STIGA celebrates ‘Organic September’

STIGA celebrates ‘Organic September’: Sustainable lawn care comes in many forms, but the one at the forefront for the STIGA team is that of their battery range of lawn and gardening products. The cleanliness, quietness and efficiency of all of their cordless mowers and gardening tools aim to bring a more sensible and sustainable approach to lawn and garden care.

STIGA asked the Barnsdale Gardens team who are based in the East Midlands what they thought of the brand new Stiga SC 100e Kit Cordless Pruning Shears and asked for tips on how they would use these this Organic September…

“Like all Stiga products these pruners feel well built and designed. The body is made of a smooth, hard plastic and the handle is rubberised for a comfy grip; there’s also a safety catch which must be pushed forward to allow the trigger to be pulled. These pruners would definitely suit users who maybe struggle with hand strength because they do the work for you. There’s no squeezing of handles, as with secateurs and they are extremely powerful going through all branches and stems with ease (do not put your fingers anywhere near the blades!) and they’d be great for repetitive pruning such as hard pruning and overgrown hedge.”

Get cutting this September with these tips from Barnsdale Gardens

Trim Lavender

Now that the lavenders have finished flowering it is time to give them a light trim, just to tidy them up prior to winter.

Take Cuttings of Summer Bedding

If you can find shoots that aren’t flowering then now is about the last chance to take softwood cuttings and then root them before the colder weather hits. There will be shoots and if they have a bud then nip it out. They should root in around 4 weeks, even on a windowsill. Try cuttings of Petunia, Fuchsia, Verbena, Sanvitallia and Pelargoniums.

Cut Suckers from Crab Apples

It is important to remove any suckers appearing at the base of crab apples. These shoots are coming from the rootstock and not the variety grafted onto it. They are likely to be strong growers and take energy away from the tree itself. Therefore they need to be cut back as far as you can.

Deadhead Dahlias

Remove spent flower heads to keep them flowering until the frosts. Cut back to just above the first good leaf.

Take Cuttings of Holly

Now is an ideal time to take cuttings of Holly (Ilex) as semi-ripe cuttings. If you’ve tried them before and have struggled to get them to strike, try wounding them by removing a thin sliver of bark, about 2.5cm (1 inch) long from behind the bottom bud. Then apply some rooting hormone, insert into compost. Wait 6-8 weeks for it to root.

Prune Plums

If you have fan-trained plums, damsons or cherries, now the fruit has been picked, it is time to give them their second pruning. All that is required is to cut back all this year’s shoots back by about half. Just remember to bear in mind which direction the bud you cut to is pointing, as this will be the direction the new shoot will grow.

Deadhead Roses

It’s never a bad thing to try and get a late burst of flowers from your roses. It’s not too late to deadhead and, as long as the weather plays ball, you should have another flush of flowers to enjoy before the weather turns.

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