Thetford Garden and Allotment Club’s monthly notes return with Maggie Baldwin offering seasonal tips for September. From lifting potatoes and resowing lawns to preparing for cooler days, there’s plenty for local gardeners to be getting on with this month!
The 1st September is the annual Feast day of St Fiacre, the patron saint of gardeners, he was an Irish hermit who moved to France where he became known for his charitable work and horticultural expertise.
It has been a very hot dry summer and although we hope the fine weather won’t disappear it will be lovely to have cooler days. The floral displays around the town for Anglia in Bloom are still looking lovely and really brighten up the place.
This month can bring a glut of produce with courgettes, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes all going into overdrive! There is still time to set some winter salads, winter lettuces, rocket and chicory can be sown now, with slightly lower temperatures rocket is less likely to bolt and so can be harvested for several weeks.
By the end of the month any potatoes still in the ground should be lifted or you’ll be sharing them with the slugs! Apparently each cubic metre of soil can contain up to 200 slugs but numbers are affected by rainfall and the type of soil. Once they are dry store them in brown paper sacks to keep the light out in a cool dark place, exposure to light can cause the potatoes to turn green which renders them unpalatable.
Any bare patches on the lawn can be resown while the soil is still warm and rain has softened the ground. If you have pigeons or other birds visiting the garden pop some netting or horticultural fleece over the seeded area. Planted seed should germinate swiftly.
If you have any new perennials to plant get them in now and they can get their roots down and establish before winter arrives.
The Club Annual General Meeting takes place on Thursday 25th September at the Methodist Church commencing at 6.30pm.
Enjoy your gardening!
Maggie Baldwin
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