Best of Horticultural Tips for September

 
Garden

1. Mum’s the word for fall!  Remember, mums like cool weather and will last a long time with good care, including consistent watering.
2. Mums are signaled to begin blooming as the days get shorter.
3. Keep in mind that all mums do not bloom at the same time.  Some receive the signal to bloom early while others are bred to bloom later in fall.
4. Time to plant bulbs!  Just remember, they do not like wet feet.  Rot is the biggest reason for bulb failure.
5. Solid green leaves on a plant, like hosta and liriope, produce more chlorophyll than the variegated varieties, which means they will grow more aggressively.
6. Viridescence is the process by which the variegated leaves of a plant revert to all green.
7. After the first frost a plant is still sending energy to the root system to fuel next year’s show, so do not cut the plant down too early.
8. Divide or transplant peonies, hosta, and iris.
9. Deadhead flowers to prevent too many spring seedlings.
10. Now is the time to dig, divide, or plant peonies.
11. It is bulb planting time when fall night time temps stay between 40 - 50 degrees.
12. Large bulbs produce more or larger flowers than small bulbs.
13. Plants respond to the actual air temperature rather than to how cold it feels.
14. Dig, divide, or plant peonies.
15. To reduce the number of insects you bring inside, spray plants off with water and insecticidal soap.
16. Dig gladiolus as foliage begins to yellow and air dry before storing for winter.Dig gladiolus and air-dry before securing in winter storage
17. Panicle hydrangeas are a great garden shrub for five reasons:
    a. They are perfect for any sunny space.
    b. They provide a four season show.
    c. They are very easy to grow.
    d. Most destructive insects ignore them.
    e. Cut fresh blossom heads and hang them upside down in the basement.  Once they have dried, you may use them in fall arrangements or save them to plug the holes in your live Christmas tree.

    18. Hosta Care:
          a. Continue to give lots of water:  1-1.5” per week
          b. Do not mulch close to the crown of the plant, but lay 2-3” of mulch around root   zone.
          c. Use slow release fertilizer in the spring, or simply mulch over the leaves that collected around the plants over winter.
          d.  Avoid planting under shallow rooted trees.
          e.  While hostas can be planted any time during the growing season, fall is the best time to divide. 
 
 
Perennial Gardens

1. Bone meal or superphosphates are two recommended soil additives when planting fall bulbs.
   
2. Most bulbs planted in the fall are spring blooming, like tulips, daffodils, hyacith, crocus.
3. This is a great time to make notes for next spring.  See where you have color “holes” in the garden.  Search plant catalogs for ideas.
4. Make notes for projects you would like to tackle first thing in the spring.

 

Vegetable Gardens
With cold coming, here are some tips to cheat the season:
       1.  Covers capture and retain the heat of the sun.
            a. lay down a few inches of mulch or compost around plants or along rows
            b. use plastic row covers
            c. try a wall-o-water plastic cone
       2. Make plans now so that next spring you plant several varieties of the same vegetable with different maturities, or stagger the planting dates so
​           that the season is extended.
 

Lawn

1. Mow your grass the same height in the fall that you do in the spring and summer.  This should be at 3” or higher. It is an urban legend that grass should be “scalped” in the spring and fall.  This old practice opens the lawn up to weed invasion.
2. September is the ideal time to seed/over seed cool season grasses.  Just remember to purchase quality seed.
3. Prepare now for fall weed control.  This is the best time to attack weeds, as the summer waxy protective coating on the leaves is breaking down.
4. Herbicides containing a three way mix of 2-4D, Dicamba or MCPP, and Triclopyr can be used for difficult to control weeds.
5. How to over seed your lawn:
                 a. mow lawn at 1.5 to 2 “
                 b. aerate for good seed to soil contact
                 c. apply seed
                 d. drag area for seed to soil contact
                 e. water twice each day to keep seedbed moist
6. Make sure you buy good quality seed with 0% weed seeds.  Cheap seed may have 10% “other” seed.  Cheap seed may save money now but cost you more in the long run in time and product to remove the weeds you planted!  Always make sure to purchase a certified seed.
7. Always use the recommended rate.  More is not always better. 
8. Sprinkle Preen in garden areas to prevent grass seed from sprouting there.
9. Seed by Sept. 15 – Oct. 1.  Seeding later results in lower success rate.
10. Remember, with grass seed you get what you pay for.  Read the label and make sure you are not planting crop or weed seeds along with your grass seed!  Cheap seed is not a bargain in the long run.
11. Apply fertilizer to your newly seeded grass.  It will not hurt anything when applied at the correct rate.
12. Failing to accurately water new seed is the number one reason over-seeding fails.  Water lightly several times during the day.  The idea is to never let the seed dry out.  Monitor carefully on hot and/or windy days.
13. Fertilize cool season grasses with high nitrogen fertilizer.
14. Common chickweed in turf (round leafs) can over winter in protected areas.
    
    

Trees & Shrubs

1. This is a great time to plant trees and shrubs.
2. Make sure the new tree you planted this year continues to get enough water.  A tree with a trunk 1” to 2” in diameter requires ten gallons of water weekly.
3. DO NOT prune spring flowering shrubs now, or they will not bloom in the spring.
4. Hand pick any bagworms you find on evergreens or deciduous trees and shrubs.  Do not drop the bags on the ground.  Deposit in a paper bag and dispose of in your trash.
5. A tree responds to a wound by forming a callous or protective tissue to keep pest and diseases out.  If you cut too close to the trunk, the tree may suffer lasting damage.
6. Bagworms have been a big problem this year.  Insecticide control will no longer be effective as the larvae have moved into the pupation stage—inside the bag.  You may still pull the bags off and drop them in soapy water to take care of the residents inside.  Bagworms literally suck the life out of infected trees and shrubs.
7. If you wish to fertilize your shrubs, the best time to do so is actually in early spring, just before the plants begin new growth.
8. Plants do not die from not being pruned.  But plenty have been killed or disfigured from bad pruning.  Do some research before you cut!
9. When in doubt, do not prune.  Research if the plant you want to prune blooms on old wood or new wood.
10. Do not add anything to the plant hole or amend the soil when you plant a new shrub.
11. When planting shrubs and trees, unwind any large woody roots and gently loosen the small roots away from the soil.
12. Even a bargain tree or shrub deserves a million dollar hole.  Make the hole twice the size of the root ball.  This will help it get off to a great start.
13. Yellowing leaves on new trees is normal for new growth.