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SEPTEMBER GARDEN TASKS
Weed -yes, weeds are still growing, even in September.
Water trees and shrubs… especially newly planted this season.
Remove any spent annuals and put them in the compost.
Buy your spring-flowering bulbs to get the best selection. You can plant Tulips up until the frost, but Daffodils and Hyacinths need time to set down roots so plant them before the end of Sept.
Be sure to buy some chicken poo to put into the hole… squirrels hate that.
When the rest of your perennials begin to look their worst, plant cool weather pansies, ornamental kale and mums.
This is a good time to THINK about and PLAN what perennials you will divide and where to put them. I like to leave them green as long as possible as the green needs to go back to the root for winter nutrient.
Wait a few more weeks to actually divide.
See FALL GARDENING
It is a good time to plant more roses… they are usually on sale, and one can always find more room for another rose. Put lots of good humate / compost in the hole and water well. PLANTING ROSES
If you need to relocate a few roses - ones that have outgrown their spot, or would do better elsewhere, read about MOVING ROSES.
Do not fertilize any trees or shrubs - it will only encourage new growth which may be hard hit with the first frost.
Most pruning should be done in Spring. See PRUNING
But Plum trees should be pruned right after they are picked at harvest for they will have a bigger crop next season.
Apple trees are pruned in March before budding.
Clean up your veggie garden of all plants - when the earth is bare, add compost and seed with a cover crop like clover or soybeans. Then in the Spring, this will be dug into the earth to replace the nitrogen your veggies took this year. This cover crop will also prevent weed seedlings from taking hold in early Spring.
It is a good time to re-seed your lawn for those bare patches… sprinkle some rich compost and sow the seed on top. Rake in a little and gently water.
I still cut some roses to put by my bed. but leave the majority to produce rose hips.
If you prune or cut back roses from now on, they will go into growth mode and produce more new branches and buds which are too tender to stand the first hard frost.
"'Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone."
- Thomas Moore, The Last Rose of Summer, 1830
Do a walk around your garden - a glass of something special, or a hot cup of something cozy, and take your notebook. Write down what works, and what doesn’t….
What you would like to see more of - or less - and note that too.
You will be putting down compost to amend the soil, just before the frost, so now is a good time to try to figure out just how much you will need.
Your garden is not done yet… there is at least another month before it is gone… so enjoy the fruits of your labour, work less, and contemplate more.
Fall is just beginning and the plants are winding down … so should you.
Take photos of every bed, so in Spring, you will know what is where and when things start to come up, you won’t pull anything important by mistake.
