September 2022

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

September is a month of immense transition, beginning in full summer, shorts and sandals, ocean swims and it all, but by the end fall has firmly settled in and we reach for our favorite sweater and a warm cup of tea. It is a month of changing light. The sun doesn’t arc above as it did at mid summer, it slants lower, through trees, casting new shadows where once there was sun. Our back garden, which is mostly full sun to part sun in the summer, has slipped into pockets of sun with a lot of part sun and shade with the sun no longer climbing over the mature silver maple at the back of the garden. Sunrise comes later and later, while sunset is surprising early compared to just a month ago. The days seem to change quickly in September, I have often felt one day I simply stepped out of summer and into fall. With the sun rising later it is easy to be up before it, and it is lovely to watch the light slowly creep over misty fields, to see the early light glisten on the morning dew.

And we have finally had a bit of rain, a good inch here in Essex a few days ago, and what looks like more to come today. We still need a good deal more of it to bring back up the water levels in the soil and in all the streams, ponds and lakes, but it is certainly an encouragement to see a good rain and a thunderstorm to boot! A walk in the woods or through the neighborhood and you see everywhere the signs of the drought and the stress the plants have been under, trees have already started dropping their leaves in an attempt to conserve water, evergreens not watered have started to brown out. We enter into fall off of a dry spring and drier summer, what will the fall bring?

I think one of the things I love most about gardening is that it reminds me of both the temporal nature of everything, while at the same time it resilience and longevity, there is a sense of consistency in the change, the cycles that continue on. And on top of all that there is beauty. In the moments, when the foxgloves are in full bloom or in watching a rose or peony slowly open and in the passing of time, the rhythms of change, of plants coming to flower and going to seed, and eventually dying. We are part of that cycle, part of the moments and the larger rhythms, we age right alongside of the garden. I love that the garden brings us into that, helping us savor the moments but giving the perspective of the seasons and years.

JOBS FOR SEPTEMBER

September is a lovely month to be in the garden, so much is in bloom, there is as ever so much to do, but with the cooler temps it is very pleasant working weather. As always, months roll one into the next and so do my jobs, there is always deadheading, weeding, cutting back, a bit of pruning, planting out, harvesting , etc, truly the list goes on and on. So there are always things that I am just getting to that I could have already done, so don’t be discourage that you haven’t gotten to something, today is a new season, start fresh and crack on!

Deadheading

Keep at your Dahlias, Roses, Zinnias, etc. even though we have entered fall, we still have a good month if not more of blooms, so keep on top of it so you can enjoy it up to the very end. Make sure you don’t just pull of the spent head, but take a long cut, back to another leaf, at the same time as you dead head, you are also pruning for the shape by control where you make your cut.

Tomatoes

Now that the days are getting short and the heat is gone, we are most concerned with the already fruit ripening well, not new fruit forming. So be bold, cut back any leaves that are shading tomatoes and you can pinch out the tops to focus the plants energy on ripen existing fruit instead of growing new. As always keep pinching out those side shoots. But if the end is near and your green tomatoes just aren’t going to ripen on the vine, you can cut them and put them in a paper bag or a draw with a banana and that will ripen them the rest of the way.

The last sowing of fall greens

We are nearly at the end of when you can sow / plant out for a fall harvest, but greens like spinach or bok choy or some lettuces and radishes don’t mind the cooler temps and have a quick growing cycle. We planted out such crops early this month, but I think if you got to it and sow now in a sunny spot you can still get a small harvest, the growing season can be extend if you can sow into a green house or cold frame or row covers to hold back the chill. I have a few spinach seedlings I reserved to plant out in the greenhouse, I just have to get to clearing a spot for them, but hopefully they will have enough time to go for us to get a late fall harvest.

TAKE CUTTINGS

Now is a great time to take cuttings. Don’t be intimidated, it is rather simple and is a great way to duplicate beloved plants. You are essentially cloning the plant when you take a cutting, it will have no genetic variation from the parent plant. So if you have a plant, be it herbaceous or shrub that you love and performs well, this is a great way to increase your plant stock. If you are unsure if a certain plant can be propagated by cuttings, well it is easy to look or up and read more about that specific plant, or better yet just give it a go and see what happens.

One plant I always take cuttings from is Rosemary. Our winters in Essex are too cold and wet for Rosemary to over winter out in the garden and I have had mixed results in trying to over winter in a greenhouse. I have grown rosemary from seed, but I find that it doesn’t have great germination and you have to start it very early to get a good harvest. I have found that taking cuttings now, allows me to have all the Rosemary I could ask for with very little effort for no cost.

To take a cutting from Rosemary, or any herb in the mint family for that matter, thyme, oregano, sage, I simply go out and I cut off about 6” of the end of a sprig that has a bit of brown older growth with the new green growth (this is call a Semi Ripe Cutting). I strip off the lower 4” and then immediately place my cutting in a jar of water. You will want to change out the water in the jar every 2-3 days, and either swap for a clean jar or clean the jar so that way there isn’t any build up of slime. The jar should be in a warm / sunny place and you should see root growth in 2-8 weeks. Some herbs like mint, will develop roots quickly, however rosemary, usually takes long, so don’t give up on your plant. Once there are significant roots then it is time to pot on your plants, again keeping it somewhere warm and sunny until it is ready to go out in the garden.

Another plant that I often take cuttings from is our gooseberries. If I am going out to take a cutting of a gooseberry, I am looking for what I would consider to be my best and healthiest plant with the fruit qualities I am looking for. Using very sharp pruners I am snipping off some nice straight semi ripe growth. Now, I typically go out with a jar of water and immediately put them in, however you can also use a plastic bag and drop them in and wrap them up, either will work, but the goal is to keep the cutting from drying out. Either way, you want to move quickly in potting on your cuttings (or propagating them in water if that is what you are doing), you can not lose time here because, the plant is essential dying from the moment it is cut until it establishes new roots. I strip off most of the foliage, leaving only a few good leaves and then put it in a pot with gritty compost mix and water it well. I usually put multiple cuttings in the same pot and will them separate them out and pot them on individually later, after they have an established root system. While you are waiting for root growth you need to put your pot somewhere sheltered and warm, somewhere with good light, but not too sunny that it will get scorched. You will want to keep the soil moist and it also helps if you mist the leaves regularly to keep them from drying out. When you see new growth, then you know your cutting is viable and has a good root system, at this point you can separate and pot the cuttings on in their own individual pot and continuing to grow them like this over winter, then they will be ready to pot up or plant out next spring.

PRUNE SUMMER FRUITING RASPBERRIES

Our summer fruiting raspberries and blackberries have finished fruiting (The black raspberries were fruiting in July and it was August for the Blackberries, although we do have a fall fruiting blackberry which is just coming ripe as of last week).

Now is the time to cut down all the old canes that carried the fruit this year, they will be browning and looking rather sad. They can be completely removed, down to the ground. This allows more light and airflow for the cane left and they will carry next years fruit.

While you are at it, inspect the new green canes and remove any weak ones or damaged ones, leaving fewer but strong and health canes. Once I have removed all the canes I intend to, I tie up the remaining canes to the trellis. At this time I also tip the canes down to about 5’ high, and I tip back the lateral growth to around 12”-24” (I should note that I never measure, but just prune as feels right, so don’t worry about the specific measurement). I have always understood this tipping encourages better fruiting and it has seem true in my experience. This also helps to keep these new canes in order and are not rubbing against each other, creating wounds, or getting to big and out of control. A Berry patch needs good light penetration and airflow. I have done this as late as early spring, at the start of the gardening season, and it has all still turned out well. My hope in doing this job so much earlier in the year is that these new cane will have more room and nutrients available and therefore will be healthier and more vigorous next season. This will be the second I have put this approach in practice, and year one was splendid, so we see what the second year of this pruning strategy will bring.

SEEDING A LAWN

Early to mid May is without a doubt the best time to seed a lawn area, however the second best time is in September. Grass seed does best when the day time temps are in the 70’s but the nights cool down to the 60’s or even upper 50’s. The seed needs constant moisture, it can not dry out. In the fall, we typically get more rain and have a gentle layer of dew each morning, this is ideal for grass, and when supplemented by regular watering it is a winning combination. We recommend mixing grass seed with white clover, which creates a healthier and tougher lawn. The clover produces nitrogen in the soil, which the grass happily takes up, meaning you have a natural fertilization process underway. Clover seed does take longer than grass to germinate and fill in, so in a mixed lawn you will see the grass come up first and the the clover will come in just behind it. We also highly recommend utilizing salt marsh hay as a light layer over the seed, as this helps to keep the seed from drying out and the grass and clover have no problem growing up through it, it doesn’t not need to be rake up and will simply break down over the course of the season. Salt marsh hay can be purchased or collected, you can find it washed up on beaches or caught on rocks near marshes, but I must add, when harvesting anything from the wild do so responsibly, take only what you personally need and do so in a way that does not damage the environment you are harvesting from, other creatures utilized the salt marsh hay as well.

If you are over seeding an existing lawn that hasn’t come in well or has bare spots, then there are two things you can do to help the lawn out. First is to reduce compaction, we do this by using a broad fork, which has long tines that you work into the soil and then wiggle and then move on, so the soil structure is not being disturbed, but you are opening it up. The next is to properly thatch, or rake out the areas you want to over seed. I like to put a little compost down on the areas to add a little more nutrients to the area. Then seed, cover lightly with salt marsh hay and give it a really good water, but gently, you don’t want to displace the seed.

And here is the real trick. Don’t walk on the seed. Period. Give the area you seeded 4 solid weeks where you are watering it to keep it moist and not compacting the soil and smashing the seed as it tries to get established. This can be hard, specially if you have young children, dogs, or if this grassy area is an access route to another part of your garden, but there is nothing for it, no matter how inconvenient, you won’t get the lawn to grow in well if you walk on the seed while it is establishing, there is no shortcut. I say all that because it is true and needs to be stated, however, perhaps most of us are not interested in the “perfect lawn”, but rather a grassy area for playing or lying out on a blanket to picnic or read, and therefore if it doesn’t come in perfectly, we don’t mind too much.