Take down the shading on your greenhouse

In September, the days start to get shorter and the natural light is a valuable resource. Take down any shading in the greenhouse as this will enable you to introduce the sunlight that is needed for your plants. A good clean with some hot water will leave the glass sparkling clean. Don’t forget gutters where leaves can get trapped, this will help the escape of rain water from the roof of your greenhouse. If you have any broken or damaged glass now is the time to replace this too.

A spring clean for your greenhouse

While you are already cleaning the outside of the greenhouse, lets tackle the inside. This will help reduce wintering pests and diseases. Carefully take out the plants we will need those again in the spring then sweep out all plant debris. A good disinfecting for the greenhouse, paths and staging and don’t forget the inside of the glass too. Use a hot solution of garden disinfectant such as Jeyes Fluid. Thorough ventilation will be needed for your greenhouse over the next couple of days so it dries thoroughly.

Make time over the winter months to keep pots and seed trays clean in preparation for the spring sowing and planting.

 Tidy Borders

Pansies, Daisies, and Wallflowers are just some of the plants that can be used to give you colour over the winter months , so dig up your annuals and add them if you can to the compost heap.

Now is the time to get your boarders in order. Remove badly placed plants, and rearrange overcrowded perennials while there is warmth in the soil. Perennials should be 5cm above ground level, but left with rugged pruning so the attractive perennials seed heads can look wonderful, glistening in autumn dew, whilst providing shelter for those wintering insects.

When borders are tidy, put a thick layer of compost or bark chips across them, no need to mix in the worms will l do that for you.

RAKE AWAY THOSE LEAVES

Rake up all leaves and twigs and pop them in to compost pile if you have one. Leaving piles of leaves on the ground can harm your grass. You can however use the leaves for mulch in your garden if you like. If you don’t have a space to compost them yourself, then use your brown bin for garden rubbish so they can be taken away.

Good luck – Sarah