The Garden – September Smackdown

When September arrives – another summer is almost gone. There is a feeling of autumn in the air – a sudden coolness at times peculiar to the season that we had almost forgotten – a quiet shifting of colors among the leaves and grasses – summer flowers are disappearing and autumn buds are taking their places.

In the lengthening days of spring and early summer, we encourage the garden to grow – the flowering plants, the shrubs, the trees – using every wile and trick we know – feeding, pruning, pinching, watering. Now the hours of daylight are getting noticeably shorter. It’s time to slow things down because we want the garden to be ready for winter when it comes.

At this season it is the natural tendency of many growing things to decrease growth gradually, terminating in dormancy. This is exactly what they should do. We let plants bloom all they wish, but we do not do anything to encourage new, soft, green growth which would be easily injured by the frosts which are sure to come. Where the fall is long, there is much less danger of injury than where the period is short between the active growing season and the first killing frost. Several light frosts prior to a heavy killing frost are very desirable. It toughens plants and puts them in a state of dormancy which protects them from most frost damage.

Protect New Plants

Although we do not water, use foliar feeding or fast-acting fertilizers on established plants which might thus be stimulated into new growth, we must water carefully any newly divided perennials, or young plants transplanted from seed frames to the garden at this time. Tuck partially decayed leaves, half-rotted straw or similar material around newly set plants. This will conserve moisture and will also keep the soil warm, thus giving the roots a longer time in which to get firmly anchored. In the freezing and thawing weather of late winter and early spring, the mulch around the plants helps prevent heaving which may break the tender rootlets or even push the entire plant out of the soil.

Plants which are already dormant and which will not be making new growth until spring such as lilies-ofthe-valley, the Virginia bluebells, bleeding heart, and asparagus in the vegetable garden, can be fertilized now by applying a top dressing of well rotted manure or a slow acting fertilizer such as bonemeal.

If weeds got the upper hand during vacation month, September is a good time for fall garden cleaning. The weeds should be converted into soil. My way is probably the lazy way, but it saves time and is much less laborious than some methods. Unless there are far too many, I simply let the weeds lie between the rows or between the plants to decay. A bit of soil over them hastens the process. You may prefer to carry them to the compost pile on the theory there’ll not be the seeds in the garden to sprout. Perhaps not – but nature has several ways of sowing seeds – the birds, animals, and the wind carry them into the garden. All weed cleaning that can be done at this time helps lessen work in busy spring. Annual weeds can be pulled or hoed. It isn’t necessary to get all the roots, but one must dig deeply to get every piece of some of the perennial ones such as dock and dandelions.

Add to Compost

The perfect gardener removes all withered flowers as soon as they fade but any that are left at this season, and all heads of seeds, should be cut and added to the compost pile platycodon, penstemon, hemerocallis, and others. Perhaps some of the annuals and biennials are dry and dead, or have finished blooming canter-bury bells, standing cypress, zinnias – anything of this nature that is not diseased should never be burned but placed somewhere to decay for later enrichment of garden soil.

Take note of any low places in the garden where water stands and does not drain off. These should be filled before winter comes because plants rot, especially bulbous plants, if they have wet feet for any length of time.

by O Tiemann

Related Articles Of Interest:

• Roundup Controlling Weeds on Walkways
• A Lesson on Cultivating and Weeding
• How to Beat the Drought in Your Landscape
• Mulching Makes Gardening Easy