Gardening Hints

September and we have had some rain at last, you could almost hear all the plants, trees and lawns breathe a huge sigh of relief. It’s amazing after a drenching how suddenly everything bounces back to to life and begins to look healthy again. It’s been a summer to remember that’s for sure and for those like me, old enough, will recall the summer of 1976 and I think this was definitely on par with that. Keep dead heading all your summer flowering plants in tubs and hanging baskets, this will encourage further flowering, generally all those plants should continue to look good until the first frosts, but it’s important you keep them watered. If you let them dry out too much this is when the plants become very straggly and untidy and ruin the appearance. September is a good month to give hedges a final trim, also tidy and cut back herbaceous perennials that have finished flowering. September/October is the time to plant your spring flowering bulbs such as Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths etc. We have a wide range to choose from at the Garden Centre right now, I advise to shop early for the best choice. When planting bulbs in pots, I generally recommend placing them at a depth of approx. 6”. If your planting them in a border then I would advise to plant deeper to avoid accidently digging them up. If you feed the birds, I always clean and repair all feeders in September in readiness for the all important winter feeding. After the rain, all the weeds have suddenly come to life, so hoe them off with a spray of weedkiller before the get big and set seed. We have a good range of autumn/winter flowering plants now in stock—pansys, violas, cyclamen, etc all ready to plant now to replace summer plants that have suffered because of the hot dry summer. This month we are having an end of season sale on selected plant pots, mirrors, wall art and furniture etc while stocks last. If you use Facebook you will see continually updated items in the sale, if not on Facebook call in and see us. As always take time to sit back, relax and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of your garden or balcony with a drink of your choice, mine as always at this time of year is a nice cold beer. Cheers. Nigel, Art Garden Centre