Fertilize newly sprouted cool season grasses after they have been mowed. Use a nitrogen fertilizer for the late Oct. early Nov. feeding.
Azaleas require adequate moisture in the fall to prepare for freezing weather. Water enough to keep the soil moist, not soggy.
Continue watering Mums and other late season bloomers.
Water trees and shrubs, even though the weather has cooled. Never let your trees and shrubs go into a freeze in a dry condition.
Reduce, but do not eliminate, the amount of water applied to roses to encourage dormancy.
Don’t trash those leaves as they fall. Oak leaves, and others, make a very good mulch and compost. Run over the leaves with your lawn mower, or vacuum and shred. Tough leaves such as Magnolia and decorative pears, however, decompose too slowly to be of value.
Take cuttings of bedding plants to bring in to overwinter.
Mow Fescue to 2 1/2 inches for the fall and winter. Mow and edge warm season grasses before a killing frost.
Resist pruning trees. Wait until trees are dormant, especially the “bleeders," such as maple and birch.
During the early part of October, plant cool season bedding plants such as pansies, ornamental cabbage and kale. Snapdragons and dusty miller can be planted during the early part of this month.
Begin planting spring-flowering bulbs such as tulips, hyacinths, crocus and daffodils late this month.
Evergreen groundcovers like ajuga, vinca, English ivy, alyssum, potentilla, moneyewort, thrift, phlox, oxalis and leadwort make good companion plantings for spring bulbs.
Plant or divide peonies, daylilies and other spring flowering perennials now. When planting peonies, keep the top of the plant no more than two inches under the soil. Peonies will not bloom if planted too deeply.
If you would like to add to your collection, the selection of perennials is good, and now is the time to plant.
There is still time to plant radishes and mustard in the fall garden. Use a cold frame to plant spinach, lettuce and various other cool season crops for production much of the winter.
To be sure that you get the fall color you want, select and plant trees while you can still see their good fall color.
Before houseplants are brought inside, use a recommended spray to avoid bringing in pests. Colonies of white flies and mealy bugs can devastate houseplants, and are very difficult to control. Large containers of tender plants can harbor roaches and other pests. It is good to observe good pest control procedures when bringing in any new plant. Call the MG office the proper control of indoor pests.
If you did not control bagworms back at the first of June, it might be wise to hand pick those bags from your shrub now. One bagworm can harbor enough eggs to produce many small ones next spring.
Yellowing of pine needles from the inside out is normal needle fall.
Apply post-emerge weed control to catch dandelions and other weeds missed by an earlier pre-emerge application. Call the MG office for proper control of broadleaf weeds in your turf.
Keep leaves raked from Fescue and other cool season grass to reduce smothering and loss of grass.
The average first-date-of-frost in our area is the first week in November. Heavy frosts can occur later this month, however. Protect those tender plants until they can be brought indoors.
| URI:/calendars/caltips_oct.shtml | Date Modified:Tuesday, 27-Oct-2009 12:07:34 EDT | Friday, 03-Sep-2010 14:30:57 GMT |