GARDENING TIPS

                        FOR SEPTEMBER
 

 
■Time to give your poinsettias the dark treatment if you had saved them from last Christmas; and you want them to bloom again for you.

■Do not fertilize your trees and  shrubs now. Applying fertilizers now will encourage new growth which will not harden sufficiently before the arrival of winter frost.

■If you intend to save seeds for next year, let the fruit ripen on the plant, then collect the seeds.

■The tomato season is almost over. Harvest some green tomatoes before the killing frost and cook them up in a delicious recipe.

■Your fall vegetable garden can be started now. The cool temperatures in the fall are great for all types of lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, mustard, and spinach - to name a few

■Sow your cover crops such as winter rye or hairy vetch between your crop rows. You want them to make some growth before the frost arrives.

■This is the time to plant your spring bulbs.

■Major clean up time. Be diligent with all the fallen, yellowed leaves with black spots, esp. if you had a problem with black spot of roses the past season. Prune out all the black spot lesions on the stems and branches and discard with all the diseased leaves. These lesions and diseased leaves allow the disease fungus to over winter as resistant spores. Next spring, these spores will germinate and start the disease cycle all over again.

■Make cuttings of the plants you want to save and grow next year. You can make sweet potato  cuttings and root in water. Other cuttings you can make are Impatiens and
geraniums.

■Chives and  other herbs can be dug up and transplanted into small pots for a sunny spot on the window sill for a ready supply of herbs in the winter time.

■If your tender tropical house plants have been enjoying the summer outdoors, this is the time to check for bugs and bring them indoors.
 

■Begonias, dahlias and gladiolus can be dug out, wrapped in moist peat moss and stored in a cool place for next season.

■Iris and peony plants can be divided now.

■If you are adding new shrubs or trees to your property, this is a good time to plant.