Gardening in September

Main focus in September is on harvesting and preserving the garden treasures. Tomatoes, peppers, chillies, runner beans, pears, grapes, plums, nuts, the last cucumbers and courgettes, the beginning of the pumpkin harvest, almost everything is ripe now. Those who have sown salad, carrots and summer leek in the summer can still enjoy them in the bed.
Preserve picked up fallen fruit as quickly as possible. Onions and garlic whose leaves have dried out must now be removed from the bed and stored in a dry place. September is also the main harvest month for potatoes. When the foliage has died and the potatoes' skins cannot be rubbed off, they are dug up on a dry day. It is best to let the potatoes air-dry for another day before storing them in a sandy box or in the cellar. All cabbage varieties can be left in the bed, they offer a good harvest until winter and taste even better when they have had some frost.
Leave perennials and wild herbs in the bed for the winter, they are both a good green manure and winter quarters for many insect species. Where soil is exposed, it is best to sow green manure, which improves the soil, enriches it with nitrogen and protects it from wind erosion, evaporation and dehydration.

In September and October it is time to plant spring-flowering bulbs now, such as daffodils, crocus and hyacinths, for glorious colour next year. Place the new bulbs in places where they are easily visible, for example under a fruit tree or at the edges of beds. Ideally, prepare the soil a little and add compost. Crocuses and anemones should be planted about 5 cm deep, garden and wild tulips 8 to 10 cm deep and hyacinths and daffodils a little deeper, about 15 cm. Now is also the best time to plant winter onions and winter garlic, e.g. as mixed crop in strawberry beds. Garlic needs a distance of 15 cm, onions 6-8 cm. They are ready for harvesting the following May/June.

September is also the optimal planting time for woody plants, such as berry bushes, roses or wild fruit like elderberry, hazel or hawthorn. The plants still have time to form a stable root system prior to the first frost and will probably bear their first fruits the following summer.