My dear gardening friends,

Finally summer arrived, and the plants that have been languishing are now perking up and starting to grow, it is so funny, yesterday I noticed that a lot of the plants, especially the ones in the containers need watering!! After all that rain, I thought that I would not have to water ever again (at least not this year)!!!!

September is here and with it those chores that I give you every month:

The Whole Garden
• Continue to weed – I am sorry to do this to you, but the work has still has to be done, especially this year for the rain has made everything grow.
• Continue to collect the seeds for next year’s garden – it will come oh so soon!!
• Continue your check-up programme for pests and diseases.
• Continue to weed and check the garden beds.
• Time to put a net over your water gardens and ponds. It will save you a lot of work skimming and cleaning out the ponds – I inherited a number of fish and now I’m looking for another aquarium. While natural ponds do not need a routine clean-up, artificial water gardens do, and fall is the ideal time to tackle this task.
Water gardens with more than an inch of debris at the bottom are especially in need of cleaning out; this is where the netting helps. If yours is well balanced, meaning it contains plenty of plants and not too many fish, it will only need cleaning out every few years. If you have a lot of fish, as I do, then you must clean it out at least every other year. I do mine every year; I find that it is very mucky after the winter. I clean it out in the spring, when the water is cold of course, because I cannot wait to get those poor fish outside again. However, I do suffer cold feet!!!

Trees and Shrubs
• Plant roses and any other shrubs, bushes and trees – this is bargain time, check out the garden centres. I know that Jordon, Rural Roots has lots of goodies, as do Anne Griffin and Horlings. Ann Jakins has old-fashioned roses for sale too – her number is 652-3047 do call first to make sure that she is there.
• Whilst you are shopping for shrubs etc. this is a good time to pick up some magic garden soil for hilling, filling in holes, where you have dug up (and shared) plants etc. It is always a good idea to have a pile of soil and compost ready at hand. My grandson David used my triple mix to fill in “gopher holes”. Oh well, at least he filled them in.
• Cut any fall blooming roses that are left, bring them inside to enjoy – we are usually so busy “gardening” that we forget to bring flowers inside for our enjoyment, especially at this time of year. My favourite flower supplier has “closed up shop” for this year. They are on the corner of the old 28 and 134 highways. Do look for their lovely Iris (plants) next spring.
• Make sure that you water any newly planted trees and shrubs at least once a week.
• Water any established trees and shrubs only if very dry - during periods of drought, you will have to water them regularly

Flowers and Grasses
• Mow the lawn frequently, do not let it make hay like I have just done – “thankfully, a dear neighbour cut it with his ride-em mower, and then my grandsons came and cut it with the regular mower. Right now things are looking pretty tidy and healthy.
• De-thatch your lawns - but do not remove all the clippings, remember this is the best and cheapest fertilizer.
• Sow your grass seed.
• Cut back any raggedy looking perennials. Divide your perennials, swap and share with neighbours, friends, garden clubs etc.
• Divide your peonies- do not re- plant them too deeply, otherwise you will have lots of green leaves but no flowers next spring.
• Uproot and place your dead and dying annuals in the compost pile.
• Dig up any tender bulbs once the leaves have died back.
• Plant your new tulip bulbs and keep the others back for another month.
• Time to bring in any houseplants. Be sure to give them a good, soapy, warm, water bath before they come back inside, being careful not to bring in any unwelcome guests – the winter is a long time to battle with pests.

Fruits and Vegetables
• Continue to direct seed lettuce, endive, spinach and harvest the last of that beautiful Basil before the frost.
• Harvest any fall raspberries (Rubus spp).
• Before a hard frost, harvest fava (broad) bean plants.
• Begin to harvest cold-tolerant vegetables, e.g. kale.
• Harvest pumpkins and winter squash.
• Dig and pot up Rosemary to overwinter indoors.
• Clean-up areas of the vegetable garden that have finished producing – whilst there is time, rough dig the garden let the frost do the work of breaking down the clods of earth and you will be all set for next spring
• This is also a good time to make your plans for next year. Do not grow the same crops in the same places 2 years in a row; each vegetable family is vulnerable to distinct pests and diseases. Some crops consume more of the nutrients that are in the soil than others do. The hungriest vegetables include, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, and members of the cabbage family including broccoli, (sorry about the slugs and earwigs eating yours Peter) Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, radishes and turnips. Rotate these crops with legumes such as peas and beans or cover crops like alfalfa and clover, which will benefit the soil. Wait about three years before replanting a particular plant in the same place. This is why you keep that diary!! Oh before I forget, leave the Brussels until we have had several hard frosts, it is even better to leave them until the spring – if you do not have an abundance of rabbits. Parsnips should be left in the ground too.

I realise that you have almost nothing to do??!! Still on the planning theme, for next year perhaps it is time to make your garden a place of quiet surprises. Well-maintained gardens stuffed with healthy, colourful blooms can look somewhat boring if you see it all at once with just one block of colour. It is much more exciting to “come upon little nooks and hidden features, e.g. that stone statue hiding behind a bush perhaps. The “surprises” should be neither expensive, nor difficult to maintain. Here are a few suggestions, but perhaps the best one is – keep your eye, and perhaps notebook and pencil out when you visit other gardens:-
1. Shrubs set in an L-shape to create a corner, hiding perhaps a birdbath, bench, sundial, statue, there is that little boy, or even a rockery, from view.
2. A lattice-work screen supporting ivy, clematis, or other climbing plants, with a carved stone face peeping at you through the leaves is always attractive.
3. A water feature is exciting – Roberta Burns always has wonderful suggestions, and you can find some on our site, too. It can be a re-circulating fountain, either in a barrel, or wall mounted – a Japanese cow scarer is also an option, if you enjoy the gentle bang it makes as the bamboo arm hits the container.
4. Bird houses, should be fixed to sturdy posts, in such a way that the whole thing may be lowered to the ground for cleaning. They are more attractive placed amongst ground covers, but not under trees, for the birds need a clear area, to observe enemies, and to be able to fly away without any hindrance.
5. A garden shed is necessary; I saw a delightful one. It had been built into a fence with sliding doors, that were not only the same material but appeared to be part of the fence – it was such a good idea.
6. If you are thinking of pathways, use an old hose to form the outline of gentle curves, remove the grass and soil to a depth of say 2 inches; then fill this area with pea stones or fine gravel. Paths need not go anywhere special - perhaps it can lead to that hidden bench or a dry riverbed. There is nothing so tempting (perhaps we shouldn’t tempt you to ‘just sit’?) as a bench, set beneath a tree, by a wall, or the lake. Make a small nook where you can take your book and a cool drink away from prying eyes. I moved my hammock onto the covered porch this summer so that I could still be outside, but not getting wet; it worked very well.

Someone asked about Chinese cabbage (brassica rapa var chinensis). There are two kinds of Chinese cabbage: one that forms a head and another that does not. The latter type is known as “bok choy” and is the best one to grow, having pale crunchy leaves, which are good for stir-fries. Different cultivars vary in height from just 4 inches to almost 2 feet, the dwarf growing ones make good container plants. Sow the seeds under cover in midspring or outdoors in late spring. Later sowings will be inclined to bolt. You can cut the seedlings four to five weeks after sowing as a cut-and-come-again crop. They need copious watering. Harvest the whole heads ten weeks after sowing. They are of course subject to the same range of pests and diseases as ordinary cabbages. Two bolt-resistant cultivars are ‘Chingensai ‘, which has green stems and ‘Joi Choi’, which has white stems.

I saw this recipe and thought that you might enjoy it:
Strawberries and lemon syllabub
1 ½ cups of strawberry’s washed and hulled
1 ¼ cup heavy cream, juice and rind of two small lemons
½ glass white wine
3 tablespoons fine sugar

The combination of strawberries with lemon always works well. You will only need a few strawberries for this; peaches, raspberries or fruit of your choice work well too. Halve the fruit and divide evenly among four glasses, setting aside four for decoration. Whip the cream, adding the lemon juice and rind, white wine and sugar, very gradually to prevent curdling. Spoon the mixture over the strawberries and decorate with a single strawberry and a sprinkling of brown sugar. Chill well before serving and then enjoy (a sprinkling of pepper makes it very interesting)

I read this in a lovely little book called Between the Apple Blossom and the Water it is called

‘The garden’:

“My heart shall be thy garden.
Come, my own into thy garden; thine be happy hours
Among my fairest thoughts, my tallest flowers,
From root to crowning petal thine alone.
Thine is a place from where the seeds are sown
Up to the sky enclosed, with all its showers
But ah, the birds! Who shall build bowers
To keep these thine? O friend, the birds have flown
For as these come and go, and quit our pine
To follow the sweet season, or, new-comers,
Sing one song, only from our alder trees.
My heart has thoughts, which, though thine eyes hold mine,
Flit to the silent world and other summers,
With wings which dip beyond the silver seas.”
- Alice Meynell

I heard the geese going over this morning , I suppose that we, too, having experienced the "showers" are getting ready to say goodbye to our gardens and the birds.

That should keep you all busy until next time - Hats, gloves, sunscreen, insect repellent, and Arrid extra dry deodorant - yes I have poison ivy again, I think it came from the cat, for it is all over my neck and face where she snuggles in.

Good gardening to us all and may the frost delay its visit.

Lovingly, Beryl