The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center says we have “increased probabilities of
above-normal temperatures” for August, September, and October. Seems like they got August right, and although the next couple of days look to be significantly cooler (I’m loving it!), next week looks like we’ll be back up into the mid-80’s again. That’s not too terribly unusual for us this month – September tends to be a bit of a tug-of-war where the weather is concerned. What to expect as we move into late fall and winter? That depends on who you believe. The Farmer’s Almanac is saying that our winter will be “numbing cold and snowy” starting in mid-November. The Old Farmer’s Almanac says temperatures will be colder than last year, but still above normal, and we will have more precipitation than normal. The National Weather forecast says we will have above normal temperatures into December, and then below normal temperatures through early spring next year.
Does any of this help you know what to expect? Probably not. I guess we’ll just have to go about our normal routines as we head into fall, expecting that we will get winter at some point. We usually do!
~Jennifer
In this issue:
Vegetables & Herbs
- Keep any eye on the rain that your gardens are getting – not what the weather people say we got. If you got less than an inch of rain in a week, water!
- Start to pinch off any new flowers on tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
- Pull any plants that have finished producing and compost them.
- Don’t compost tomato plants or any other plants showing signs of disease.
- Keep harvesting your pole beans, summer squash, and cucumbers to keep them producing while the warm weather is still hanging around.
- If you can’t use all the herbs your garden is producing right away, you can easily preserve them to use all winter long. Drying your herbs is also a good way to preserve them.
- The N-Sulate product we have at the store can keep your plants as much as 6 to 8 degrees warmer than the air temperature.
- Continue to spray your tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers with fungicide.
Flowers
- If your container plants are still going strong at the end of the month, move them under a porch or other cover at night if frost is predicted. If they are starting to fade, pull them out and replace them with fall plants.
- It’s already time for mums- they need some cooler temperatures and shorter days to trigger their flowers to bloom.
- If you have tender bulbs, such as dahlias and calla lilies, wait until the foliage is dried up and we have gotten a few frosts to dig them up for winter storage – but don’t wait until the ground is frozen.
- Tulip bulbs will be in as early as next week.
- Crocus, daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips get planted at about the same time that the tender summer bulbs are dug up – after a few frosts, but before the ground is frozen.
- Be sure to clean weeds out of your flower beds before they go to seed so as not to end up with even more weeds next spring!
Trees & Shrubs
- September is a great time to plant new perennials, trees and shrubs.
- Be sure to keep trees and shrubs watered until the ground is frozen. This will help them get through whatever winter has in store for us.
- If you put house plants outside for the summer, treat them with a pesticide meant for indoor plants before bringing them back inside.
Lawn
- If your lawn has mostly greened up again, but you are seeing some areas of brown, it is possible that you have a pest problem.
- As the weather cools off, it’s a great time to fill in bare spots in the lawn.
- De-thatch your lawn, if necessary. This is something that most people don’t do, and probably should, if they want a really good looking lawn.
- Now is a good time to fertilize your lawn to encourage good root growth before winter.
- Continue to mow, but don’t cut it too low. Your grass needs a little bit of height to help insulate it during the winter, but you don’t want to stop mowing and leave it too long either.
- Leaves left lying on the lawn can also promote snow mold disease, so don’t just leave them lying on your lawn – at least not whole.
Birds
- Clean out bird houses to get rid of pests and debris.
- If you haven’t been feeding the birds all summer, now is the time to start up again.
- Keep your birdbaths out, cleaned, and filled all the way up until we get heavy frosts (or beyond, if your birdbath is freeze tolerant).
- Also leave your hummingbird feeders out until well into October to help those guys make their long journey.
Store News & Specials
- All Fall Silk Floral On Sale! All Month! Flowers, Wreaths, Garland
10% off! - Join us Saturday, September 17, 2016 for an hour of fairy gardening. Cost is $25.
- $10 off $50 coupon.
Read the September 2016 issue of Let’s Get Gardening
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