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Although most of
August is hot, the days are getting shorter and by the end of the month
temperatures start to moderate. This is an ideal time to prepare for fall
planting. You can start your fall vegetable garden and plan for planting
perennials, trees and shrubs. During this time, the soil is warm, which makes seeds
germinate and plants establish roots quickly.
By the end of October or early November, the ground temperature starts
to fluctuate. New plants still need a good 4 to 6 weeks for their roots to
become established. Even if your plants' blooms are disappearing or are
gone, don't forget to continue watering until winter arrives and don't
forget to mulch those tender plants after the first hard frost.
Vegetable gardening
Landscape planting
Watering Tips
Weeds & Pests
Forcing of Spring Bulbs
Indoors
Preparing Your Perennial
Garden for Winter
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It isn't too late for vegetable planting, either. If you missed
the boat on summer vegetables, you can start a fall vegetable garden
this August. Your fall crop will produce fresh vegetables past the
first frost of the season, and even past the first snows. You can
plant these varieties in August:
Kale, spinach and chard: All these
green leafy vegetables are all cool-weather vegetables that mature
quickly. Each should be sown into the soil and covered lightly.
Cover the seed just twice the diameter of the seed, never deeper.
Salad vegetables: Lettuce, mustard
and mesclun mixes can all be sown in August. The cut-and-come-again
varieties will keep you supplied with fresh salad leaves until the
first frosts, and later if you can protect the plants. You can
plant these nutritious salad vegetables under summer crops of beans
or squash so that they are shaded and stay cooler.
Carrot and parsnip will stay in the
ground past the frost and, if protected with a heavy mulch of straw,
some varieties can be harvested in the middle of winter.
Brussels sprouts and broccoli should
be planted as transplants in late August. Both of these, along with
some of the green leafy vegetables, actually taste better after a
hard frost.
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Get ready for fall landscape planting. Make note of holes in the
garden and head to Meadow View and get replacements for those bare
spots. Take a look at the sun exposure, space available where the
planting area is that you're trying to fill. Being aware of those
factors will help you select the best replacement plants.
Bring the mulch home on one of your next visits to Meadow View for
the areas you are going to plant. Avoid mounding the mulch around a
plant (so-called "volcano" mulching is not proper technique). Plan
to add about 2 inches around newly planted trees, shrubs and
perennials.
Consider fall color and other seasonal interest when selecting new
plants. Garden mums, cabbage and kale or asters will add good fall
color. Look for plants that will add winter interest.
Evergreens are nice for screening plants or hedges.
When planting trees or shrubs, always dig a hole that is twice as
wide and the same depth as the plant root ball. Fill the hole back
in with the same soil that you removed modifying it with peat moss,
compost or Posey Power, and mulch around the new plant. Water
thoroughly once or twice a week until early December.
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Plants are made up of 90% water and will tell you when they need a
drink. Look for signs of dropping flowers and wilting leaves.
Serious, permanent damage can occur to evergreens from drought
conditions. This is the third summer of water stress and
coupled with record high temps this can be very serious to new
plantings as well as plants established for 10 years or more.
During the ‘dog-days’ of August and drier fall weather watering is
critical for the survival of your plants.
Watch for dryness symptoms: dull foliage as the first
indication of drought, second dry symptom is wilting foliage and
flowers.
Here are a few suggestions for providing adequate water for your
plants…
Container plants – Daily, as necessary, until water
flows out the bottom of the container. Use water soluble fertilizers
at least every 7 days until the mid October.
Annuals and Perennials planted in the ground – One
inch of water every 5 days – check by poking your finger 3-5” into
the soil near the plant roots to determine if soil is moist. Use
water soluble fertilizers every 14 days on annuals until frost
unless generous amounts of Osmocote were used at planting time.
Shrubs and Trees
Newly planted – water every other day until late September.
Set the garden hose next to the main part of the plant and let water
trickle for 30 minutes. Using a bamboo stake or broom handle gently
pushed into the ground 15-18” in the planting hole. Pull the stake
out and if muddy, then you have succeeded in getting water down into
the root zone. If dry, adjust your watering habits.
Spring planted – once every 5 days from May until December.
Check moisture level as above.
Watch for over-watering containers without drainage holes and heavy
clay soils that hold water, rot the roots, and kill your plants.
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Mow High to Help Control Nutsedge
Depending on your turf type, you can help control nutsedge or
nutgrass by changing the way you mow. Mowing your lawn at about 3
inches lets the grass crowd out nutsedge and other weeds. Mowing
short stimulates nutsedge.
Kill Nutsedge in Landscaped Areas
If you have a few plants, you may be lucky and succeed in pulling
them out, especially if they're young. If not, Ortho® Nutsedge
Killer For Lawns <http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod10550011&it
emId=cat50064&icid=hp1_mm_p_owk> is effective in killing
listed weeds in established landscape plantings. You can also
control nutsedge in your mulched areas by applying Roundup® Weed &
Grass Killer Ready-To-Use Plus <http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod70344&itemI
d=cat50096> . Make sure you don't spray the plants you like. Do NOT
use this product to spot-treat in your lawn. Always read the label
before you apply.
Kill Nutsedge in Your Lawn
You can control nutsedge in your lawn by spraying with Ortho®
Nutsedge Killer for Lawns <http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod10550011&it
emId=cat50064&icid=hp1_mm_p_owk> . It's effective against newly
emerged and established sedges. This ready-to-use product kills
purple and yellow nutsedge and 60 other tough weeds. The weed is
yellowed in 1-2 days, and complete kill occurs in 1-2 weeks. It can
be used on Northern and Southern turf grasses and is rainproof in 2
hours.
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October is the perfect time of the year to pot
your favorite spring bulbs for forcing blooms indoors. Here is a
procedure:
1. Partially fill the container (pot) with potting soil.
2. Place the bulb in the pot so that the tip of each bulb is even or
slightly below the rim of the container.
3. Add additional potting mix and firm it around the bulbs. Allow
the nose (top) of the bulb to stick above or slightly below the soil
surface. The soil level should be 1/2 - 1 inch below the rim of the
container.
4. Water each container thoroughly.
5. Place the bulbs in cold storage for a period of 12 to 16 weeks at
a temperature of 40 to 45 degrees F. A refrigerator, cold frame, or
root cellar are possible storage sites. The bulbs should be kept in
complete darkness during the cold treatment. Periodically check the
need for watering during storage. Water when dry, but do not keep
them wet which could cause them to rot.
6. At the end of the cold storage period, move the bulb containers
to a cool (55 - 60 degree F) semi-dark area. Keep the potting soil
evenly moist throughout the forcing period. Move the pots again when
the shoots turn green to a slightly warmer area which receives
direct sunlight. As the plants grow, turn the pots periodically to
prevent the plants from leaning.
7. Flowering should occur in 3 to 4 weeks. |
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Now that we’ve had a couple of pretty good
frosts, it’s time to clean up your gardens and prepare for winter.
Removing debris now reduces the potential for insect and disease
problems next season.
With perennials, it’s a good rule of thumb to cut back all
perennials that do not have winter appeal.
It is possible to leave some perennials standing. Sunflowers,
liatris and other flowers that go to seed will provide food for
wildlife. It’s fun to watch finches on coneflowers picking out the
seeds. Watching birds can give you hours of enjoyment in the winter
garden.
If you have any heavy seeders in your garden that you would like to
control, remove any seed heads at this time.
Any perennials with disease of any kind, remove foliage so that the
disease can not overwinter under the plant and re-infect in spring.
(Do not put this debris into compost.) We like to leave about 1-2”
of stem on these plants so that we can find them in the spring and
so that they can catch snow to help with overwintering.
Rake off, and remove debris from perennials that the foliage has
turned to mush (Hosta is one of these.)
Don’t cut back the following until spring:
Butterfly bush
Roses
Russian Sage
Caryopteris
Heuchera
Mums
Clematis – Refer to our clematis handout for
trimming suggestions. No clematis NEEDS to be cut back for survival.
However, some can overgrow their space. Trim according to the
variety of Clematis you have.
Hydrangea – There are many different varieties out
there. Know your variety and whether it blooms on old wood or new
wood. Again, they do not NEED to be trimmed to survive, but if they
are overgrown, it is wise to know if you trim your variety in fall
or spring. If you don’t know the variety, it is wise to trim just
after blooming. This gives the plant a chance to form new flower
buds if it happens to be a variety that blooms on old wood.
This is a good time to plant your spring bulbs.
After the first hard frost, apply mulch around tender plants (roses, hydrangeas, new perennials,
mums, asters
and new groundcover.) Only apply 1-2 inches.
For Roses whose crown you are trying to protect,
you may apply more, BUT, wait until the ground freezes! This is
usually after Thanksgiving, sometimes in December. The idea is to
keep the ground at a constant temperature, and avoid the freezing
and thawing that takes place in the winter. In the spring, it is
important to pull the mulch back from the crown to allow the trunk
to dry out
Trees:
To avoid frost cracks in trees less than 5 years old, wrap your tree
trunks with paper or plastic tree wraps in late fall. White wraps
work best at reflecting the heat of winter sun to protect the bark.
When wrapping, be sure to start winding at ground level and work
your way up the trunk to just under the first set of branches. This
way moisture will shed off the wrap instead of being channeled in
toward the tree. Remember to remove the wrap in April so you don’t
provide a hiding place for insects.
These trees are most prone to frost cracks:
Acer’s (Maple)
Malus (Apples, including Flowering Crabs)
Fraxinus (Ash)
Platanus (Sycamore)
Fagus (Beech)
Aesculus (Horsechestnut, Buckeye)
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