Plan now for care of next garden

Here are a few general gardening tips for the late-summer/fall garden.

If the leaves of your camellias turn yellow (and sometimes fall off), check the undersides of the leaves for tiny white insects called tea scale. The best insecticides to use for this are systemic products such as imidacloprid, disulfoton, and acephate. Horticultural oils work well but should not be used when the temperature is still hot.

Many balled and burlap trees and shrubs are now sold wrapped in synthetic burlap that will not rot in the ground, resulting in a root-bound plant that doesn't grow well if the burlap is left in place. Some of the material strongly resembles cotton burlap. If in doubt about the burlap's makeup, cut it away from the root ball once the plant is in place.

Fall is a great time to divide perennials for next year's garden. By planting in the fall, your plants do not endure the stressful summer heat during establishment and have time to form sufficient root systems before the onset of winter dormancy.

When planning next year's fall garden, consider the versatile and carefree day lily as a source of fall color to complement chrysanthemums and fall asters. There are several varieties of day lily that will bloom in September.

Clean up fallen rose leaves. They can harbor disease and insect pests over the winter if allowed to remain on the ground.

If you wish to kill grass and weeds growing through cracks in patios, walks, or driveways, be cautious. Many weed kills will leach into surrounding areas and damage ornamentals or lawns. Take note in the direction that runoff occurs during rains. Pulling the weeds is the safest action. One the safest contact herbicides to use are those containing glyphosate (Roundup).

To keep your gardens attractive, continue to cut off spent flowers.

Use grapefruit rinds as slug traps; place them cut-side down in the garden. Slugs will hide and sometimes die under the rinds. Simply turn them over, remove the slugs (with a disposable glove of course) and put the rinds back. The rinds take a long time to decompose so they can be reused.

If you still have abundant vegetables and cut flowers from the garden, share them with those who aren't able to garden.

Don't use ashes from your charcoal grill in the garden or compost pile. Briquets have added ingredients to aid in the burning process, which might be harmful to your plants.

Fall is generally the driest time of the year, so if we get into dry periods, water shrubs deeply once a week. Many plants including camellias and hydrangeas are starting buds for next season's bloom at this time.

Powdery mildew diseases attack many ornamentals most often in the late summer when days are warm and nights are cool. Some mildews, particularly those on roses, also are increased by high humidity. Prevention by proper cultural practices is the first defense.

It is too late to do heavy pruning on azaleas since most of their flower buds already are set for next year, but it would be OK to make a few selective cuts, such as those tall "spikes" that stick out from the rest of the shrub.

You can spruce up geraniums that might have lost lots of leaves because of botrytis (grey mold), which makes them look a bit pathetic at this time of the year, especially with all the rain. This is especially true if tall "scraggly" stems are all that remain. Prune tall stems back to a point just above the short side shoot. This will force the side shoots into growth.

SID MULLIS IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA EXTENSION SERVICE OFFICE IN RICHMOND COUNTY. CALL 821-2349, OR SEND E-MAIL TO SMULLIS@UGA.EDU.