September
- Ideal time to seed a new lawn. Don’t forget to test soil and then amend. Better: Winter sowing. Best: Change to no-mow, low water usage alternative lawn.
- Deadhead and weed. Cut annuals, stems of corn, peppers, and eggplant that finished producing and compost. Put seeding weeds and diseased plant parts in trash.
- Sow hardy annual seeds for flowers next year like Chinese forget-me-nots, ageratum, and plant biennials like hollyhocks and foxgloves.
- Plant garden mums for fall color.
- Plant garlic for next year’s harvest.
- Plant trees and shrubs, watering well to support root growth. Remove dead or diseased branches, but no more pruning since you want plants to go into dormancy.
October
- Last chance to dig up parsley, thyme, sage, chives to pot up in soilless mix for winter growing under lights or in a cool sunny window.
- View fallen leaves as garden gold, thus collect, chop or shred, and leave or compost.
- Before a freeze, harvest vegetables like green tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, and gourds, following directions for ripening. Root crops like carrots and parsnips can be mulched to stay a bit longer in the ground.
- Dig dahlias and cannas after frost and label for storage.
- Plant spring flowering bulbs that deer and rabbits don’t prefer like Eranthis hyemalis (winter aconite), Fritillaria meleagris (also may repel voles and moles due to alkaloids), Iris reticulata, Puschkinia, small perennial botanical tulips, and Chionodoxa luciliae (Glory of the Snow).
- Remove plant stakes, drain hoses, empty pots, and move in ornamental décor that may break in a freeze.
November
- Mulch herb and flower beds after hard frost when rodents will have found other overwintering sites.
- Consider spreading organic material including manure to decompose over the winter.
- Sit back and relax then review garden successes and failures, writing down observations for future reference.
--Susan Heady, Secrest Arboretum Master Gardener
