GARDENING COLUMN: Preparing your garden for autumn

I hope you had a wonderful, produce filled summer.

September is a wonderful time to really reap the rewards of all your hard work but also to take stock and prepare for the autumn growing season, as it isn’t all over yet!

You might well have some more space in the garden again so September is the perfect time to sow your winter greens and salads outside.

Consider mustard leaves, lettuce leaves (under cover outside), Spinach (these are super fast growing and should be poking up in about 10 days), Lambs Lettuce, radishes, Spring onions, and peas and beans.

You can make a start on your Christmas veg to by sowing turnip seed direct into the soil. The baby veg will be ready in time for the big day.

If you have some space on a windowsill, consider sowing Pak Choi and Spring cabbage.

If you grew strawberries this year (I did mine in pots and they were fabulous until the blackbirds got them!) you will find that they are sending off shoots, known as runners.

There seems to be loads of different approaches as to what to do with runners but what I have found to work is to pot up the new little plants on the ground still attached to the main plants.

You will probably have some pots left over and you just need a little multipurpose compost. If you are gardening with kids, we call this our strawberry octopus! You will soon find that the mini plants root nicely and you can then snip them off the main plant.

One main plant will produce a fair number of runners so you could always take these to a plant swap and exchange them for something different to try in your garden next year.

September is also the perfect time to start saving seed from flowers that are starting to go over.

Remember to store seed in paper bags rather than plastic – old envelopes for example are perfect.

Don’t forget to label the envelop and it can be handy to write where you sowed the seed and the results you had. You can even start sowing some of your annual favourites directly into the ground in September which will give you a head start come Spring next year. Try pot marigolds and nigella.

Remember this is always just a guide to get a few ideas. The best way of working out what to grow is to ask a grower! Chat to your neighbour, find out what went well or not for them this year then just have a go! Many keen gardeners will probably be only too happy to share some seed and some advice with you.