September should be show time and the chance to celebrate growing and using produce in Cookham. Sadly this year the fete and show have been cancelled, so competitive celebrations are off the menu. Our road had a “distanced” walk round flower and produce show, so that we could all share in the growing, cooking and creative efforts of our neighbours. We were in the midst of harvesting on the allotment, so were able to put together a colourful display.

Display for walk round show

September is still a great month to celebrate your growing spaces as it combines the best of high summer with the emergence of autumn. As well as the fiery colours of Sunflowers, Dahlias, Rudbeckia, Gazanias and Gaillardias, you may be enjoying the more pastel shades of Fuchsias, second flowerings of Delphiniums and sweet peas. Fruit are ripening and in addition to edible harvests, ornamentals such as crab apples and Pyracantha are colouring up nicely. On harvesting it is no coincidence that there are shows at this time of year as it is one of the most abundant months for fruit and vegetables.

Flower jars

Many of us have spent more time than usual in our gardens this year and interest in growing has boomed, so reflect and take the time to enjoy what you’ve achieved. Take photographs to remind yourself of the successes and also to help your planning. If you identify gaps or spaces that don’t quite work now, then with bulb and plant catalogues dropping on to the doorstep it is the perfect time to plan your autumn planting.

With an interesting year of weather – floods, unprecedented spring sunshine, heat waves and storms so far, autumn remains the most reliable time for getting new plants into the ground.

A couple of months ago we wrote about the importance of monitoring pests. High summer is the time to look out for Box tree caterpillars. The first sign is often not the caterpillars themselves, but the webbing that they leave amongst the foliage. If not dealt with promptly these caterpillars will completely defoliate plants.

Defoliated Box Hedge

Roses will be in full bloom by now and regular dead-heading will keep the display going. Also keep on dead-heading summer bedding in borders and containers and make sure that you keep containers watered and fed.

July is a good time for pruning late spring flowering shrubs like Wisteria and Philadelphus. For Wisteria cut out the new long, whippy growth, taking it back to 6-7 buds. For Philadelphus cut out older flowered wood as next year’s flowers will form on this summer’s growth.

If the weather is warm and dry, make sure that you keep clematis well watered and if possible shade the root area. It is also helpful to water regularly in greenhouses. Quite a lot of tomato problems can be traced back to irregular watering, the most common being blossom end rot.

Now that they are in full growth it is the perfect time to prune stone fruit like cherries and plums. Pruning at this time of year will help to minimise the risk of silverleaf infection.

Lift early potatoes as and when needed to enjoy them at their freshest and once the foliage dies back lift garlic bulbs ready for storage (or indeed making garlic butter for your new potatoes).

New Potatoes at their best

As spring turns to summer keep an eye on lawns. We have had a number of hot dry spells in the early summer in recent years and if this happens again one of the best things to do is to raise the cut height of mowers to avoid stressing the grass. If you have naturalised bulbs in grass, the foliage should have died back and fed the bulbs, so start mowing these areas again. Edging lawns will help to keep them looking neat.

Variegated shrubs like Euonymus will be in full growth now and you’ll be able to see branches where the variegation has reverted. Cut out all stems where foliage is all green (or indeed all yellow or white) leaving just those where the variegation is as you want it.

June is an ideal time for planting out tender plants including summer bedding and tender crops such as cucurbits and Sweetcorn. Make sure that you keep all new plants well watered until they settle in.

Watering pots in sweet corn bed

In the fruit garden, remove runners from strawberry plants to focus energy on the setting and swelling fruit. Similarly, after the “June Drop” thin apples and pears to encourage the formation of better quality fruit. If you have a heavy set on plum trees, then also thin out the plums to reduce the weight on branches.

Tomatoes will now be growing on strongly, so keep pinching out side shoots in order to foster a strong central stem to transport water, nutrients and sugars around the plant.

Side shoot for pinching out

Pinched out

Plants are growing quickly now, so make sure that you’ve got supports in for taller herbaceous perennials like Delphiniums. The end of the month is also time for the “Chelsea Chop” to keep herbaceous perennials compact and strong. Weeds are also growing well now, so hand weed or hoe nice and early to stop them getting a strong hold.

If you are looking to increase stocks of your favourite plants, May is the perfect time for softwood cuttings of Fuchsias, Pelargoniums and Verbena.

Fuchsia Cuttings

As the risk of frosts passes, you can start to harden off and plant out tender plants like Cannas and Dahlias and get creative by planting up summer containers. As the weather warms up, remember to keep watering anything that you planted over the winter/spring. They’ll need a full year to get properly established.

Grass will now be growing strongly and as well as mowing, feeding and scarifying will help to improve both the health and look of lawns.

Raspberry canes will be sprouting vigorously now, so thin out your bed and also remove the stray canes that are starting to spread, otherwise your whole garden will soon be a raspberry patch.

As in the ornamental garden, make sure that you’ve got supports ready in the kitchen garden for beans, peas and other taller plants. Tie in peas regularly until they start to support themselves.  We have found that using left over bits of rabbit fence supported by a couple of sturdy stakes provides a nice framework for pea tendrils to cling to.

Peas clinging to rabbit fencing

Warmer weather also brings out the critters, Viburnum beetles will be appearing now and pheromone traps amongst apples and pears will highlight the presence of Codling moths.

This month’s article is different to any that we’ve written before for fairly obvious reasons. Official healthcare advice is emphasising the importance of social isolation. However, both exercise and retaining a positive outlook are vital to good health (both physical and mental). Therefore, if you are physically able and have access to a garden or allotment, this spring is a time to throw yourself into gardening. Not only is it good physical exercise, many of the tasks are based on optimism. We sow seeds in the expectation of plants in the future; we prune now to have healthier plants later in the year and so on.

As spring progresses, some early flowering shrubs such as Forsythia and Chaenomeles will be getting past their peak, so now is the perfect time to prune them. Next year’s Forsythia flowers will come on this year’s growth, so you can take it back quite a long way if desired. You can also trim back Lavender now to prevent it getting woody, and it will help generate bushy flowering shoots. Similarly it is an ideal time to prune woody herbs such as thyme, sage and rosemary, all of which can get leggy without a bit of attention.

Early April is prime potato planting time. As shoots emerge, make sure that you keep them earthed up to increase the yield and to protect the tender tips from late frosts.

Earthing up potatoes

Now is also the time to sow more tender crops such as beans, squashes and courgettes under cover ready for planting out in May. Prick out tomatoes, aubergines etc. that you’ve already sown once the true leaves emerge to develop strong individual plants.

Keep well and stay positive.

The days are getting longer, spring is on its way and lots of plants will do much better this summer with some care and attention over the next few weeks.  Mind you, you might have to be patient given the very wet February that we’ve experienced, steer clear of lawns and borders that are very wet as you may end up compressing the ground and damaging the soil structure.

It is a great time to work on herbaceous perennials. Cut back any dead growth to create space for this year’s shoots and if clumps are over-crowded or too big it is the perfect time to divide them.  Geraniums (cranesbill), Sedums (or as we should now call them Hylotelephiums) and grasses are all good candidates.  This is not a difficult job, lift the whole plant and cut the root ball into a number of smaller pieces, making sure that you’ve got both roots and shoots on each piece. A spade or an old saw are perfect tools for the job. Select the pieces with the most vigorous growth and re-plant the selected divisions immediately and despite the recent rain, water in well.

You will probably end up with more plants than you want to re-plant in the original space.  This may be a good time to populate sparser parts of the garden, or maybe you can share a favourite plant with friends.  For the less vigorous pieces don’t be afraid to consign them to the compost heap.

While preparing plants for a surge of growth in spring cut back semi-evergreen perennials such as Penstemons to a low framework of sturdy stems and prune back Cornus as it is the newer growth that gives the best colour.  Most types of Cornus will happily stand very hard pruning, the exception is sanguinea (‘Midwinter Fire’ is a popular cultivar) which should be pruned more gently.  Take out old and congested stems, but leave the remaining stems longer than you would for other types of Cornus so that you retain the gradation of colour that is the mark of ‘Midwinter Fire’.

Midwinter Fire

Pruned Cornus Alba

Early March is widely regarded as the perfect time for pruning roses, cut them back to five main shoots about 15cm high just above an outward facing bud, then feed and mulch.

On the topic of feeding, it is also a good time to give permanent containers a boost, scrape away the top couple of cm of older compost, top dress with new compost with some slow release fertiliser mixed in.

In the kitchen garden, the soil is likely to be a bit cold for direct sowing, but March is ideal for indoor sowing of all sorts of crops, including brassicas, celeriac, peas and greenhouse crops like tomatoes and aubergines.

Outdoors, it is a good time to plant asparagus crowns and globe and Jerusalem Artichokes.  Once perennial vegetables are established they tend to be lower maintenance than the ones we grow each year so are a useful addition to vegetable plots.  Because they are long term planting, they will reward you for good ground preparation.  Weed the area thoroughly and add plenty of well rotted organic matter to improve drainage, nutrient retention and soil structure before planting.

Artichokes ready for harvest in May

Asparagus ready for cutting in late April