It's September, y'all! That means football, pumpkin spice lattes, and getting back into the garden! Here are a few things to keep on your radar as we inch towards fall.
LAWNS:
TREES & SHRUBS:
FLOWERS:
1. Revive heat-tolerant warm season veggies that made it through the summer: Trim a bit, fertilize, and water evenly and often. Watch for those aphids and other mean critters. Talk to the plants nicely, commiserate with them about this insufferable August heat, and hopefully (usually) they'll show their appreciation with another round of production. (SEPTEMBER UPDATE --> TOO LATE FOR THIS OPTION - THEY'RE EITHER REBOUNDED OR GONERS ALREADY)
2. Plant the next succession of warm season veggies: NEW TRANSPLANTS (TOMATO, pepper, etc) & NEW SEEDS (pumpkins, squash, snap/green beans, bush limas, peas, okra). Fall seed potatoes can be planted, typically from leftover potatoes from spring.
----> Note: The sooner you plant, the more likely you'll harvest before the first frost. The more quickly maturing (ie small-sized) the variety, the more likely you'll harvest. If the first frost is late, the bigger, slower varieties and the later-planted sets CAN produce well, but it's a gamble. You could say, it's better late than never unless you have contrary weather. (SEPTEMBER UPDATE --> ALMOST TOO LATE FOR TOMATOES, PEPPERS -- BUT BEANS, SQUASH, PEAS OK)
3. Vegetables started in the fall for harvest in winter or spring: Think cool-season crops: cole crops like broccoli, leafy greens like lettuce, root crops like carrot and onion. While it's too early to plant these, you can scope out seeds and plan their respective places in the garden. That way, when the time comes as the weather cools a bit, you'll be ready to go. (SEPTEMBER UPDATE --> START NOW FOR EARLY HARVEST OR FIRST SUCCESSION, WATER PLENTY, WATCH FOR CATERPILLARS AND OTHER BUGS)
The first day of fall is September 22... Lows should be back in the low 60's by then. When we get that first fresh, low humidity morning, you can bet fall fever will hit. Let us help you with all your fall gardening needs!
- Carey
- Apply pre-emergent weed killers - to prevent winter weeds.
- Sod - It's a great time to get turf established before winter.
- Fertilize: slow-release high nitrogen lawn food or winterizer will help the roots.
- Watch for chinch bugs - often seen along the hottest parts of the yard, wilted and poor looking grass. Chinch bugs can be controlled by a few different insecticides which will also in turn help reduce problems from other insects like fleas and ants.
- Fungal diseases are prevalent in the damp weather, so water deeply but less often, and avoid nighttime watering. Apply fungicides as necessary. If you have chinch bugs and/or fungus now, take note of the problem areas so you can pretreat next summer before it gets out of hand.
TREES & SHRUBS:
- Water: deeply about once a week.
- Mulch! Nice, even, 1-3" layer of mulch around trees and along shrubs. NO MOUNDING!
- Prune out dead, damaged branches, gently reshape wild growth on shrubs.
- Begin fall planting season: first determine what you'd like and how to place them. Trees and shrubs can last decades and make a significant impact on your property - a little research on variety, spacing, and needs can go a long way towards ensuring it's a benefit - not a nuisance - in years to come!
- Fertilize shrubs
FLOWERS:
- Mulch! A nice, even, 1-3" layer will help keep out weeds and retain moisture in the soil.
- Fertilize with a high-nitrogen formula to give plants a boost through the nice fall growing season.
- Add compost.
- Clean up spent flowers, trim wild growth, but no harsh pruning!
- Plant or fill in flower beds with intermediate season color such as mums, petunias, snapdragons, coleus, dianthus, sweet potato vine
- Start planting wildflower seeds - bluebonnets, paintbrushes & more. They'll get the best start in September & October.
1. Revive heat-tolerant warm season veggies that made it through the summer: Trim a bit, fertilize, and water evenly and often. Watch for those aphids and other mean critters. Talk to the plants nicely, commiserate with them about this insufferable August heat, and hopefully (usually) they'll show their appreciation with another round of production. (SEPTEMBER UPDATE --> TOO LATE FOR THIS OPTION - THEY'RE EITHER REBOUNDED OR GONERS ALREADY)
2. Plant the next succession of warm season veggies: NEW TRANSPLANTS (TOMATO, pepper, etc) & NEW SEEDS (pumpkins, squash, snap/green beans, bush limas, peas, okra). Fall seed potatoes can be planted, typically from leftover potatoes from spring.
----> Note: The sooner you plant, the more likely you'll harvest before the first frost. The more quickly maturing (ie small-sized) the variety, the more likely you'll harvest. If the first frost is late, the bigger, slower varieties and the later-planted sets CAN produce well, but it's a gamble. You could say, it's better late than never unless you have contrary weather. (SEPTEMBER UPDATE --> ALMOST TOO LATE FOR TOMATOES, PEPPERS -- BUT BEANS, SQUASH, PEAS OK)
3. Vegetables started in the fall for harvest in winter or spring: Think cool-season crops: cole crops like broccoli, leafy greens like lettuce, root crops like carrot and onion. While it's too early to plant these, you can scope out seeds and plan their respective places in the garden. That way, when the time comes as the weather cools a bit, you'll be ready to go. (SEPTEMBER UPDATE --> START NOW FOR EARLY HARVEST OR FIRST SUCCESSION, WATER PLENTY, WATCH FOR CATERPILLARS AND OTHER BUGS)
The first day of fall is September 22... Lows should be back in the low 60's by then. When we get that first fresh, low humidity morning, you can bet fall fever will hit. Let us help you with all your fall gardening needs!
- Carey
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