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The Garden in September

The last rays of summer are not to be missed, and nobody in Ireland can complain that we were cheated by the weather. We have finally had a 'real' summer after a few years - a not a moment too soon given the fact that the state of the world is anything but rosy. Below we list six of the best perennials and grasses for late summer. These are plants we have in our own garden which extend that summery feeling and make the most of the low sunlight.

                     Six of the Best: perennials and grasses for late summer in Ireland, all available on DYG
  1. Top row: Left - Kniphofia 'Bee's Lemon' (Red hot poker); Right - Anemone x hybrida (Japanese anemone).
  2. Middle row: Left - Verbena bonariensis; Right - Crocosmia 'Lucifer'
  3. Bottom row: Left - Miscanthus 'Ferner Osten'; Right - Stipa gigantea (Giant oats)

These are all plants which give the garden a real lift late in the summer, and all seem designed by nature to take advantage of the intense low light. The tall spires of Kniphofia 'Bee's Lemon' and the bright red of Crocosmia 'Lucifer' are both excellent candidates for a 'hot' border. Both natives to Southern Africa, they grow well and without trouble in Ireland, and are especially tolerant of seaside conditions. Provide them with fertile, well-drained soil and plenty of sun.

Verbena bonariensis and Anemone x hybrida are both from a 'cooler' colour pallette and are garden staples for the end of the summer. Verbena goes on and on blooming for months, thrives on dry soil, is immensely attractive to butterflies and has the advantage of spreading itself around the garden. Be sure to let it go to seed (in other words, don't cut back the flowers for a while yet) and you will have a crop of babies in the spring, ideal for potting-up and passing on to frinds or filling gaps in the garden. Verbena bonariensis grows well in gravel or sandy soil. Japanese anemones are another excellent flower for late summer and autumn and thrive in the most difficult of conditions. If anything, they can be too successful, so plant them in an area which you don't mind them spreading in. They grow well in city soil and also can cope with semi-shade. They also have interesting fluffy seed-heads in late autumn and on into winter.

The two grasses provide an elegant and seasonal atmosphere to the garden, and subtly conjuring up images of wheat, oats or barley they tie in with our primitive sense of end-of-summer 'harvest'. Their attractive flowers catch the light wonderfully and are the perfect foil to flowering perennials. Miscanthus flowers are supremely elegant, almost metallic, and some varieties can grow to a couple of metres in height. For the smaller garden, we recommend the very attractive variety 'Ferner Osten'. Miscanthus can be chopped down in late spring or left to do their own thing. Stipa gigantea on the other hand are evergreen, and require a bit more space. They are at their very best when viewed through sunlight. Choose a well-drained sunny spot and allow them plenty of space. Flower stalks can be chopped down to ground level in winter, but leave the foliage.

 

Look after your lawn

September is a traditional month for looking after your lawn. At DYG, we think that less is more when it comes to lawn care. The pursuit of the perfect lawn is as pointless and unachievable as the quest for the perfect body - and therefore the holy grail of many a misguided soul. Sure, stripes and uniform green-ness look good. Chemicals and fertilisers are generally a waste of time and money. Anything that can be done to your lawn through human effort is generally worthwhile, but anything that involves chemicals generally isn't. Cut your grass, rake away leaves and fallen fruit. Aerate it if it is compacted and brush in some sand if it is poorly drained. A lawn that is frequently cut with a good mower looks superb because it is wonderfully flat. But weeding and feeding with chemicals is an invention of industry which locks you into a cycle of extra mowing, more feeding, complicated spreading and dumping chemicals into the water-table. If you have moss, baby's tears, daisies or clover, then enjoy them. They grow in your lawn because they want to be there and very little will get rid of them permanently. There must be more important victories to be won than those against 'weeds' in lawns.

            

2009