Spring flowering bulbs can be planted from September through November. Plant with one
tablespoon of bulb food or bone meal per bulb.
Plant cool season vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic and onion
from starts. Empty areas can be planted to a fall cover crop such as annual ryegrass,
crimson clover, Austrian peas, fava beans or common vetch. They will protect the soil
from erosion and add organic matter to the soil when they are tilled under in the spring.
Mums, Japanese anemones, sedum and flowering kale and cabbage can be planted now for
fall color. Pansies can be planted for flowers most of the winter.
Lawns, trees and shrubs need less care when planted in September and early October.
The cool moist weather reduces transplant shock. The warm soil encourages faster
root growth. The plants have several months to get established before spring growth
starts.
Late September is an excellent time to divide and replant crowded perennials.
Pruning
Cut off old flowers, especially on butterfly bush (Buddleia). This prevents seeds from
becoming weeds.
Pruning in the fall might encourage new growth that won't survive winter weather.
Fall pruning should be limited to cutting back long branches and correcting
weak branches that might break in winter winds and ice. It is also a good time
to remove dead wood, which is harder to spot during winter pruning, when all the
branches are bare of leaves.
Pests
Cranefly larvae can be controlled by cutting way back on watering the lawn after Labor
Day since the larvae need moist soil to survive.
Cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums, both flowering and fruiting varieties, should be sprayed
with copper sulfate before fall rains start to prevent dead bud and peach leaf curl.
Beneficial nematodes should be applied before mid-October around rhodies, azaleas and
other plants with notches on the leaves from root weevils to prevent the root weevil
larvae from killing the roots. They can also be applied to lawns to control cranefly
larvae.
A grassy weed preventer, such as Halts or Team, can be applied to lawns to prevent annual
bluegrass.
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