There is much to do in the September garden!  Vegetable gardeners continue to harvest tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and beans and are busy canning, freezing and dehydrating.  Potatoes and carrots are ready to be dug and apples and pears are ready for harvest.  Just a reminder that local food banks welcome any extra produce.

            September is the time to save seeds of annuals that you want to plant next year.  Simply cut seed heads off when they become brown and spread them out on newspaper to dry for a few days.  Store them in paper bags in a cool, dry location.  Label the bags so you can identify them when it’s time to plant in spring.

            Early in the month is your last chance to move or divide perennial plants.  Dig around and under the plant, preserving as many of the roots as you can, and lift it from the ground.  Now is a good time to add compost or other soil amendments to the soil.  Cut through the crown with a knife or shovel and plant the pieces at the same level in the ground as they were previously growing.  Water the plant well and give it supplemental water over the following few weeks if rain doesn’t fall or if temperatures are high.

            Now is the time to plant trees, shrubs and grass.  Garden centers are selling nursery stock at greatly reduced prices this time of year.  Use the same care in selecting a tree or shrub at 75% off as you would a full-priced one or it’s no deal at all.  Make sure the leaves, stems and roots all look healthy before you buy.

            Don’t slack off on weeding.  The abundant rain this year has made weeding a full time job in some gardens.  Do not let late summer weeds go to seed or you will regret it next year!  Pull the weeds, making sure you get the entire root system.  Chopping perennial weeds with a hoe or tiller only makes the problem worse, as each tiny piece of root has the potential to grow into a new plant.

            Depending on the weather, we may have a month or more before annual flowers are hit with frost.  Give annuals a trim if they have gotten unruly and keep the spent flowers deadheaded so they look neat and pretty as long as possible.

            It’s too early to plant spring bulbs – that should be done around October 15 – but do start thinking about what you might plant for next spring’s bloom.  Either mail order the bulbs now or start watching for them in garden centers. 

            Take a look around your garden and make note of what you want to add or change for next year.  Don’t do any pruning now, as pruning will stimulate new growth that won’t be winter hardy, but do make a note of trees or shrubs that will need pruning during the dormant season.

Take the time now to prepare your yard and garden for winter.  When spring comes you’ll be glad you did.

      Cut the grass short to discourage voles and mice from making nests below the snow.  Rake leaves out of areas where they pile up and shred them with the lawn mower for free lawn fertilizer.  They will decompose to feed the soil and will be gone by spring.

      An exception to this is the leaves of fruit trees or grapes.  They should be raked and removed from the area so that leaf diseases aren’t encouraged to stay around for next year.

      If there isn’t sufficient rain, water evergreen plants deeply before the ground freezes.  Evergreens continue to transpire water from their needles all winter and this last chance for a good drink is it until the ground thaws in spring.

      After the ground is frozen, place a winter mulch such as pine needles, pine boughs, shredded leaves, straw or other light material around all young perennials.  Also mulch around any tree, shrub or perennial where the winter sun shines directly on the root zone.  The point of the mulch is to prevent the soil from repeated freezing and thawing which damages the roots.  Do not put mulch down before the ground freezes because that’s like putting a welcome sign out for mice to come and build their winter homes.  They’ll enjoy snacking on the stems or bark of your plants as well.

      There are sprays you can buy to repel rabbits from your plants, but if you truly value a certain plant, fencing is the only sure thing.  Chicken wire is relatively inexpensive and is easy to cut and place around trunks or stems of vulnerable plants.  In spring it can be removed and rolled up to be used again in future years.

      The trunks of young trees, especially fruit trees, should be wrapped so the low winter sun doesn’t scald the bark.  Inexpensive brown paper tape is available at garden centers for this purpose.

      Wait until January or February to prune fruit trees or vines.  Pruning is a growth-promoting process and a week of warm weather in December could jump start growth that will be killed by cold weather to follow.

      After the ground freezes, pile fresh top soil 8-10 inches high around rose bush stems.  For even more protection, surround the mounded soil with chicken wire and stuff the inside with leaves, hay or straw.  If you decide to protect your roses with styrofoam rose cones, puncture several 1-inch holes around the top so that air can circulate inside.  You must remember to remove the cones on warm spring days or the roses will cook inside them.  Be ready to put them back on, however, if a cold snap is in the forecast.

      You may be ready to hang up your gardening tools for the year, but there is one more task to complete yet this year if you want a beautiful early spring garden.  Mid-October is bulb-planting time. 

      Flowers like tulips, daffodils, crocuses, muscari, hyacinths, alliums and scilla all grow from bulbs.  They can be planted in and around established flower beds or comprise their very own spring flowering bed. 

      As in any flower bed, the taller bulb plants go in the back and the shorter ones in the front.  In the back you might place alliums, daffodils and tulips, while hyacinths fill in the middle and crocuses and snowdrops line the front.  Most of the bulb plants, except allium, bloom early in spring and will be up before any of the other perennials in the flower bed. 

      After bloom, the foliage from bulb plants must be left in place to die down so the leaves can produce food to nourish the bulb for the next year, so plant them in back of another perennial or behind where you plan to plant some annual flowers.  The later growing plants will hide the dying foliage.

      Unless you have an extremely formal landscape, avoid planting the bulbs in straight rows.  They look more natural planted in drifts, or at least in groups of five to seven plants. 

      Crocuses bloom first, followed by daffodils and then tulips.  Each of these plants has early, middle and late blooming varieties.  With a little planning you can have an extended overlapping season of bloom.  Read the package, or the catalog description if you are mail-ordering, for bloom time.

      For a natural effect on your lawn, take a handful of bulbs and toss them gently on the grass.  Plant each bulb where it falls.  Although this works with any of the bulbs, crocuses and muscari are best for this technique as most people begin cutting their lawns long before the foliage of tulips and daffodils dies down.

      When shopping for bulbs, look for firm healthy looking ones.  Don’t buy them if they have soft spots or rot.  It’s okay if the papery outer layer falls off or peels away.  Even though the bulbs are dormant, they are living things, so handle them gently.

      Plant bulbs pointy-side up with the point about 2 ½ times as deep as the bulb is tall.  For example, a 2” tall bulb would be planted so its growing tip is 5” below ground.  There are tools at the garden center for individual bulb planting, but it is easier to dig a large hole and set five or more bulbs firmly around on the bottom.  Toss in a handful of bulb food or bonemeal.  Refill with soil, water well and wait for spring!

Make next year’s garden great by getting ready now

      Now is the time to make plans for next year’s garden.  There are many things you can do in fall in ensure that your next garden is the best ever.

*    Find a source of cow or horse manure and spread it on the garden this fall.  Manure should be aged at least six months before planting.

ü      If you have or plan on planting acid-loving plants like azaleas, blueberries or pines, add peat moss to your soil this fall.  Peat moss acidifies soil but it needs some time to work so it is best to add it well ahead of planting.

ü      Leaves that fall from your trees can be chopped with a lawn mower or leaf shredder or placed in a large garbage can and shredded with a string trimmer.  Leave them on the lawn as a free source of nitrogen or till them into the garden to add nitrogen and organic matter.

ü      If you plan on adding any garden structures like a compost bin, pathway, pergola, raised beds, or bench, install them now.  It is easier to place them properly when all the plants are growing in fall than to guess where they should go in spring.  You’ll always underestimate how big nearby plants will get. 

ü      If you had problems with blossom end rot on your tomatoes this year, your soil is calcium deficient.  Save your eggshells over the winter and place them in the planting holes next spring.  Just rinse the shells, let them dry and crush them.  Keep them in a zip-loc bag or Tupperware container until spring.

ü      Buy hay or straw bales now.  Use them for fall yard displays and save them for mulching around plants next year.

ü      Rake and fill garbage bags with long pine needles.  Use them next spring for mulch around plants or on garden paths.

ü      If your spring garden was kind of blah, plant bulbs of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other spring bloomers around October 15.

ü      Water all evergreen plants well every week until the ground freezes.  Evergreens transpire (water evaporates from the needles) all winter long.  With the lack of rain this past month, soil moisture is very low so the plants need to be hydrated as much as possible.

ü      Make notes of changes you want to make for next year, plants you want to divide or move, new plants you want to add and landscaping ideas.  Winter is long and you really will forget some of your great plans by next spring!

The recent rains have been like a mega-dose of multi-vitamins for flower and vegetable gardens.  Unfortunately, the weeds have taken the vitamins also and are proliferating.  The good news is that weeds pull easily from rain-soaked soil.  Spend the time in June to keep ahead of the weeds and you can relax in July and August, but wait for the plants to dry off before weeding or you may inadvertently spread diseases among your good plants.

      Just like flowers, weeds can be annuals, perennial or biennials.  Annual weeds generally have a fibrous root system which spreads just beneath the soil surface, unlike the fleshy tap roots of the perennial types.  No matter the type of weed, it is important to remove them before they go to seed.  Most annual weeds can be easily pulled or sliced off just below the soil surface with a hoe.  Do not chop at the soil with your hoe or you will bring more weed seeds to the surface that will germinate. 

      Perennial weeds spread by means of underground stems and root parts and also by seed.  Hoeing or tilling them only makes the problem worse because new weeds can sprout from each chopped up piece of root.  They are best pulled with the aid of a dandelion digger or asparagus fork to ease the roots out of the soil.  Weeds that have not yet gone to seed can be composted or just left to dry out on top of the soil.

      One of the most-asked questions is how to eliminate the lawn weed creeping charlie, also known as ground ivy.  Dissolve ½ cup 20 Mule Team Borax, found in the laundry detergent aisle, in one gallon of warm water.  This translates to 1¼ cups borax for the average 2½ gallon sprinkling can, which is enough for 1,000 square feet of lawn.  You can also use a sprayer which gives a finer, more even coverage.  Don’t use a sprayer that you have used previously to apply any type of herbicide or you may kill your grass along with the creeping charlie.  Before you start, measure out 1,000 square feet so you have an idea of the area you should cover.  Applying the solution too thickly will result in burnt grass.  Check the weather forecast and apply the borax solution when there is no rain predicted for at least 48 hours. 

      You may have noticed something that looks like foam or soap on many plants and weeds this month.  That is from the aptly-named spittle bug, but the foam is actually the bug’s excrement.  The bug, which looks like a little light yellow seed, is hiding inside the spittle and sucking the juices from the plants.  They are easily controlled by washing the foam and insect off with water from the hose.  I used to be diligent about this, going out daily and spraying spittle bugs from all my plants, but I got tired of doing so last year and just left them alone.  I noticed very little damage to the plants and was relieved to give up the task and devote my time to weeding instead.

      February brings the excitement of the almost daily arrival of seed catalogs in the mailbox.  Now is the time to plan for this year’s garden and place your order for plants and seeds.  Page through the catalogs and make a list of everything that catches your eye.  Then, get realistic and pare the list down within the parameters of your budget, garden size and garden conditions.  It’s a good idea to order as soon as possible because many of the popular plants and seeds are sold out quickly.  If your order is backordered it may be too late or too hot for good success with your plants by the time they arrive. 

      If there is something you want that is offered by many of the catalogs, try to place your order with geography in mind.  That is, look for the company closest to your home.  There are several benefits here.  First, plant and seed material won’t have to travel as far to reach you.  Long shipping times for plants can be very stressful.  Second, the closer the plants are bred to your home, the more able they are to adapt to local conditions.  Third, supporting local companies keeps our gardening dollars in Wisconsin, or at least the Midwest. 

      Before placing your order, inventory your leftover seeds so as to avoid ordering something you already have.  If you are unsure that your leftovers are still viable, there is a simple germination test for them.  Take 10-20 seeds and place them on a layer of paper toweling in a saucer.  Cover with another paper towel and soak both layers with water.  Pour off the excess.  Keep the toweling damp and check the seeds every day for sprouting or mold.  If mold appears, take off the top layer but keep the bottom layer moist and put the saucer in a dark place.  The seed packet will tell you approximately how many days until germination is expected.  If most of the seeds sprout, the seed is still good; if half sprout, you could sew the seeds twice as thickly as directed, or buy new seed.  If less than half sprout, definitely buy new seed.

      Take the time to learn about the proper care and conditions for any new plants you plan to grow this year.  You may be bowled over by the new ‘Summer Sky’ echinacea, or the ‘Dancing in the Rain’ hosta, or the ‘Gold Bar’ zebra grass, but if you don’t have the right conditions in your yard for these plants, you’ll be wasting your money.

      Are you itching to get out and do something, anything, in the yard or garden?  There are many things to be done this time of year.

      If you haven’t yet pruned your apples, pears or grapes do it now!  Ideally you did this in February or early March, but if you were waiting for nicer weather, it’s not too late.

      While you’ve got the pruning tools out, cut back flowering shrubs like spirea and potentilla to about 6-12 inches.  Cut to the ground the oldest stems of shrubs like highbush cranberry, lilac, dogwood and mock orange to rejuvenate and shape the plants.

      If you are looking for a non-chemical alternative to weed control in your lawn, apply corn gluten meal before the weeds germinate, around April 1.  Corn gluten meal reduces the germination of dandelions and other broadleaf weeds by as much as 90%.  Since it is basically corn meal, kids and pets can safely play on the lawn immediately after application.  Corn gluten meal also provides trace amounts of slowly released fertilizer for the lawn.  The lawn should be watered well after application, or spread it just before rain is forecast.  You can mail order from Gardens Alive and spend $49.95 plus shipping for a 40-lb bag, which covers 2,000 – 4,000 square feet, or drive the short distance north on Hwy. 76 to Greenville Co-op where 50-lb bags are just $15.  Call ahead to check hours and to make sure they have it in stock:  920-757-6556.

      If you have covered your roses with styrofoam cones, remove the cones before the days get too warm or the roses will cook inside them.  If you stuffed leaves or pine needles inside the cones, leave them in place to protect the roses from the coldest nights.  If you are nervous about removing the cones too early, then poke several large holes in the top of the cones so warm air can escape.

            This is the time to start tomato and pepper seeds indoors.  Also start any other seeds whose seed packets instruct you to start them indoors six to eight weeks before moving them outdoors.  Put soiless potting mix in flat trays, egg cartons or yogurt cups.  Poke a hole in the bottom of the containers so water can drain out.  Wet the mix and plant the seeds at the depth suggested on the seed packet.  Cover the container with plastic and set it in a sunny window.  Remove the plastic after germination and keep the potting mix moist. 

      Most seedlings will have to be carefully repotted into larger containers once they have a few leaves.

      This is also a good time to replant your houseplants.  They are waking up from a relatively dormant winter and some new soil, along with a little fertilizer and extra water and a trim back if they need it, will perk them right up.

      September is second in time spent on garden chores only to the frenzied planting month of May.  There are fruits, vegetables and herbs to be harvested and hours spent canning, preparing for freezing, or dehydrating.  Those are the things you have to do this month; you can’t put it off and to forgo those tasks entirely makes the whole exercise in planting the garden meaningless.  That is, unless your goal was to add a lot of fruits and vegetables to your compost bin!

      There are other garden tasks for September and most are more pleasant than slaving over hot canning jars.  Collecting seed from annuals like zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, calendula, dill and the many other plants makes for an enjoyable afternoon.

      If you’ve been diligent about weeding, this is no time to slack off.  If you haven’t been so conscientious, now is the time to do a good weeding clean-up so you get the weed seeds out of the garden for next year. 

      This is the best time to make landscaping plans for next year.  Most plants are full-sized now and you can see where new plants will fit in or where you want to make changes.  No matter how long you’ve been gardening, in January when the seed and plant catalogs come, you will underestimate how much space your existing plants take up. 

      If you think your landscape is dull or boring, get an armload of landscape books from the library and spend a few hours paging through them just looking at the pictures.  Something is sure to spark your interest and fit with your yard.  If what catches your attention is a pond or water feature, this is a good time to decide on where it should be placed in your landscape.  You can spend winter days learning how to build a pond with information from books or the internet.

      Near the end of September, make sure to watch the weather forecast every night if you want to cover your plants to extend their season.  I always err on the side of caution and cover my plants if the forecast is for anything below 40 degrees.

      There is one gardening “don’t” for this time of year.  Don’t prune anything!  Pruning stimulates new growth and that lush new growth won’t be sufficiently hardy by the time winter comes to withstand the cold weather. 

      Just a reminder to keep evergreen plants well watered all the way up until the ground freezes.  Water transpires from the needles all winter long and they need a good supply of water so they don’t dry out and die.

      The front page of the Stein’s advertisement last week didn’t feature a picture of a pretty flowering shrub or a spectacularly blooming perennial.  What it did have in large letters were the words “Grass Seed Sale.”

      Kind of boring as ads go, but a good reminder that it’s time to fill in the holes that my pup, Lucy, has dug in the lawn over the summer and replant the grass.  The best time to plant grass in Wisconsin is August 15 to September 20.  There is time for the lawn to become established before winter cold sets in, yet it won’t have to deal with the hot July sun and lack of summer rains while it is young.

      There are just a few kinds of grasses suitable for Wisconsin lawns.  Three major Wisconsin lawn grasses are Kentucky bluegrass, the fine fescues and turf-type perennial ryegrass.  The label on the grass seed will list what kinds of grasses are inside and the percentage of each.  For sunny areas, a higher percentage of Kentucky bluegrass is desirable; the fescues do better in the shade. 

      Grasses fall into two categories – creeping and bunch grasses.  Creeping grasses like Kentucky bluegrass spread vegetatively by horizontal stems to form a tight dense turf.  They fill in or cover small areas where grasses have been killed by pests (that would be Lucy) or physical injury (Lucy again).  Bunch grasses grow in clumps and do not spread vegetatively but the individual bunches do get bigger as they get older.  Perennial ryegrass and tall fescue are bunch grasses.

      Some grass seed mixes list annual ryegrass on the label.  This is a nurse grass that germinates quickly and fills in while the other grasses become established.  Look for a low percentage of annual grass in the mix because it won’t survive the winter and will leave bare spots in the lawn come spring. 

      Adding the percentage of each type of seed on the label tells you the percent purity.  Say it adds up to 97.5%.  The remaining 2.5% of the weight of the contents should be accounted for.  “Other crop seed” could be any other type of grass.  “Inert matter” refers to dirt, chaff or stem pieces.  “Weed seed” might be seeds of weeds such as plantain or chickweed.  There should also be a listing for noxious weed seeds.  Ideally there will be “None found.”

      Package directions explain how thickly to sow the seed.  Cover the seed lightly with hay, straw or netting to conserve soil moisture, to prevent erosion and to keep birds from eating the seed.  The soil must be kept constantly moist from the time the seed is spread until the grass is up and established.  A fine mist a few times a day is best until germination.  When the grass begins growing, water it more deeply.

      Most October yard and garden activities are enjoyable ones that ensure that next year’s gardening season will be a good one.

      This is the time to plant bulbs of tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths and other early spring flowering plants.  Plant bulbs 2 ½ times as deep as they are tall with the pointy side up.  Throw a little bone meal in the hole, cover with soil and water well.

      Water, water, water.  It is especially important to water evergreen plants right up until the ground freezes because they continue to transpire, or lose water, from their needles all through the winter.  Also water any perennial that still has green leaves, all young trees and fruit trees, and raspberries and strawberries.  Unless the weather pattern changes soon and dramatically, these plants are going to go into winter under drought stress and will have a hard time recovering in spring.

      October is the best time of the year to deal with two invasive plants.  Buckthorn should be cut as low as possible to the ground and the cut area should be painted with Brush-B-Gone.  In your lawn, creeping Charlie, or ground ivy, can be killed with one cup of borax mixed with two gallons of warm water sprayed over 1,000 square feet.  Plant energy is moving toward the roots this time of year and the Brush-B-Gone or borax will be taken into the roots where it will kill the plant.

      If you plan to overwinter geraniums in a dormant state, shake the soil from the roots and place them, leaves and all, in cardboard boxes or paper bags in a cool, dark part of your basement.  In spring, trim off any withered stems and shorten ones that are too tall before re-planting them in pots to go outdoors.

      As dry as the ground is this year, it is hard to pull up weeds, but if you remove perennial weeds now you will be very glad when spring comes.  I usually hold a hose in one hand and weed with the other, soaking around the roots while I pull up the weeds.

      Cut down any perennial plants that have turned brown and gone dormant, unless they have flower heads you want to keep for winter interest.  If there are bare spots in your mulch, now is a good time to replenish it.

      Don’t be in a hurry to rake your lawn.  Use a lawnmower or leaf shredder to shred the leaves and either leave them on the lawn, compost them, or use them for mulch.

      This is a good time to take a look at your landscape and make notes of changes you want to make for next year.  You may think you’ll remember your ideas but five or six months from now, trust me, you won’t.