September gardening tips
Trees, and climbers
Conifers and evergreens
Plant and move conifers and evergreens - dig as large a root ball as you can and wrap in hessian to move with minimum disturbance. Plant to the same depth as before, firm in well and water generously. If the new location is windy or exposed, protect the plant with a windbreak to reduce water loss from the leaves through evaporation.
Hedges
Clip back hedges such as privet, hawthorn, beech, yew, thuja, leylandii and lonicera before mid September.
Roses
Keep deadheading roses regularly. Prune climbing roses once the flowers have faded - cut back sideshoots from the main framework to a couple of buds. Remove any diseased, spindly, old and unproductive stems and tie new shoots onto supports at their base.
Lavender
Lightly trim over lavender bushes with hedging shears. More drastic pruning to rejuvenate old plants should be left till March or April.
