and Surrounding Areas |
| September
Week 1 - Sow: Bush Snap Beans, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Cilantro, Cucumber and Parsley. Sow seeds of winter annuals and wildflowers in full sun. If your lawn is declining/dying in patches, check for grub worms, chinch bugs or a fungal disease. Plant perennials like Fall Asters, Mums, Salvias for late season color. Plant seed potatoes saved from spring harvest. Finish pruning shrubs to avoid encouraging new growth which is freeze tender. Week 2 - Apply acidifying iron supplements & paramagnetic minerals to Azaleas, Camellias, Dogwoods, Gardenias, etc. Apply pre-emergent herbicides to control cool-season weeds. Sycamores, Catalpas, Cottonwoods and Mulberries with scorched, anthracnose-blighted leaves will never improve. Please, cut them down to two inches below soil line. FALL IS FOR PLANTING. Plant hardy trees, shrubs, vines, groundcovers and perennials from now until mid-December for optimal results. Fertilize Caladium corms once more if you intend to dig and store them in late October. Replant in mid-April. Lawn mower blade height can be lowered 1/2" to 3/4". Sow: Kohlrabi and bush forms of Summer Squash. Do not be too hasty! Pansies, Johnny-Jump-Ups & Snapdragons are not set out until after Columbus Day. Build a compost pile to collect falling fall foliage. Week 3 - Buy bulbs for planting this fall. Some, like Tulips, should be refrigerated until mid-December. Transplant: Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage and Cauliflower. Dig and divide spring- and summer-blooming perennials. Failure to apply pre-emergent herbicides permits weeds to germinate. Control Brown Patch in 'Raleigh' St. Augustine lawns. Spray fungicides or re-sod with 'Floratam' St. Augustine or 'El Toro' Zoysia. Week 4 - Make sure your younger specimens of hybrid Crepe Myrtles are starting to go dormant. If not, cease watering and remove their mulch until they are leafless. Control Pillbugs in newly-germinated Texas Bluebonnets. Still time to sow wildflowers in your landscape, as well as waste places near where you live or work. Check the structural integrity of planters or half whiskey barrels before planting winter annuals. |
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| August
Week 1- It is normal for Live Oaks, Loquats and Magnolias to be dropping some leaves when it is hot & dry. Feed clumping bamboos with slow-release, 15-5-10 lawn food and water regularly during their summer growing period. Make sure your sprinkler system does not water the street, sidewalks or driveways. Fertilize summer-blooming perennials lightly with 15-5-10. They will need water afterwards. Finish transplanting Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant for fall production. Even cacti and succulents in the landscape need to be watered if it is dry. Try to work in the garden between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM. Drink at least one glass of water (not carbonated or caffeine- or alcohol-containing products) each hour while working. Week 2 - Cut back Poinsettias and pinch back the subsequent growth once. Pinch shoot tips on Mums and Asters. It isn't just drought-stress, chinch bugs could be damaging your turf. Don't let your fall vegetable transplants wilt; keep them watered and growing vigorously. Use your oak leaf compost as a mulch around shrubs or vegetables. Build raised beds, in full sun, of acidic materials (decayed granite, glauconite (green sand), red sand and pine bark soil conditioners) for Strawberries. Keep Chayote and Luffa vines well-fed and healthy. They'll start blooming in a few weeks. Week 3 - Begin minimal pruning of Hybrid Tea Roses. Feed with a slow-release fertilizer. Finish sowing: Bush Lima Beans, Sweet Corn, Cucumber and Winter Squash. Order wildflower seeds and sow as soon as they arrive. Even if you see Pansies offered for sale, please resist. They should not be planted until mid-October. Transplant: Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower and Potato. Languishing spring-blooming perennials may be cut back and divided. Replant immediately and water them deeply. Remove fire-blight-affected branches from Cotoneaster, India Hawthorn, Pear, Photinia and Pyracantha. Sterilize pruners between each cut in a chlorine bleach & water solution. Week 4 - The optimal FALL PLANTING SEASON starts in three weeks! Sow: Cucumbers and Summer Squash. Finish summer pruning of Oak-Wilt-susceptible Live Oaks and Red Oaks. Remove some of the barren branches from female hollies so berries will be more prominent when they turn red. Nurserymen are now returning from their huge, annual trade show. Look for new products and plants in the next few weeks. Start sowing flowering winter annuals, such as: Allysum, Calendula, Larkspur, Poppy and Stocks. |
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