September is when the cooler weather starts to come in along with wind, and the days are noticeably shorter.  Now is the time to plant spring-flowering bulbs for next year as well as collecting seeds for next summer.

Jobs For September

• Clear annuals and add them to compost heap
• Continue sowing hardy annuals, giving you bigger, better plants in early spring. 
• It's time to plant hardy annuals and perennials that attract insects.
• Plant out and transplant biennials such as Foxgloves & Field Forget-Me-Not
  
• Divide perennials to ease congestion (such as allium, chamomile, cornflowers, mexican fleabane, campanula, bleeding heart, grasses)
• Collect and sow seed from perennials and hardy annuals
• Plant spring-flowering bulbs
• Keep watering new plants, but stop watering camellias in pots
• Sow some poppy seeds
• Sow corn marigolds
• Plant cranesbill geraniums
• Hunt for self-sown seedlings from hardy annuals & biennials.  Move some of them if they look over crowded. 
• Sow yellow rattle - helps establish wildflower meadows. 
• Divide and replant oxeyed daisies to avoid congestion
• Take cuttings from Erysimum Walberton's Fragrant Sunshine & Erysimum Bowles's Mauve. 
• Pinch out the tips from Wallflowers to promote a bushier plant. 
• Plant out biennial wallflowers now, they need to get their roots established for spring flowering. 
• Pot grown new trees can now be planted out in the garden while the soil is still warm and moist. 
• Collect leaves and place them in a leaf mould bag.  Dampen bags and store in a corner of your garden.  In a year you'll have perfect leaf mould.  Wildlife like leaves so you can also leave them where they are. 
• It's time to repair lawns.  Mow, rake, fork, and brush sand into holes.  Sprinkle lawn seed over sand, cover with compost and water.  Protect from birds.  Unless of course you're going wild, in which case do nothing. 
• Birds will be returning to gardens looking for food.  Wash your feeders and bird baths, stock up on bird food.  Keep feeders and water clean to prevent nasty germs spreading and killing the birds. 
• Cut back faded foliage on penstemons
• Take semi-ripe cuttings from evergreens
• Divide thyme
• Cut back catnip
• Check pears, left to see if they are ready to harvest, they should just come away in your hand. 
• Clean out cold frames and greenhouses, ready for Autumn use.
• Start to reduce the frequency of houseplant watering
• Divide Red Valerian

More articles about wildlife gardening:

1.  How to attract birds to your garden
2.  How to attract bees to your garden
3.  Sowing and growing wildflowers