Gardener shares 3 jobs to do in September to get garden autumn-ready

The cold and wet weather is creeping in with September now in full swing, and the depths of autumn are right around the corner. Now that it’s no longer summer, it can be all too tempting to abandon your garden and leave your plants to wilt and die until you rebuild it in the spring.

But one gardener has urged people to stick with their gardening projects throughout the autumnal months, as you can still make your outdoor space thrive even when the sun is no longer shining and we’re faced with days of pouring rain.

Keeping on top of your garden in September will help set you up for an easy autumn as you’ll be one step ahead of everything that needs doing with your flowers.

And if you’re growing autumnal vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cabbage, potatoes, and squash, then you’ll be very busy in the coming weeks tending to your crops.

The gardening expert at Homes & Gardens recently shared a video on TikTok on the top three things you should be doing in your garden this month – including one job that will actually help your flowers continue to bloom for much longer.

1. Deadheading

The expert began by suggesting you take the time to deadhead your flowering plants this month. Deadheading involves removing spent flower heads from the plant so that new ones can grow.

She said: “You can prolong the flowering season for so many of your late summer blooms by keeping up with deadheading and making sure all the energy goes back into producing more flowers for longer.”

If you don’t deadhead your plants, they believe flowering season is over and put their energy into growing foliage, or start the process of dying back, ready for next year. But by cutting the spent heads, you trick the plant into thinking it needs to produce more flowers, thereby making the flowering season longer.

2. Take cuttings from shrubs and trees

If you want to grow new plants from the ones you already have, September is a great time to do that.

The expert stated that all you have to do is cut your shrub just below a node, leaving a stem with some leaves on it. Remove all of the leaves except the top two, and then place the cutting in “a pot of gritty compost”.

Keeping this cutting inside and taking care of it should help it grow into a new plant by next spring, which you can then plant out in your garden alongside the rest of your blooms.

3. Collect seeds

By September, many of your spring and summer flowers will have started to produce seeds. The gardener said now is the perfect time to start collecting them if you want to plant them again next season.

This will give you more flowers next year without having to buy more seeds or established plants from garden centres, so could save you some money on your next gardening project.