The full Table of Results and some Photographs from the Show are on the website, together with the general August Photographs.  Our sincere thanks go to Nicky Cornell for once again doing the impossible and discriminating between the different entries and being our expert judge for the horticultural exhibits.

We return to our usual venue of Emmanuel Parish Centre for our September Club meeting on Tuesday 8th September from 8pm where our speaker will be the garden designer Mark Gregory.  Mark has been involved with nearly 100 gardens at RHS Chelsea – most notably winning the RHS Garden of the Decade award in 2020 for the 2018 Welcome to Yorkshire garden.  Mark will be giving us his insight into the magical world of RHS Chelsea with a talk ‘The RHS Chelsea Flower Show: A Life's Work'.

Gardening Tips for September

You can also see a bulleted list in the September Potting Shed

Another month with repeated heatwaves, the hottest day of the year (38.1°C at Kew Gardens), and over 60 days where rain was not recorded by the weather station at RHS Wisley.  Last summer was hot, but this summer has well surpassed that.  The end of the month finally became a little more unsettled and there were rain showers, but still not anything that would give much relief to a very desperate garden.

Although it’s very sad to see so many plants and trees suffering in the garden, most will recover once there has been some appreciable rain.  It is tempting to cut off the dead or defoliated stems of plants, but this should not be done immediately.  Dead leaves and stems provide shade and some protection for the crown and lower stems and cutting stems adds additional shock to the plants.  Rather, allow at least 3-4 weeks for signs of new growth to occur.  This may itself be on stems previously thought of as dead.  If there is a return to hot and dry conditions during the autumn, try to keep recovering plants well-watered – another cycle of drought stress may be final straw.  Evergreen hedges can have a final trim before winter but ensure that this is done well before any frosts or cold weather, and only if we have had some restorative rain to lessen the impact of pruning.

The dry summer may have meant that many annuals have finished flowering early.  Whilst this is disappointing from a display perspective, it does allow the early harvesting of seeds.  Choose a warm, dry day to collect seed and store in paper envelopes or pouches made from folded kitchen paper for sowing next spring, although hardy annuals such as cornflower, Ammi, and sweet peas can also be sown now for an early display next summer.

If the ground is sufficiently moist and there is rain in the forecast, September and October are the perfect months to divide congested clumps of many perennials after they have finished flowering.  Dig up, divide, and replant, but remember to water-in well however damp the surrounding soil may appear to be.  The ground at this time of year is still warm, and the transplants should re-establish quickly.  If clumps are very large, it is usually best to only take new plants or sections from the edge and discard the older, woody centre.  Excess plants are very welcome on the Plant Stall at the next Club Meeting.

Any gaps created as finished annuals are removed, or clumps of perennials are split can be filled with winter bedding such as pansies and polyanthus.  If planted now, these will be well established and flowering before the winter.  They can still be planted late into the autumn but may not flower until the spring.  Most spring bulbs can also be planted from now until the end of November.

Continue to take cuttings of most half-hardy or tender perennials such as fuchsias, salvias, and pelargoniums, as well as semi-ripe cuttings of woody shrubs such as rosemary and lavender. 

In the greenhouse and vegetable garden, continue to pick runner beans if they are still alive, courgettes, and cucumbers regularly, and harvest brassicas as they mature.  Hot dry weather encourages bolting where the usually tight heads of brassicas split or open and grow a flower stalk.  Pick any plants that are starting to bolt immediately.  Remove the lower leaves from tomato plants to allow more light onto the developing trusses and ensure that the tops of tomato plants are now removed – any flowers forming now will not have time to develop fruit and ripen before the end of the season. 

Remember, a vegetable garden isn’t just for summer!  Spinach, winter lettuce, kale, and some oriental vegetables can be sown now, either outside or under cover for planting out later, whilst onion sets of varieties suitable for over-wintering, hardneck garlic, and spring cabbage can be planted out now.

The fruited canes of Summer-fruiting raspberries should be cut out now.  These raspberries will bear fruit next year on the new, green stems that have grown this summer, so don’t remove these!  Autumn-fruiting raspberries fruit on the new season’s growth and should not be cut down until late winter.

Now is the time to do any repairs to your lawn or to give it a boost before winter sets in.  However, make sure that there has been sufficient rain and there are good signs of new growth and recovery of the existing lawn first.  Bare or thin patches can be raked lightly to loosen the soil surface and over-sown with grass seed.  Moss and dead grass thatch should be raked out before sowing, or if there dips and hollows in the lawn, these can be filled or top-dressed with a mix of topsoil, sand, and compost or leaf mould.   An application of a slow-release lawn fertilizer, appropriate for autumn use, over the rest of the grass may also be beneficial, but given the stress incurred during the summer drought, it may be preferable to allow more time for the grass to recover naturally and treat and repair in the spring.

The autumn is when many ‘short day’ plants such Japanese anemones (Anemone x hybrida), Michaelmas Daisies (Symphyotrichum/Aster), Dahlias, and Sedums (Hylotelephium), as well as the corms or bulbs of Nerine, Cyclamen hederifolium, and the Autumn Crocus (Colchicum) put on their show for the year.  With the low evening sun casting a red, rosy glow over the garden, make sure you take the time to enjoy it.  It will all be over far too soon.

Thompson & Morgan Group Discount Scheme

Over the past year, 16 Club members have placed orders for seeds or live plants with Thompson & Morgan and have enjoyed a 50% discount off all seeds and 20% off all bulbs and plants across 21 separate orders totalling over £1,300.  The current Promotion Code expired at the end of August and the new code and the new Autumn 2026 cataloges and order forms will be available later in September.  They may have arrived before the September Club meeting or will be available in October.  Thank you for supporting this scheme – I hope that you have had success with your seeds, plants, and bulbs, and will continue to support the scheme in the year ahead.

Tim Bonnert, September 2026