Make the best of September

Having just checked the forward weather forecasts it seems that we are in for an Indian Summer- just a few degrees cooler and with slightly shorter days than August. So yet again the GotaFrias delayed until October and early November. A big change from twenty five years ago when absentee gardeners  could bank on leaving Spain in the middle of September knowing that the ground was saturated, or about to be, and no problem with plants surviving without watering until half term or even Christmas.

There is a lot to do especially if there are a few cooler days. Have selected the following from the seasonal gardening calendars included in each of our books.
Watering – Naturally this still needs doing especially for plants planted during the year but do cut back as temperatures fall and the days become shorter. Autumn is a good time, without major risks, to persuade plants to put down deeper roots to search for natural moisture and nutrients rather than being lazy and developing more short roots going up to the surface to await your daily over watering and weekly over feeding. When out walking or driving next ask yourself, ‘How come that mountainsides north of the Bernia ridge are covered with healthy plants?’
Taking cuttings – Now is a good time to take cuttings as there are still several good growing months when roots can be developed. But do keep the potted cuttings in a shady area until hardening off to plant out next Spring.

Growing vegetables – September and October are important months for preparing soils and composts for growing vegetables in the garden or in containers on apartment terraces. Until the temperatures drop below thirty degrees and the first rains come it’s wise to shade early sowings and plantlets.
Bagging up leaves – Inevitably leaves fall in the autumn starting with the fall of almond and apricot trees. Rather than send them off in the weekly garden rubbish collection or green waste bins bag them up in large plastic bags with a few holes in the sides and hide away for a year in a corner of a garden. Then you should have some good nutrient rich leaf mould for recycling to composts and soils.

Dick has agreed to support the Parcent Autumn Charity Fair organised by the new village charity Creativa. You will find him at the Gardening Corner Question and Answer Stall waiting to help you with any problems. He will also have autographed books, a few plants and eco products and will be launching his new self published book ‘Living Well from Our Mediterranean Garden’. During the two days of the fair he will also give a number of talks based on the book.

Clodagh and Dick’s last four books before the new one are the quartet published by Santana Books. They are ‘Your Garden in Spain’; ‘Apartment Gardening Mediterranean Style’; ‘Growing Healthy Fruit in Spain’ and ‘Growing Healthy Vegetables in Spain’. Each were written to help experienced and new gardeners make the best use of the property they have purchased, whether the challenge ahead is to start a new garden, improve an existing garden or most importantly reduce