Gardening in September – what you should do now

Garden work must also be done in September. Read how to prepare now in autumn for the coming winter

These gardening jobs you should do in September

Autumn, especially September, still has plenty of gardening to offer you. This month brings the first cool days after a warm summer. Prepare for this together with your plants.

• Rake leaves: You can leave piles of leaves for insects or other garden inhabitants, such as hedgehogs, to give them wintering opportunities. Do not leave leaves on your lawn as they can rot quickly. In other places, however, leaves can serve as frost protection.
• Maintain your lawn: Sow in bare patches or use September to replace old turf with new. With the soil still warmed from summer, seed germinates well.
• Harvest ripe pome fruit: You can store your harvest in a cool place. You can also process them directly. One possibility, depending on the type of fruit, would be to make your own jam.
• Dispose of fallen fruit: Fallen fruit can spread pests or diseases. Therefore, do not leave it lying around for long and, if possible, do not dispose of it in your compost heap.
• Dispose of fallen fruit.
• Sow vegetables: You can grow vegetables in autumn. Sow spinach and radishes, for example.
• Protect cold-sensitive plants: Protect sensitive plants in your garden with brushwood, mulch or a plant bag. Bring delicate potted plants indoors in good time.

These tools can be useful for gardening in September

Sometimes it’s time for a change. Especially in autumn it is a good time to make such a change. The following things might be interesting for you:

• Compost: Create a compost heap. This way you can naturally dispose of leaves, tree or lawn cuttings and other garden waste that accumulates especially in September.
• High bed: Consider creating a high bed. This is easier on your back, protects your plants better from pests and produces higher crop yields. A raised bed has different soil layers and therefore better soil quality.
• Small greenhouse: This extends the warm days for the plants inside and also protects them from bugs.
• Conservatory: A conservatory is a larger and more expensive project. However, if you have the space and the money, you should consider this option. In a conservatory you can overwinter larger plants and maintain a beautiful garden atmosphere even during the cold days.

This is what you should do with fruit and vegetables in September

You can now harvest and process seasonal fruit and vegetables. In addition, you can plant and sow new vegetables. Don’t forget additional work to properly care for existing plants during this time.

• Harvest apples, pears, plums, damsons, grapes, quinces, physalis, blueberries, blackberries, melons, mirabelles and grapes.
• You can also process some of the harvest into jam or jelly, so you have variety and don’t have to throw anything away, as something like this will keep much longer.
• Fruit care in September:Fertilise strawberry plants extensively so they can gather strength for next year and remove any raspberry canes that have been harvested.
• Harvest these vegetables: cauliflower, broccoli, chilli, fennel, potatoes, kohlrabi, leeks, sweetcorn, pumpkin, aubergines, chard, peppers, parsnips, radishes, beetroot, cucumbers, red cabbage, spinach, celery, rutabaga, carrots, tomatoes, white cabbage, courgettes, onions and beans.
• Sow these vegetables: cauliflower, lettuce, radishes, mustard, spinach, white cabbage, winter onion, savoy cabbage, chard, cress and rhubarb.
• Plant these vegetables after you have pre-grown them indoors: Winter hedge onion, kale, pak choi, parsley, spinach, postelein and broccoli.
• Vegetable care in September: Bed pumpkins on straw to prevent rotting and remove new flowers from pepper and tomato plants.