September:

GENERAL MAINTENANCE OF GARDENS

• Slug patrol; as the fall rains start the slugs will appear, each one you get rid of now will prevent about 100 in the winter and 200+ by next spring, corrugated cardboard placed glue side down is a good concentrator of slugs, check daily, place slugs in container of soapy water, after death add to compost pile



• Mildew time: with higher humidities of August and September nights, powdery mildew as well as several other leaf spot diseases will appear, see August for control formula



• Record harvest dates



• Plant spring-flowering bulbs



• As perennials stop flowering, you can transplant



• Cuttings of broad–leaf and conifers can be rooted this month



• Most evergreens can be transplanted with minimum loss, water in well



• Plant, by broadcasting, winter cover crops in any empty space; reduces weeds by out- growing, reduces soil erosion and compaction, adds organic matter, plant per 100 square feet, 3 lbs Austrian peas, or 3 lbs. Fava beans, or 1 lb. alfalfa, or 1 lb crimson clover, or 1.5 lbs vetch or 2-3 lbs annual winter rye before fall rains start



• Mulch winter beds with organic matter, turn under in spring



• Start a compost pile if you do not have one



• As fall approaches, leaves are sending nutrients back to stem and roots, they are weak, therefore, disease and pest prone, do not over-react



• Apply fall lawn organic fertilizer application before fall rains

PLANT SPECIFIC

• Prepare bed for peas and potatoes using straw method (e.g., turn soil, do not break up clods, cover with 6" straw)



• Harvest potatoes when tops die back, if persistent, partially break stem at ground level



• Harvest squash after frost, cut a two-inch stem on both sides of the squash stem, cure in warm room for 10 days, then store in cool area



• Prepare fuchsias and geraniums for over wintering, cut back plants to edge of container and store in a dry area that will remain above freezing



• Make cuttings from fuchsias and geraniums for new plants

FRUIT TREE, GENERAL

• Clean up fallen fruit twice weekly, destroy if wormy or diseased; do NOT place in compost pile

FRUIT TREE, SPECIFIC

• Destroy cardboard bands on apple and pear trees (used to trap codling moth larvae) when harvest is finished

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