Anna Taylor, from Anna’s Flower Farm, shares what’s going on in the garden
When I get back from holiday, my first priority is checking the garden. Some time away will have me eager to see the growth and changes. What is in flower? Which vegetables need gathering or seeds collecting?
Though tired, gardens at the end of the growing season often look their best in September: perennials jostling for space in the borders, trees fully extended and green growth returned if, even after a hot August, longer nights and dewy mornings restore (some) moisture. With back-to-school vibes and preparation underway for next year’s garden, this is a great month to reflect and plan.
Try to view your space with fresh eyes, as if it was the first time. Look from the chair or spot in the kitchen you visit every day. It’s not easy; my eyes will go straight to the jobs I want to do or the view that irritates. Instead, I try to consciously look at the great combinations, the structure and elements I love. In September, there will still be signs of planting from throughout the year, seeing where some wafty grasses or pops of colour could enhance is easily noted.
In the long border here, I want some strong oranges – maybe even a couple of red punctuations to enhance the sense of depth. I might use annual tithonias, the Mexican sunflower. It grows rapidly with masses of flowers, up to 1.2 metres. Grown from seed each year, it has a velvety quality, but like a single, dark, ruddy orange dahlia giving texture and structure. I want to add heleniums, maybe moerheim beauty for its rich, reddy-brown, ruff-like petals around a brown little nub centre. I’ll add some aster (specifically symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘rubinschatz’) with its rosy, claret-coloured, star-shaped daisy blooms that need little attention. I might also include some dark maroon sedum telephium subspecies ruprechtii.
These all will thrive in dry-mixed borders, giving colour, structure and interest to enhance the already-mature grasses, salvias, persicaria, guara, crocosmia and echinops. These are all fantastic long-flowering perennials that need next to no maintenance. I will plant these in October so, in the meantime, I’ll dig in pots in the exact spot I want to plant them. This way, when the border retreats with frosts, I don’t have to remember where that was.
In the walled garden, neighbours’ trees have grown much more, with their rain shadow casting a dry spell over beds. I need to increase the organic matter; spring aquilegias, hellebores and geranium phaem will love these conditions – and are good for cutting too.
I never use a chair in that garden – perhaps a hammock would be better? How about your garden? Where do you sit for morning coffee or an evening drink? How is the view, and what could enhance it? These questions might be solved from a shuffle of plants in the autumn or a trip to the garden centre. Others might lead you to consider commissioning advice on creating an enhanced, cohesive space to enjoy. Either way, start planning before the great autumn shrink and tree fall!
To get ahead, sow early summer annuals now like cornflowers, orlaya and corncockle for huge plants in late May. Plant spring bulbs (leave tulips until November) and clip hedges for sharp winter silhouettes. Foxgloves, wallflowers and sweet williams sown in June can be placed in their final flowering spots. For gaps or clear earth, especially in productive beds, sow green manures for winter cover to keep the soil fed.
It’s September lore to collect acorns and conkers, bring in some fallen leaves and arrange picked flowers in tumblers or shot glasses down the table to enjoy the best of this beautiful harvest month.
