September Planting Guide
Get ready for spring with expert horticulturalist Sascha Andrusiak in this month's Melbourne planting guide.
September planting guide for Melbourne
September, or Poorneet as this time of year is known by the Kulin Nation, heralds the long-awaited burgeoning of spring. The wattles and orchids slow down their winter flowering as the temperatures rise and warmth squeezes the land like a giant hug! Pied currawongs call out in the sunshine as days and nights reach equal lengths. Poorneet is tadpole season! Listen for the mating calls of the frogs in the evenings and during the day take the time to sit and bask in a ray of warm sunshine without thinking. At. All.
In your vegetable patch it’s time to refresh the soil after your winter crops. Clean up and remove anything you no longer want to eat or that is bolting to seed and taking up room. Improve the soil by working in organic matter such as well rotted manure and mushroom compost. You are preparing the soil well to feed your summer beauties! Your Mortgage Lifters and Green Zebras. Your Yellow Pears, Chocolate capsicums and Burnley Bounty!
If you have a warm place to raise seedlings, you can start with your summer crops from seed– but don’t plant your seedlings out until all chances of frost have passed. It’s also a great time to plant cold tolerant seeds and seedlings straight into the soil too and as the soil warms up they will take off. Get on top of weeds before they become a big problem.
Sow directly into the soil seeds of:
Beetroot, Bean, Coriander, Lettuce, Mustard, Parsnip, Parsley, Radish, Rocket, Silver beet, Spring onions, Shallots.
Sow into seed trays seeds seed of:
Basil, Capsicum, Celery, Chilli, Eggplant, Gourd, Leeks, Rockmelon, Tomato, Watermelon, Zucchini.
You can still squeeze in some rhubarb and asparagus crowns if you do it now, and pop in some seed potatoes for a tasty potato salad down the line!
For those of us who have been sheltering indoors through the long cold winter, it’s time to make your move… put down the remote control and reconnect with the outdoors in even the smallest ways you can. Bring in an armful of scented blossoms. Roll around on the lawn. Be a child in the garden for a minute. Do it!
Sascha Andrusiak is Horticultural Services Officer at the University of Melbourne's Burnley campus. A former Burnley student, Sascha has worked in technical, research and teaching roles over her 21 years at Burnley Campus. Look out for regular contributions from Sascha on the Science Alumni Newsroom.