IN THE GARDEN
1 Sow hardy annuals such as cornflowers directly in your garden. 2 Collect ripe seeds from your favourite annuals and save in a dry place until spring, ready for sowing. 3 Lift and divide congested perennials to remove old growth and encourage increased flowering. 4 Plant new perennials while the soil is still warm and moisture levels are increasing to encourage stronger root development before next summer. 5 Make direct sowings of broad beans and peas for a spring harvest. 6 Plant spring flowering bulbs such as crocuses and daffodils. Gardening jobs for September
should be watered and placed either in a heated propagator or in a plastic bag on a windowsill, and the compost kept moist until roots develop. Once roots are showing through the pot’s drainage holes and new growth has appeared, your new plants can be placed into small pots of general potting compost. I know my summer garden would be a much bleaker place if I didn’t refresh my tender plants such as Abutilon ‘Red Tiger’ and Pelargonium tomentosum with young, new plants grown from softwood cuttings every year and, to be honest, growing plants from cuttings is one of the most satisfying gardening tasks. Taking hardwood cuttings Hardwood cuttings come from older, woody stems once the plant is dormant. Autumn is a good time to start taking hardwood cuttings of deciduous climbers, trees and shrubs. This can continue from mid-autumn to late winter, while the plants are dormant. This treatment is perfect for plants including buddleia, forsythia, roses and dogwoods, and a great way to increase numbers of your woody favourites. Taking a healthy stem of the previous year’s growth – typically wood that grew during the last growing season which has turned firm and woody – look for stems that are leafless, brown rather than green and slightly thicker than newer shoots. These should be cut into sections 15-
POPS OF COLOUR For bold hues, look to Forsythia giraldiana (above) and Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ (left)
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