Ah, September. Temperatures are dropping a little, and it won't be long until the neighbor's giant oak trees drop their leaves into your yard. Leaf raking is the only bad thing about fall.
Until then, there are plenty of chores for September. We're still pulling and digging and chopping to claim a prized section of real estate that had been home to English ivy and saplings (oaks, mostly) for decades. I decided the monkey grass had to go, too. Sunday's afternoon downpour was welcome at our place.
Credits go to Augusta Gardening Calendar, by Sid Mullis of Richmond County's Cooperative Extension office, where you can get your own copy for free; Month-by-Month Gardening in Georgia and Georgia Gardener's Guide , both by Walter Reeves and Erica Glasener; and The Perennial Care Manual, by Nancy J. Ondra.
SEPTEMBER CHORES
- Apply pre-emergent herbicide in the lawn later this month and treat for fire ants. You can fertilize one last time before Sept. 15.
- It's your last chance to fertilize roses before spring.
- Divide and transplant day lilies and irises.
- Start pansies from seed.
- Plant fall vegetables. Later this month, you can start others from seed.
- Collect seeds from perennials.
- Take cuttings from coleus, pentas, begonia and geranium (more plants for next spring). Plan to bring your plants inside before the cold sets in.
- When it cools down a bit, you can start transplanting spring and early summer blooming perennials. To make it easier on the plants, cut the foliage back by a third or half.
- You can start planting or transplanting shrubs and container-grown trees now.
- There's still time to propagate moss phlox. Cutting back the foliage will reduce its stress.
- If you get all that done, rest up. Leaf-raking season approaches.
DELPHINIUMS
Did you fall in love with delphiniums only to watch them fry in summer? Our "delphiniums" are larkspur, which are just as pretty but tougher in the heat. I found seed last year and decided that I would plant the seeds in spring. I didn't have a single larkspur. Fall is when you sow larkspur seed.
My next package is going in the new flower bed, where the monkey grass is currently trying to defeat me.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
JOIN THE GROWING conversation with the Garden Gnome at blogs.augusta.com.
IN THE GARDEN
In The Garden is a roundup of gardening events, club meetings and seminars. Send listings to sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com or post on the Garden Gnome at blogs.augusta.com.
icon.
