September is a transition month at the garden. Though we may still get warm, even hot, weather, it’s time to wash up our summer gardens to create room for fall’s bounty. Cooler days and crisp evenings and mornings will be here soon enough — in some areas of the nation, it’s time to start cool-weather planting, while in others, planting will probably need to wait a few weeks. But in every portion of the nation, it’s time to say farewell to summer and prepare for what’s ahead.
The Brickman Group, Ltd..
Evaluate your garden. Make the most of this break in between seasons to assess your garden. What worked or did not work on your garden this season? Is your perennial bed getting too shady? Do your trees need to be pruned and limbed up to let more light? How did your yard fare over the summer? Is the irrigation system functioning properly? Does your soil need to be amended or improved? Staying at the top of all the changes on your garden and implementing the appropriate modifications will keep your outside area wholesome, lush and thriving.
Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC
Plan your fall garden. Before you plant something fresh on your garden, create a list of plants that you want to try (perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs and veggies ) and be sure to know the correct planting times for each one in your area.
Use graph paper to plot out some other fresh garden beds — doing this can help you to correctly plan plant quantities and dimension.
Ascertain whether any organic matter is needed to amend your existing soil. Then use peat, compost, compost mulch or sand to find the desired consequences for plant health.
J. Peterson Garden Design
Cut back fighting perennials. Even though it may not be time to cut back all perennials, it’s safe to prune those crops that have fought through the summertime. Use bypass pruners (hand pruners with blades that overlap when they cut) to remove any dead, diseased or dying expansion on your perennials. This will give your garden a neater, more tended-to appearance going into collapse and will help keep diseases at bay.
BLANCO
BLANCO
Start a compost pile. Choose a reasonably sunny site with some dappled shade for your pile, if you’re starting a new one. Piles in full sun may dry out too quickly, while piles found in too much color will remain too wet.
Collect materials to mix:
leavesplant clippingsold potting soilgrass clippingskitchen bits, like eggshells, coffee grounds, and fruit and vegetable peelingsAim to get a ratio of 1 part green materials (grass clippings, kitchen scraps) to 1 to 2 components brown materials (dead leaves and plants).
Layer materials at a pile, moisten it with water and then turn all of the ingredients to mix them. Continually increase your pile and every week or so moisten and mix to ensure everything is breaking down as quickly as possible.
Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture
Clean the vegetable garden. Now is the time to clean out old and languishing veggies from your warm-season garden. If you depart summer squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and melons on your garden too long once they cease to become productive, they can develop a powdery mildew, which can spread to other crops. Be proactive and wash out old edibles to prepare to get cool-season greens, squashes and blossoms.
More: Regional garden checklists