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This Month's Gardening Tasks.
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This Month's Gardening Tasks.
No more excuses. Find out what needs to be done this month to keep your garden neat and tidy.
Specific Gardening tasks.
Moriati's Compost Method.
Find out how to make the finest garden compost using the minimum of effort and money. This article remains pretty much in its original form as it appeared in 1998 apart from the gradual addition of photos. Moriati not only invented this method of composting, he is also responsible for the now common term 'Green Dalek'.
Making neat lawn edges.
Edges of the lawn can make or break the beauty of your garden. Learn how to make nice edges to your lawn in this step-by-step guide.
Sweeping leaves.
Don't you just love them. One minute they look lovely on the trees, next they are all over the garden. The only easy way to deal with this is to pay someone else to do it, but why do so many folks insist on making the task as hard as possible for themselves? Get clued up.
Caring for Wisteria.
Wisteria is one of those plants that when grown well is a classical show stopper, but in the wrong hands can stubbornly refuse to flower.
Caring for Hydrangea.
Hydrangea plants require complex pruning once a year if they are to be a real asset to the garden. Step-by-step guide with photos.
Coming shortly..
Tools of the Trade.
Caring for Lawns.
Caring for Hedges.
September's Garden tasks
This is the last month of summer so make the most of it. September is a very unpredictable month, sometimes quite dry and hot, (Indian summer), other times it is cold and rains for weeks on end. (English summer).
Keep on top of the routine gardening tasks and enjoy the flowers while they are still at their best. As the month progresses, the sunset times will draw in faster making it difficult to work in the evenings.
The wetter weather will encourage more weeds to grow, and these must not be ignored. Similarly, the lawns will find a new lease of life and mowing will take longer.
Lawns will benefit from a feed formulated for autumn use. Follow instructions carefully. While tending to the lawns, any bare patches that have developed may be re-seeded this month.
List of tasks.
While on the subject of gathering up the leaves, the best tool for this job is two scrap pieces of plywood. The shops and garden centres are full of high tech devices, some of them expensive, but nothing works so efficiently as two bits of plywood.
The life expectancy of these boards ranges from a few months down to a few hours as they all too often end up in the pile of leaves never to be seen again. Pre-empt this loss by raiding one of the local skips and make up a pile of them. The exact size does not matter, and surprisingly, fairly small boards will nip up large piles of leaves with the minimum of effort.
Transporting the gathered leaves to the compost heap is best done utilizing a large plastic tub or rubbish bin. Plastic bags are difficult to use unless you have three hands as the bags insist on closing or falling over just when you are about to fill them up. Plastic bags tear at the first opportunity and nothing is more annoying than a bag bursting and spilling out over a previously cleaned area.
Make sure you are prepared. The dark evenings do not leave sufficient time for gardeners to struggle.
Make boards for gathering leaves.Summary September
Now, as the nights draw in, the evening temperatures drop making late evening gardening more unpleasant. Try not to put everything off until the weekend though or it will be sure to rain. This month can be quite warm, and if this is the case, make sure you take full advantage of it as this may be the last opportunity for 6 months or longer.
While most plants are still producing a reasonable display, take a moment to assess the strengths and weaknesses of this years display and plan and make notes for improvements next year. Areas of the garden lacking late summer colour will need better planting next year to avoid the same thing repeating.