September
Plant
· Historically an excellent month to begin planting trees and most shrubs. Fall landscaping done now will be well-rooted by next spring and summer. Nursery stock should be large and vigorous.
· Cool-season grasses (fescue for permanent lawns or temporary cover of ryegrass) should be sown by mid-month.
· Flowering annuals can be transplanted now: alyssum, asters, calendula, dianthus (pinks), flowering cabbage and kale, pansies, petunias, phlox, Shasta daisies, snapdragons and stock. If the temperatures remain unseasonably hot, wait until October to transplant most of these cool-season flowering plants.
· Vegetable seeds like: beets, Swiss chard, broccoli (transplants only), leaf lettuce, collards, garlic and spinach…the Super Food.
· Herb seeds like: parsley (soak seed overnight), dill, cilantro, calendula and fennel.
· Bluebonnets (soak or scarify seed first), larkspur, snapdragon, California poppies, poppies, cornflower, Queen Anne’s Lace and wildflower seeds.
· Dig and divide healthy mondograss and liriope if you are trying to expand their plantings through your landscape.
· Hardy flowering perennials and ornamental grasses.
· Divide perennial spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils, narcissus and jonquils, also summer snowflake and grape hyacinth early in the month. Crowded beds produce fewer and smaller blooms.
· Divide daylilies, iris, Shasta daisies, violets, coneflowers, oxalis, hardy amaryllis, cannas, wood fern and other spring and summer flowering perennials late in the month.
· Tomatoes will need to be planted into 10-gallon nursery pots so that they can be moved into protection from early frosts.
Prune
· Reshape shrubs gently if needed. Save major pruning for late winter. Avoid formal shearing.
· Root-prune plants you intend to transplant this winter. Use a sharpshooter spade to cut lateral roots at the point where you will dig the soil ball. Root-prune wisterias to slow vegetative growth and stimulate flower bud production.
· Remove seedheads, browned foliage from perennials that have finished blooming.
· Lightly prune pyracanthas so berries will show.
· Remove overgrown vegetable fruit like okra, squash and other vegetables to keep plants producing.
· Turf growth will slow rapidly from mid-September on. Continue mowing at recommended height.
Fertilize
· The final fall fertilizer application is very important this month or next month.
· Apply water-soluble fertilizer to flowering plants to stimulate one more round of buds and blooms.
· Use same liquid fertilizer for patio pots and hanging baskets. Feed with each watering if you want to produce heavier blooming.
· Houseplants once a month with diluted liquid houseplant fertilizer.
On the Lookout
· St. Augustine may still be damaged by chinch bugs and gray leaf spot early in month, then by take-all patch and brown patch later in month.
· Grasshoppers, snowy tree crickets and katydids are feeding on leaves and flowers of various plants. Handpick or use appropriate insecticide.
· Worms are feeding on many flowering, woody and groudcover plants. Use a Bt or Spinosad to control them.
· Appy pre-emergent herbicides early in month to prevent germination of annual bluegrass, resuegrass, ryegrass, dandelions, henbit, chickweed and clover. Water lightly following application. Once weeds have germinated, it will be too late to treat.
· Use Sedgehammer to eliminate nutsedge. Read and follow label directions precisely.
· Now is the time to treat poison ivy and other broadleafed vines to kill them before they begin to go dormant.
· Control black spot in roses with a labeled fungicide. Keep leaves dry to lessen its spread.
· Fall webworms will break out on pecans, persimmons, walnuts and several other trees. Remove them using a pole pruner. Sprays are not efficient methods of control.
· Whiteflies on privet, gardenias and even fall tomatoes can be eliminated with an approved home garden insecticide. They fly out in great profusion when the plants are touched. Use a systemic insecticide to eliminate them on ornamental plants. Repeat 2 or 3 times on 10-day intervals to stop their life cycles.
· Watch for fire ants. They will build their mounds up again as the soils become saturated following fall rains. Area-wide products work well (try orange oil) Individual mound treatments can be used for the most bothersome outbreaks.
· Don’t put the garden hose back in the garage too early. You may encounter fall dry spells and your plants will need your help.
Odd Jobs
o Replenish mulch in beds.
o Change irrigation frequency with the shorter, cooler days of fall.
o Start a compost pile with fall leaves and yard debris; shred with lawnmower.
o To get poinsettias into holiday bloom: Beginning on the fall equinox, make sure potted plants get 14 hours of darkness every 24 hour period. Use a water-soluble fertilizer mixed about ¼ strength with every watering. Plants should show color around Thanksgiving. At that point, restore them to bright, indirect sunlight and cut back on water and fertilizer.
o Prepare soil now for winter fruit tree planting.
o Select plants you wish to save through the winter. Make cuttings and prune before moving plants to a protected area.
o Clean up debris from annual and perennial beds so insects won’t winter there.
o Prepare beds