By mid-September, the garden is beginning to change its rhythm. Morning light arrives at a lower angle, seed heads replace many summer flowers, and even warm afternoons carry a hint that the growing season is no longer limitless.

September 12 offers three unusually vivid ways to look at this moment: through a gardener who moved mature trees across a city, a prehistoric gallery filled with powerful animals, and a desert landscape whose seemingly bare soil is alive. Together, they remind us that landscapes are not simply scenery – they are communities shaped by movement, memory and careful stewardship.

September 12, 1848 – William McNab, the Gardener Who Moved a Forest

Scottish horticulturist William McNab died on September 12, 1848, leaving behind one of the most remarkable practical achievements in the history of botanic gardens. Appointed principal gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1810, he expanded its collections despite limited funds, cultivated newly introduced plants and helped turn the institution into an internationally important garden.

His greatest challenge came when the botanic garden had to move from Leith Walk to a new site at Inverleith. This was not simply a matter of collecting seed and taking cuttings. Thousands of established plants had to be relocated, including large shrubs and trees, some reportedly more than 40 feet tall. McNab adapted a horse-drawn tree-transplanting machine that allowed specimens to be lifted, supported and transported through Edinburgh with much of their root systems intact.

The achievement still feels striking because gardeners know how difficult it can be to move even a modest shrub successfully. A mature plant has developed a finely balanced relationship between its crown, roots, soil fungi, moisture supply and local conditions. Once roots are cut, that balance is disturbed. McNab’s work demonstrated that plant relocation succeeds not through force alone, but through preparation, protection and patient aftercare.

The same principles apply in an ordinary garden. Deciduous trees and shrubs are usually safest to move while dormant, after leaf fall or before spring growth begins, provided the soil is workable and not waterlogged or frozen. Water the plant well beforehand, retain the largest practical root ball, replant it at its original depth and keep the surrounding soil evenly moist during establishment. A newly moved tree may look like the same tree in a different place, but underground it is rebuilding an entire support system.

Garden Reminder – Can You Move a Shrub in Early Autumn?

Early autumn can be suitable for moving some shrubs in mild climates, but timing and aftercare matter.

  • Wait until the most intense heat has passed, and avoid moving plants during drought.
  • Evergreens continue losing water through their leaves, so protect their roots from drying during the move.
  • Prepare the new planting hole before lifting the plant.
  • Do not bury the trunk flare or root collar below its former soil level.
  • Apply a 5–8 cm layer of mulch over the root zone, keeping it clear of the stem.
  • Water deeply when needed until the ground becomes reliably cool and moist.

Large, old or valuable trees require professional assessment. Root loss, unstable anchorage and underground utilities can turn an ambitious garden project into a hazardous one.

September 12, 1940 – Lascaux and a World Remembered Through Animals

On September 12, 1940, four teenagers discovered the Lascaux cave complex near Montignac in southwestern France. Its walls carried an extraordinary collection of prehistoric images, created many thousands of years earlier. Horses, aurochs, deer, bison and other animals appear with remarkable movement and presence, offering a glimpse of the fauna known to people in the Upper Palaeolithic.

One detail is especially revealing: Lascaux contains abundant animal imagery, but no conventional painted landscapes or recognisable plant species. The missing vegetation does not mean plants were unimportant. Grasslands, woodland edges, seasonal water and edible plants would have supported both humans and the animals they observed. The pictures preserve the most visible actors in an ecological story whose plant-covered stage must be reconstructed from pollen, sediments, charcoal, bones and other evidence.

Lascaux also became a lesson in the fragility of enclosed ecosystems. Large numbers of visitors altered the cave’s temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels, while microorganisms created further conservation problems. The original cave eventually had to be closed to the public. For gardeners, the parallel is surprisingly practical: every habitat has a working balance, and even well-meant intervention can disrupt it. Before sterilising soil, spraying every fungus or repeatedly disturbing a planting bed, it is worth asking whether the organism is causing real harm or simply belongs to the system.

Garden Science – Are All Fungi in the Garden Harmful?

Most fungi are not plant diseases. Many live as decomposers, breaking down dead leaves and woody material, while mycorrhizal fungi form partnerships with plant roots and help them obtain water and nutrients.

A fungicide used without a clear diagnosis may affect organisms that are doing useful work. Remove genuinely infected material when necessary, improve airflow around vulnerable plants and avoid leaving foliage wet overnight, but allow harmless fungi to perform their ecological role in compost, mulch and undisturbed soil.

September 12, 1964 – Canyonlands and the Garden Beneath Your Feet

On September 12, 1964, legislation established Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The protected area brought canyons, mesas, rock towers and the meeting place of the Green and Colorado rivers into the United States national park system. Its dramatic geology attracts immediate attention, but one of its most instructive features lies much closer to the ground.

Across parts of the desert, the soil surface is held together by biological soil crusts. These communities may contain cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, fungi and other microorganisms. They stabilise loose particles, influence the movement of water and nutrients, and create conditions in which other desert life can persist. A footprint or tyre track can damage a mature crust in seconds, while recovery may take years or, in especially dry places, decades.

Canyonlands offers a valuable lesson for dry-climate gardening: exposed soil is not necessarily empty soil, and disturbance should never be automatic. In the home garden, the answer is not to recreate desert crust beneath the roses, but to protect soil according to its habitat. Keep established paths for foot traffic, avoid digging when wet soil is easily compacted, retain living roots where possible and cover bare beds with suitable organic mulch. Soil structure is a garden resource – once damaged, it cannot always be restored in a single season.

Wildlife Note – Who Uses the September Seed Heads?

As flowering slows, seed heads become feeding stations and shelter. Goldfinches and other seed-eating birds may visit sunflowers, teasels and thistles, while hollow stems and dense vegetation provide refuge for insects.

Leave some healthy stems standing rather than cutting the entire garden to ground level. Plants that are diseased or shedding unwanted seed can still be removed selectively, but a partly untidy border usually supports more wildlife than one cleared all at once.

What to Observe Right Now

September is an excellent time to read the garden before changing it.

Notice where dew remains longest – these cooler, more humid areas may suit moisture-loving plants but can also favour foliar disease.

  • Watch which late flowers still attract bees, hoverflies and butterflies.
  • Look for spiders’ webs made visible by morning moisture.
  • Check whether berries are ripening earlier on sunny walls than in open borders.
  • Observe where soil has become hard or compacted after summer foot traffic.
  • Compare the colour and firmness of leaves on well-watered plants with those affected by prolonged dryness.

These small differences reveal the garden’s microclimates. Recording them now will help with autumn planting decisions more reliably than a general hardiness label alone.

Seasonal Tips – What Should Gardeners Do in Mid-September?

This is a transition period, so the most useful work combines harvesting, observation and preparation.

Harvest courgettes, beans and tomatoes regularly while they remain productive, and remove fruit showing signs of rot. Collect ripe seed only from healthy plants, label it immediately and allow it to dry thoroughly before storage. Continue watering newly planted trees, shrubs and perennials – cooler air does not guarantee that moisture has reached their roots.

It is also a good time to assess gaps in the garden. Rather than filling every space at once, note where spring bulbs, autumn flowers or a wildlife-friendly shrub could extend the season. Delay major tidying where seed heads and stems are still providing food or shelter, but remove diseased foliage that could carry problems into the next growing cycle.

Looking Ahead

September 12 shows that caring for landscapes can mean moving plants, limiting human access or simply learning where not to step. McNab’s relocated trees, Lascaux’s vulnerable cave ecology and the living soil of Canyonlands all demonstrate that successful stewardship begins with understanding systems rather than isolated objects. In the garden, that means protecting roots, diagnosing problems before treating them and leaving room for organisms whose work is easy to overlook. The more carefully we observe what is already alive around us, the better prepared we are to help it endure.