I love this time of year....pumpkins ripening, salvias blooming, leaves turning and shorter days!
- Fertilize citrus Last month to do so
- Fertilize roses for a fall flush of roses
- Plant spring bulbs Check out your local nursery or hardware store
- Plant fall-blooming perennials like aster, chrysanthemum and salvia
- Plant winter-blooming annual and perennials plants like violets and primroses
- Prune back leggy or scrawny plants like geraniums, hydrangea and pelargoniums
- Prune back evergreen shrubs for shape before cold weather sets in. I like to do it now versus next month so the plants have time to recover (grow back a bit) and look natural during the winter months.
- Remove under-performing plants or plants that are past their prime and replace with new plants. Lavenders are prime example...they look good for a few years but should be replaced once they get too woody or out of shape. Lavenders usually look good for 3-5 years before they start looking like tumbleweeds!
- Water Especially citrus, flowering shrubs and new trees. Even if weather has cooled down it doesn’t mean they aren’t thirsty!
- Fertilize Anything in flower or budding can be fertilized. Water, fertilize and water again.
- Divide Agapanthus, day lillies, irises, shasta daisies Pull up plant with shovel or pitchfork, ease roots or bulbs apart. Replant and share extras with neighbors.
- Remove spent blossoms on all flowering plants.
- Sow cool-season crops like beets, carrots, kale, lettuce and radishes. Work in soil amendment, sow seeds and keep soil moist by gently showering them with water (not an open hose!)
- Prune fruit trees lightly Remove dead fruit on branches (mummies), excess growth or heavy branches before rain starts.
- Continue to harvest! Pick all fruit and vegetables that are ready. Clean up decaying matter off ground. It’s good to have a clean environment around all plants to prevent insects and disease.
Read more of Angele's gardening and landscaping tips in the Patch Archives.
