Lawns
- Water weekly to help lawns recover from being dormant during the heat of the summer.
- As mentioned above September is the time to apply Nematodes for grub prevention. It is important to water your lawn well before and after application to increase success. If you need additional help listen to these episodes of Down the Garden Path podcast on how to apply Nematodes and best practices..
- Weeding your lawn and applying corn gluten now is a good way to reduce weeds next year.
- Corn Gluten’s success at preventing germination of your weed seeds, like crabgrass is cumulative so it an important process to do twice a year for a weed-free lawn, Fall and Spring.
Garden:
- September is a perfect time to divide your peonies, dig them out in a clump and divide clump cleanly with a sharp knife to avoid damaging roots. Once the root ball is replanted you can trim back foliage.
- Make sure when replanting them that you plant them at the same depth, the root crowns should be showing slightly above the ground.
- Start to check the garden for diseased and dead plant debris; clean those plants to prevent overwintering pests and diseases.
- Remember if your plants are healthy there is no need to remove or cut back anything.
- If you manage to find any perennials or shrubs on sale this year remember you are buying root balls so take it out of the pot and make sure they are healthy.
- Add compost/manure/organic matter to your garden if needed. I recommend every 2nd or 3rd
- Prepare house plants for coming inside; this starts as temperatures go below 16 degrees at night consistently. Prepare to clean of pests and diseases; Once inside in bright window prune back leggy growth; Be prepared for some shock to set in but be patient. Water lightly but consistently.
If your current September garden is lacking colour or flowers here are a few September stars that you can plant for a nice show this month every year.
- Bugbanes: tall white spikes
- Sedums
- Goldenrods
- Japanese Anemones
- Waxbells: Kirengeshoma palmate
- Toad lilies – Tricyrtis
- Asters
- Caryopteris
- Butterfly bush
- Dwarf Hydrangeas
