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Jobs to do in the garden this september
Updated: 19 hours ago
Spring is in the air. As you move about your garden you will notice that so many plants have already blossomed and are showing off their beautiful colours. The wind blows a lot now this month, drying out the air, and temperatures warm up quickly. Preparing for the hot, dry period is essential to protect your garden from the heat.
Vegetables
Here are some ideas of vegetables that you can get started this month:
Tomatoes, peppers, chillies, lettuces, kale, Chinese cabbage, spinach, radishes and beetroot are your biggest seedlings. Most of these will be able to tolerate the coming hot temperatures or mature fast enough to harvest before extreme heat stresses the plant.
A lovely home vegetable garden in Lusaka
Depending on the variety, vegetable seedlings can take time to germinate. So, in each area where you plant your seedlings, date it and record the time. You have to water every day. Every single day, a sprinkle is most important to keep them moist and get a good percentage of germination.
As you are germinating your seeds remember to:
Keep the vegetable areas you are going to plant in moist as seedlings may not be strong enough to withstand the heat.
Get your seedlings now, before it starts getting very, very hot.
Planting (then watering) early in the morning is most important as the cooler temperatures give the seedlings a chance to take in adjust before the hotter part of the day. Cover with grass, keep mulching and feeding).
Keep mulching. By adding compose or dry leaves you will help retain the moisture that the plants will need as they grow. Mulch will decompose or be eaten by termites so you need to add more regularly
Ornamental Shrubs
This time of the year, you get a lot of dead branches. Trim dead branches and always put them onto your compost. Dead branches are the best to soak before you put them onto the bottom of your compost.
Soil
Most plants are entering their growing season now and are hungrily sucking up nutrients from the soil and water. Mulching your all your beds is vital at this time of the year to keep the moisture in the soil.
Feeding now is your time. When everything is flowering, they’re drawing up every bit of energy from the soil. So it’s very important to feed. The best feed is organic, so a compost or well rotted manure is a great option. They release nutrients into the soil slowly which allows for healthier, more balanced growth of the plants.
Lawn
The lawn is the center piece in many gardens and generally consumes quite a bit of water to keep it green.
With the looming El Nino be responsible of how much water you use. We all share the same underground water resources and in a drought we have to prioritise water use to households and food crops. Brown lawns are beautiful too and will grow back when the rains come back.
If you keep the lawn as long as possible, it can help minimise your water use as longer grass shades the soil, reduces moisture loss through evaporation and encourages deeper root growth.
At this time of the year, you may start to notice patches of your lawn which do not thrive as much as others. This is normal.
To freshen up your lawn, take time to:
Work on weak, thin or bare areas of the lawn
Till or loosen the soil to allow air to travel to the roots.
Add compost to improve soil structure and moisture retention.
Replace bare areas with new lawn runners.
Encourage the runners to spread and establish a strong root system.
Set the mower blades as high as possible to maintain longer grass.
Avoid mowing when the grass or soil is extremely dry or stressed as this will make the grass go into shock and you may end up with more dry patches or uneven growth.
Rather than raking up your grass clippings, leave fine grass clippings on the lawn where possible. They break down naturally and return nutrients and organic matter to the soil.
Check regularly for areas where water runs off instead of soaking into the soil. Near driveways for example and attend to this making a drain or ridge. Water running off washes away so much of the valuable topsoil and leaves the ground hard so water cannot sink in. Slowing down the water allows it to sink into the ground keeping the area greener for longer, even after the rains stop.
Break the garden lawn area into quarters and focus on one area every week. This reduces the workload and allows you to work on each section with more attention.
Conclusion
Hopefully, these pointers will be enough to get you started for garden season. However, there will be a lot more jobs that you have to do as plants are now in their growing season so make sure to keep a journal to keep track of all your activities and plans.
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