Wow, you sound like you’ve got lots to enjoy, Gabi 🙂
The cover shot is top-notch. Let me lead with that. And that’s a decent flower garden you got going for September. Love the apples and plums btw. And a shout out to Ginger : ) Thanks for sharing xx
Thank you! I loved it too, so very different from my usual but a happy accident 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the post xx
Wow..such beautiful flowers and amazing fruits…lovely garden 🙂
Thank you so much 🙂
I have begun to look forward to your monthly gardening editions! I love the beautiful sweet peas & sunflowers. I am now living in a house and I’m looking forward to planting lettuces, salad leaves, herbs and maybe some flowers. Unfortunately, the garden doesn’t have any soil so they will all have to be in grow bags or pots! I wish I could plant some chard, but I’m not sure how well that would work and when it would arrive. I look forward to next month 🙂
Thank you, Caroline! Ah, yes, but pots work well for everything you have in mind – plus you can bring them in if they’re frost-tender as well. Give some chard a go, you never know 🙂 x
Great post Lisa, I love your gardening catch-ups! I think these colours are gorgeous and it’s fantastic to see your fruit doing well too. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Eleanor, that’s very kind! x
Aww, what a wonderful garden update. My poppies died, both of them. I might buy one or two next year, if I have some place due to other plants dying.
I have a question regarding the figs. Do you harvest them green and let them ripe in a paper bag or just wait for the figs to ripen on the tree? My fruits are looking good, but the ones from last year didn’t make it, so I’m wondering if I should harvest a few or not.
Thank you, Anca! So sorry to hear about your poppies though 🙁 With regard to figs, we harvested our first ever one this yesterday, after about 8 years! It was partially brown, but had split, so we knew it was ripe. I’d say harvest a few and pop them in a bag with a banana and see what happens 🙂
I will do that and see what happens. 🙂
Fingers crossed – keep me posted!
Aww Ginger is so cute laying there! Teddy loved laying in the flowers in the summer, miss watching him get comfy and sleep there all day. It’s great you can harvest a lot of fruit from the trees this month, I bet they taste delicious. Also loving the look of your pond, so wish I had one! Always wanted a koi fish pond after my grandads garden, I loved watching the fish when I was younger.
I know, bless him, he doesn’t move all day! We are so lucky with all our fruit trees, although sadly we can’t eat it all, we end up throwing some away 🙁 Yes, we’re very proud of our pond, just need to find a way to deter that perishing heron now!
Lovely garden! I have just cleared mine. You really have a great balance of flowers.
Thank you so much, that’s very kind.
Love this! I’m so jealous of how beautiful your garden is, haha – it’s so bright and colourful! I really love the roses and, of course, Ginger. Thanks for sharing x
Ah, thank you, that’s very kind, we are lucky! x
What absolutely lovely apples, Lisa! We have old-fashioned apple trees and have been making plenty of apple chutney. I have also been looking into Instantpot apple sauce and butter, which looks a fascinating way to make it.
I spent some time this morning bedding down a couple beds in our garden as fall crops do not take up too much space for us. Love the looks of your vegetable beds and flowers and especially Ginger!
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you, Jaya, yes, they are delicious. Crunchy, slightly fizzy, and sweet! I like the sound of apple chutney, I’ll have to try that, I think. Good luck with your fall crops, I hope they get underway in good time before the first frosts 🙂
I will definitely return to this post for reference when autumn starts here in SA in March. Great post
Thank you, I’m glad it was useful 🙂
I am just getting more and more into gardening and I would love to start growing some veggies (me and my partner are living with my parents whilst we work on getting a mortgage/home) when I have my own place. These are some great tips and we have a mix of spring/summer and autumn/winter plants/bushes around the garden and I love them! Actually I have grown my own pumpkins and they are orange now so I cannot wait to pick them next week for October 🎃 x
Oh my goodness, lucky you about the pumpkins! I read at the weekend there was going to be a shortage of orange ones in time for Hallowe’en so great to hear you’re already sorted 🙂 And in the meantime, why not grow some veggies indoors? Cut and come salad crops, radishes, herbs will all do well on a window sill x
I’m not ready to let go of my garden and dinners outside yet. Thank goodness for this late Indian summer! Your flowers are so gorgeous!
Rosie
I know, it’s lovely, isn’t it? And thank you!
Awh bless your cat, reclaiming his spot! Great post Lisa. Really helpful for any newbie gardeners as we head into the colder months too. I love the range of colours you have in your garden right now. Although not a fan of the spider!
I know, he’s such a character! Thank you, Jenny, and unlike the frogs, I’m with you all the way on the spider!
I love your garden updates Lisa! Such fresh tomatoes and apples! Your garden is always so beautiful. You leave me wondering how you do it. I have been wanting to start my own gardening but the time just isn’t there. I have been considering starting anyways and I would love to start with tomatoes. Not sure how that would go lol but I will give it a try I guess. Thank you for sharing x
Thank you so much, Ruth, that’s very kind – and yes, I wonder how we do it too, there’s always something that needs doing! But yes, do give tomatoes a go – you could even try them indoors in a hanging basket as well! x
I love my virtual visits to your garden each month! It’s so beautiful and bountiful! Thanks for the reminders on what to do each month too!
Thank you, Jodie, that’s just wonderful to hear!
Yay!!!!!! Lisa’s Garden Tour is back! And I’m happy. I love looking at your garden with all the beautiful flowers and plants. Your garden makes me happy. I was excited to read this post when I saw you posted some pictures on your garden on Instagram. Again, thank you for sharing. Your garden virtual tour has made my day.
Oh Fadima, that is so lovely to hear, I’m very happy you enjoy my garden updates and I’m just thrilled that this has made your day!!! x
The garden in fall is going to be a bit exhausting but you getting lovely fruits from it which is awesome.
It is indeed, but yes, you’re right, we’re very lucky 🙂
For something gloomy, it still looks beautiful!! Almost everything we have that flowers have disappeared now and we’re pretty much left with the shrubs and bushes at this point. The hydrangea is gorgeous! They’re one of my favourite flowers. At least the fruits & veg are plentiful right now!
Thank you – although to be fair, it’s me that’s gloomy, not the garden! And yes, you can’t beat a hydrangea, they’re fabulous plants 🙂
I mean, I am always in awe of your garden Lisa! And Ginger looks like they are enjoying the flower bed so much!! We are currently visiting home so we had the chance to pick up some greens from the garden and I love it! Cucumbers, french beans and tomatoes! I didn’t know you had to prune lavender in September, so annotating everything x
Thank you, Cristina, that’s very kind! I can’t wait to see what kind of recipes you come up with for all that fresh produce either, yum 🙂 And yes, late September is a good time to prune lavender, so I’m glad that tip was helpful x
I’m really loving your pond Lisa it’s so pretty. Our father-in-law dug one out for my daughter’s fish and it looks awesome! You’re cherry tomato’s luck so yummy. I’ve planted some tomatoes in winter, as it’s spring here in Australia and they are starting to prominently poke through the soil. Hurray! I was inspired by a post of yours a read a few months back to start planting after our bush fires. Very impressed with your zip-up tent for your cabbages! What a difference a few weeks makes! I hope they taste as good as they look 🙂 Thanks for the tips.
Thank you so much, Lindsay, that’s very kind – and I’m so pleased that an earlier post inspired you too, that’s wonderful to hear! I hope your tomatoes do well, a lot of people in the UK seem to have suffered from tomato blight this year, although we escaped that. Best wishes for all your planting 🙂
I love that your cat has claimed its spot on the raspberry and rhubarb bed! That’s the sort of thing my cat would do! I love reading your garden posts Lisa! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you, Lucy, yes, Ginger is ever reliable and knows what he likes! x
Your garden looks amazing Lisa! And that kitty is adorable!
Thanks, Jenni, yes, he sure is!
Your garden is beautiful and it looks like everything is growing and sprouting well. Plus your cat is so cute.
Thank you very much – yes, and he knows it 🙂
Lovely post! My garden is just about dying at this point as it’s getting too cold at night, but my flowers are doing okay at the moment. I also have cosmos in my flower bed, they’re so pretty! I tried growing lavender this year by seed, and it never came up sadly. But anyways, thank you for the virtual garden tour this month x
Alexis
Plants are tougher than we think – I still have a lot of houseplants outside including my aloe veras, and they’re thriving. I won’t be bringing them in until the first frosts. Sorry to hear about your lavender – I always grow Spanish Lavender and it’s never let me down yet – plus it’s edible too, win, win! x
Every time I read a post of yours I am always left in awe of your garden and the knowledge you have/share — I also think Ginger the cat is ADORABLE! I used to have a wonderful garden in Cornwall (when I was a child so it wasn’t really my garden but I enjoyed all the flowers, fruits and veggies my Mum grew). My grandad was also a keen gardener (in London) and was always potting something on the kitchen table, haha! Thanks for sharing your expertise, I will one day get to try some things out when I finally have a place with a garden to enjoy!
Oh Molly, thank you, that’s so kind of you! But I certainly don’t think of myself as an expert, I’m completely self-taught and an avid watcher of Gardeners’ World, haha. I love the freedom to try things, and if they don’t work, it really doesn’t matter, I can try something else. It’s about having a go, and my garden gives me so much back in return. I hope you get your place with a garden soon!
Hi Lisa
An excellent post with plenty of tips for those of us whose fingers are not yet green. Thank you. And I love Ginger 🙂
Thank you, Richie, that’s very kind!
Your garden is looking impressively busy still. Think I’ll be cleaning the courgette and cucumber plants out this weekend, tomatoes are still going strong but I’m not sure if the green ones will ripen as it’s getting cooler.
To be honest, I’m quite surprised, it’s only when I was sorting my photos that I realised how much is still going on! Lucky you to have green tomatoes, lots of chutney on the horizon then 🙂
LISA you are forever inspiring me! I wish we were in the same hemisphere so I could follow your suggestions month to month. We just got some raised bed planters for flowers (and hopefully some veggies once retail opens again and we can pop into the garden store) and our grapevines our blossoming. Hopefully one day they get as large as yours! Hope you’re having a lovely month! x
mia // https://beautiful-inspiring-creative-life.com/
Oh Mia, that’s so kind of you to say so! I wish I had summer to look forward to again, I’m not an Autumn or Winter fan at all, haha. Good luck with your new raised beds and future veggies, how exciting! x
Ooh I’ve finally planted up my lavender now I’ve cleared the bed they were going in… maybe I should cut them back as well? Slightly terrified of that. I’ve finally done a massive clear-out of my garden so I can start to plan what I want to do next year, so been getting a lot of bulbs in at the moment. Next year it will look pretty, this year is just about keeping on top of it. I love reading these posts, even more so now that I’ve got a garden so thanks for the tips!
Oh no, you don’t need to be worried about cutting back, just as long as you leave a couple of inches of green growth, don’t cut all the way back to the wood. Lavender is pretty tough 🙂 Lots of bulbs, how exciting, can’t wait to see some pictures – and thank you, Lindsey, I’m thrilled you enjoy these posts and that they’re helpful! x
I always enjoy your gardening posts & all the flowers are beautiful! That’s amazing the cauliflowers grew so much & I love seeing all the other fruit & veg!
Also Ginger is so cute!
Thank you so much, Karalee, and yes, he knows he’s very cute!