5 things to do in the country in September

Protecting

Cold nights with high air humidity are the norm for September, but they are dangerous for thermophilic plants. To protect the beds, water them in the evenings with warm water heated in the sun and cover them with a film as soon as possible, stretching it over arcs, or simply throw a light, non-woven white material over the beds, pressing it to the ground with boards. The latter option is more effective, since it does not cause moisture condensation and does not require ventilation.

You can maintain the desired microclimate in a closed greenhouse by turning on a light bulb at night, lighting a couple of candles or placing red-hot bricks there.

We take care of cabbage

Short-term frosts and cold nights do not harm her. Moreover, cauliflowers develop larger, denser heads in moderately cool weather. If they did not have time to form, then at the end of September, cabbage is removed from the soil, preserving an earthen lump and without damaging the leaves, and added dropwise either in the vacated greenhouses and hotbeds, or simply in the basement.

In white cabbage with formed whitened heads of cabbage, the roots are torn to prevent them from cracking. It is easier to do this by grasping the head of cabbage with both hands at the base and turning to one side or simply pressing it sharply to the ground.

Carrots can easily withstand a drop in temperature to -4 degrees, but it is better to remove them before the first severe frosts, and even earlier – beets, turnips, radishes.

We collect and plant

Most of the garden plants must be removed before frost, especially zucchini and pumpkin – tacked with a light frost, they will not be stored. The vacated areas need to be dug onto a shovel bayonet with organic or mineral fertilizers.

Do not delay picking late varieties of apples and pears. In the first half of the month, apples of autumn varieties are harvested. To keep them longer, it is better to do it in the morning. Then the fruits are wrapped in newsprint or parchment paper and stored in the refrigerator or in the basement on the shelves.

If you have not yet applied autumn phosphorus-potassium fertilizers for fruit trees and shrubs, and the weather is warm and sunny, you can use nutrients to help plants strengthen young shoots. We recommend applying fertilizers in the fall not very abundantly, half of the norm indicated on the package: due to low temperatures, they will not be fully assimilated.

At the beginning of the month, the harvest of sea buckthorn ripens, at the end – chokeberry and viburnum. It is best to pick their berries as soon as they soften and reach an intense dark color.

The best time for planting black and red currants, gooseberries, honeysuckle is the third decade of September, when cool weather sets in. You cannot plant sea buckthorn in the fall – it will not take root!

By the way

Planting can be done until the end of the month. In order to have your own fragrant herbs on the table before frost, plant a little onion on a feather, dill, parsley in the coming days, cover with foil. You can also sow greens in an empty greenhouse to add fresh salads in early spring. Basil is an exception: it is thermophilic and cannot withstand low temperatures.

In the second half of the month, lay a bed for planting winter garlic in a new place, and you can start planting in October. In September, conifers and ornamental shrubs, currants, gooseberries, blackberries and honeysuckle are also planted. If the plants in the garden are constantly sick or the soil has not been fertilized for a long time, sow rye or mustard. In May, you will need to mow the plants and dig up the soil with them – you will get an excellent plot already fertilized with nitrogen.

And the flowers? And flowers

Crocuses and snowdrops are planted in the first decade, daffodils in mid-September, and tulips in the second half of the month, choosing for them a well-lit area protected from the north wind with light, fertile sandy loam soil.

Large bulbs are deepened by 15–18 cm, medium and small ones are placed closer to the soil surface, at a distance of 15–25 cm from each other.

An effective prophylactic agent for combating bulbous diseases is Vitaros, in a solution of which the bulbs are immersed for 2 hours. Use the same tool to treat the roots of perennial flowers, which are customarily divided and transplanted in the first half of the month.

Digging up the soil

September is the best time for digging, as well as for preparing planting holes and beds for spring crops.

Use a rake to completely collect the tops, rotten fruits and other plant debris. Dry them, burn them and bury them deeply. Remove weeds, always with roots, and burn them too.

Digging is carried out with a garden pitchfork, finally removing weeds, as well as wireworm and May beetle larvae. At the same time, the soil is not leveled, large earthy clods are not broken.

Dug up the trunk circles under trees and shrubs, trying not to damage the surface roots. Compost and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, wood ash are immediately introduced.

By the way

It’s time to clean up in September. Before it rains, free your garden and garden from all unnecessary: ​​collect fallen leaves, dry stems of plants, fallen fruits. Examine trees and shrubs: if they have shriveled, mummified fruits and leaves rolled into a tube, try to collect and burn them as much as possible, pests are likely to hibernate in them or the source of diseases is hidden.

Take your time to trim the stems of perennials – it is too early to expose the garden. After harvesting the potatoes, collect the dried tops and burn them; phytophthora remains in the plant residues. Ashes can be used in spring to feed plantings.

At the end of the month, you can whitewash the trunks of fruit trees for the winter, and so that the paint does not wash off the rains, bone or casein glue is added to it. Remember to mow and remove foliage from the lawn. Aerate at the end of the month – often prick the turf with a pitchfork to enrich the soil with air and water.