by Janis on 4th October 2024 / 0 comments
Time stands still for no-one
I have to be honest here, as our month of September has been extremely busy, but unfortunately, it was not in the garden. We headed over to France to enjoy a two-week road trip in our new EV.
We had an incredible time touring from Calais, through the east of France, exploring Provence and heading back north again through the west of France. This sadly meant that our garden has been slightly neglected for a few weeks.
However, we ensured that a few of the essential tasks were completed.
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What we’ve been up to in September
In the garden and on the websitePrior to us heading off to France in early September, we had a wee plan of a few things we wanted to achieve before we left. However, planning a two-week driving tour, which includes staying at ten destinations, takes time to organise.
So, it was going to be high-level garden planning.
Lavender pruned
Whilst driving around Southern France, it was lovely to see that some of the sunflower fields were still in bloom, even if they weren’t blossoming at their full potential.
Unfortunately, we missed the lavender fields in full flourish; we need to visit earlier in the summer to catch them at their best.
The last of the tomatoes
However, it did remind me that one of my garden tasks to complete when we returned was to prune our lavender bushes.
I’ve now picked all our fresh chillies and frozen them to use over the coming months. I think now it’s about time to bring our money trees inside, and we’ve also turned off our irrigation system.
Achievements for September
Let’s keep ticking those boxesIn August, I spent a good few days on my hands and knees weeding our main cottage garden border, and now they have been ignored for a few weeks, they have come back in full force. At least the ground should be softer at the moment.
We have managed to get some hedge trimming done. As the shrubs can become quite unruly.
The colour continues
I have also sprayed our drive with the homemade mixture of weedkiller, which includes 1 litre of white vinegar, 3 tablespoons of salt, 3 tablespoons of washing-up liquid and a spray bottle. I’m not convinced this method is perfect, I think I’m going to have to resort to the manual approach and attack them with a scraper.
I’m reluctant to clear out our patio pots quite yet; they sit in a protected area of the garden, so I can envisage that they will continue looking colourful for at least another 4-6 weeks.
So, let’s see what we’ve managed to tick off for September.
Remove our fresh chillies and freeze them.
Pruned the bay and holly in the back garden.
Sprayed the drive with weedkiller.
Prune the lavender bushes.
Cleared more of the weeds from our cottage garden bed.
Turned off the irrigation system.
Lessons learnt & mistakes made
You live and learnOne thing I did discover this year was how well nasturtiums last in garden beds as opposed to planting them in pots. I have tried growing nasturtiums in pots many times, and as soon as they start to bloom, blackflies appear, and they look ugly in no time.
Nasturtium
Berries tempting the birds
Well, this year, Gary said “let’s try them in one of our shady garden beds”. I grew them from seed, and five took nicely; they weren’t huge plants, but I thought we had nothing to lose. Lo and behold, they became rampant throughout the large border.
And upon returning from France a week ago, they were still in flower. This was definitely a winner, and I’ll be adding to the list of seeds for 2025.
Our plans for the coming month
What’s on your to-do list?Prune more of the many shrubs in the back garden.
Tackle the raised bed area of our garden.
Tidy front garden beds
Weed the driveway, again using a scraper.
Clear patio pots if required.
Continue to monitor our garden tasks on the RHS Planner; this online tool is so handy.
Decided on the planting for our two front garden beds
Bring in the Money Trees.
Please let us know what you have planned in your garden this month; we’d love to know.
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