Your Garden in September: A Florist’s View from A P Flowers

Your Garden in September

As summer fades and September brings cooler mornings, your garden begins a subtle transformation. For us at A P Flowers, this month is full of inspiration—where late-season colour meets the promise of spring. It’s a time to harvest, plant, and prepare, with a florist’s eye on beauty and meaning.

Here’s how you can make the most of your garden in September.

1. Harvest, Tidy, and Prepare

September is harvest time for apples, pears, plums, and autumn-fruiting raspberries. Picking fruit promptly keeps plants healthy and avoids fallen produce attracting pests. Tidying borders—removing spent blooms, weeds, and old stems—helps keep your garden looking cared for.

Lawns also benefit from autumn attention. Raise the cutting height on your mower, scarify to remove moss, and add an autumn feed to strengthen roots for winter (RHS Lawn Care in September).

2. Plant Now for Spring Colour

If you dream of daffodils, crocus, tulips, and hyacinths bursting into life next year, September is the month to plant. Bulbs need time to establish roots before the first frosts. Plant them in well-drained soil, in groups for a natural effect (BBC Gardeners’ World Bulb Planting Guide).

Hardy perennials such as echinacea, salvia, and rudbeckia can also be planted now, giving them time to settle before winter and rewarding you with reliable colour next year.

3. Extend the Season with Careful Maintenance

Many flowers are still going strong in September—dahlias, roses, and cosmos all benefit from regular deadheading, which encourages fresh blooms.

Perennials that have become crowded, such as hostas and daylilies, can be divided and replanted. Not only does this keep them vigorous, but it also gives you extra plants for free (RHS Dividing Perennials).

4. Support Wildlife as the Seasons Change

A wildlife-friendly garden is a healthy garden. Leaving seed heads on echinacea or sunflowers provides food for birds, while ornamental grasses add shelter for insects.

If you’re clearing leaves, consider making a small pile in a quiet corner—they’re perfect habitats for hedgehogs and toads. September is also a good time to put up bird feeders, offering energy-rich food ahead of the colder months (The Wildlife Trusts – Gardening for Wildlife).

5. Care for Your Soil

Healthy soil is the foundation of a thriving garden. Spread a layer of compost or well-rotted manure across beds and borders to lock in moisture and enrich nutrients. This simple act helps worms, microorganisms, and roots alike (National Trust Autumn Gardening Tips).

Green manures—fast-growing plants like mustard or clover—can also be sown in vegetable beds to improve structure and reduce erosion over winter.

6. Enjoy September Flowers Indoors and Out

Florists know the value of seasonal stems, and September has much to offer. Dahlias, chrysanthemums, asters, and sedums create vibrant late-summer displays. Pair them with evergreens or textured foliage for contrast.

Bringing these into your home as cut flowers is a wonderful way to celebrate the changing season—especially when combined with berries, seed heads, or grasses for an autumnal feel.

7. Florist’s Tips from A P Flowers

Save Seeds: Collect from annuals like marigolds and nasturtiums to grow again next year.
Protect Tender Plants: Move pots of pelargoniums or fuchsias into a greenhouse, conservatory, or sheltered porch before frosts arrive.
Plan Ahead: Use quiet evenings to sketch out next year’s planting ideas—spring bulbs, border colours, and even new containers.

Internal Links – Explore More with A P Flowers

At A P Flowers, we believe seasonal gardening and floristry go hand in hand. If you’re inspired by your September garden, explore more on our website:

Browse our Funeral Flowers collection.
See our Seasonal Arrangements, inspired by autumn tones.
Discover our Custom Designs for personalised tributes.
Learn more About Us and our passion for flowers.

Final Thoughts

September is a month of balance—savouring late summer colour while laying the foundations for next spring. With thoughtful care, your garden will reward you through the changing seasons, offering beauty, wildlife, and inspiration.

From our florist’s perspective at A P Flowers, every bloom, bulb, and border in September has the potential to inspire arrangements and memories. Whether you’re tending your garden, bringing flowers indoors, or choosing blooms for a loved one, this month reminds us that nature always has another chapter waiting to unfold.