| Gene's Tips |
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Garden Tasks for September  September is the key month for doing many important tasks in the fall garden. Here is a list of tasks that will help restore plant damage from the relentlessly hot summer and help to prepare our lawns and gardens for the coming winter and the spring that will follow.Japanese Beetle Grub Control (Early September) Japanese beetle grubs and other white grubs that feed on grass roots, will wipe out large sections of lawns in September. Grubs are the larvae of beetles that have hatched in August and will be feeding on grass roots until late October. At that time, they burrow deep below the grass roots and lay dormant until they awake and start feeding again in April. But if you can kill these grubs now, there will be none in April. There are two kinds of grub control for lawns on the market. Do not apply the season-long grub control containing Imidicloprid® – these grub controls are not effective if applied after mid-August. Use the 24-hour control containing Dylox®. Be sure to water it into the soil thoroughly to get the insecticide down deep where the grubs are located. Seed new lawns or reseed establish lawns (begin the 2nd week of September) As the heat lessens by the beginning of week 2, apply grass seed to newly-prepared lawn surfaces or over establish grass lawns that have been cut short, to 1½ inches high. Level the surface and remove any debris covering the soil by sweeping the entire lawn area lightly with a leaf rake. Apply lawn seed evenly, but sparingly, in one layer. You may lightly scratch the seed into the soil or cover with a thin layer of organic top dressing such as cow manure, topsoil, or leaf composts, like Leaf-gro® or Compro®. Wet the area with a gentle spray, soaking the seed bed, but not disturbing the planted seed. Water daily, with the intent of maintaining a moist seed bed that will be kept from drying out until all the seeds finally sprout in 2 to 3 weeks. Fertilizing lawns, deciduous shrubs & trees and perennials (Early September) Deciduous shrubs and trees that lose all their leaves in the fall, and perennial plants should be fertilized in early-September, before their leaves change color and fall. This feeding will allow the plants to maximize the manufacturing and converting of sugar sap into complex carbohydrates for winter storage and food energy for emerging roots, stems, leaves and flowers in the spring and summer. Cool-season grass lawns can be fed anytime during the fall. Evergreen trees and shrubs should be given fertilizer later in the fall, in late October and November. Newly-seeded lawns can be fed with a fall fertilizer which is also labeled as a “starter fertilizer” which will be safe to use on very young, tender grass. Plant spring-flowering bulbs (plant all through September) Spring-flowering bulbs of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other like plants from bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers, can be planted starting in September. Remember to plant all bulbs at the proper planting depths in the soil. Use the bulb planting charts available when you purchase the bulbs or use the rule-of-thumb for determining the soil depth for each bulb by multiplying the height of the bulb and multiplying the height by 3. For example, a tulip bulb is usually about 2 inches high. It should then be planted about 6 inches deep in the soil. Planting cool-season vegetables in your fall garden (Early to Mid-September) This is the time set out young seedling or to plant seed directly in the soil to grow vegetables that enjoy the cool and even the cold of fall. Plants such as cabbage, kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts should be started earlier or set out as seedling plant. However, lettuces and other greens, spinach, Swiss chard, and root crops such as beets, rutabaga, kohlrabi and turnips can be sown as seed directly in the garden soil or container. Planting seasonal fall ornamental plants (All of September) This is the month to plant pansies, violas and panolas, the sweet-scented, beautiful, brightly-colored annuals that will bloom through fall and early-winter and to bloom again in early-spring. Chrysanthemums or mums for short, are the belles of the fall. These plants will bloom well over a month from the time first color is seen in the buds. They are perennial and can be mulched in late-fall to protect them over the winter. They can be kept in the garden to bloom again each fall. Ornamental or flowering cabbage and kale are decorative versions of the plants that we grow this time of the year for their value on our dinner tables. These hybrids display beautiful colors of red, pink, purple and white, especially vivid after the plants are exposed to frost. These ornamentals of the cold will often stay beautiful through late-January. Helping to Get the Right Plant Diagnosis This is the time of the year that we start to see more and more customers coming to our Diagnostic Counter to find solutions to the problems that these customers are having with their plants. Like any detective trying to determine the culprit of a crime, we who are manning the counter also need information. So to better to help you, here are three valuable tips to be able to get the right diagnosis and the right solutions from us. TIP #1: Please bring in a sample of the plant that shows the effects of the problem. Many people try to come in barehanded and try to describe the problem to us. Having an actual sample will tell us much more than they can. First, we can identify the plant that is affected by the problem and see the actual insect/disease/abiotic damage. We can then determine if the problem is correctable, what they need to correct it or if the problem is too far gone to save the plant. Please bring the samples in a sealed plastic baggie. We you prefer you bring in live and dead plant material that show the effects of the disease. TIP #2: Important information from the customer surrounding the appearance of the problem. • When did you first notice the problem? • Did you apply any pesticides or other chemicals to the plant at or about the time he noticed the problem? • Did you apply any pesticide or fertilizer to correct the problem? What is the name of the product you applied. • Is the plant located in the full sun or mostly shade? Is the plant well-established or newly-planted? • Did you do any pruning on this plant? When? How much was pruned off? TIP #3: Bring in the chemicals or other garden products you are using and we will tell you which ones are appropriate to use for your plant problem. Remember to discard any old chemical products, such as pesticides, which have been used and are 3 years from the date of purchase. I recommend gardeners to write on the product with an indelible ink pen, the date of purchase (similar to what you may be doing with kitchen herbs and spices). Please discard these products responsibly as toxic materials though the special turn in procedures of your county landfill. |
