September 2007 - Fingers Crossed Indian Summer

September, and it's already coming to the end of the summer lets hope that we get an Indian summer to make up for the lack of true Summer recently.

Lawns Carry on cutting as normal, once a week if possible. If there are any areas that are showing signs of wear then now is the time to repair them so that they look good for next summer. You can either rake over any dead areas and reseed or if you want an instant repair then replace with some new turf. If you are going to do this then you need to make sure that these areas are maintained with suffiicient water - either from rain or hose.

Greenhouse Continue to pick your tomatoes and peppers as they will soon finish producing and if there any tomaotoes left at the end of the month then you can either ripen them on a window sill indoors or use them as they are (green) to make chutney. If you want to take cuttings from fuchsias, pelegoniums or geraniums then now is a good time to do so.

Vegetable Garden If you want an early crop of onions next year you can plant overwintering sets towards the end of the month. Dig out the last of your potatoes, sorting out and rejecting the damaged ones from the undamaged ones and leave them out to dry for a few hours in dry weather and then store them in paper sacks once they are dry. Lift any onions you have grown and allow them to dry on the soil surface, again if the weather is dry. If it is not dry outside the alternative is to dry them in a well ventilated room and then once they are dry ensure they are stored in somewhere which isn't damp. For any asparagus you may have, when the foliage turns brown, and before any berries on it fall off, cut them down. Once this is done give the asparagus bed a good layer of mulch.Continue picking runner and french beans over this month.

Borders Any large clumps of perenials that you may have in your borders, if you want to divide them, then this month is a good time to start. If the tops of the plants have not died back and they are in the way whilst you're dividing then just cut them down a bit as this will make the task a lot easier. Anything that does not need dividing then just remove any tops as they die. This will keep your borders looking tidy.

Pruning Cut any hedges that you have not already cut, as they should not grow that much more this year. Keep any new shoots on climbing roses tied in and dead head all roses as required.

Birds Continue to ensure that you keep your bird feeders and water baths clean and stocked up with different feeds. The more variety you have the more different types of bird you'll get. Hanging feeders attract birds like tits, finches and sparrows. Bird tables attract robins, sparrows, doves, pigeons, finches and bramblings. Food on the floor attracts blackbirds, thrushes, dunnocks and wrens but be aware of any neighbouring cats!September sees the start of many summer migratory birds going home leaving our native British birds more evident, especially the young birds who are still out exploring their new environments and your gardens