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Things to Do This Month
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Ornamental Annuals and Perennials
- Plant spring bulbs as they become available, except tulips, which should be planted in October.
- Divide peonies and other spring-blooming perennials now.
- Prepare new beds now for spring planting. See articles in this issue on soil and soil amendments.
- Take cuttings of annuals for overwintering.
Lawns
- Use a core aerator to loosen compacted lawns. Topdress with compost or Milorganite.
- Apply seed or sod to fill bare patches or renovate thin lawns.
- Apply the first of three fall fertilizer applications to cool-season grasses, using a starter fertilizer if seeding or sodding, or a winterizer formula otherwise.
- Fall is the best time to control perennial broadleaf weeds. Apply herbicide if needed.
Trees and Shrubs
- Watch for spider mite damage on shrubs and apply forceful water spray to control.
- Wait to fertilize trees until leaves begin changing color, probably next month.
- Don’t worry about pine needles browning and dropping. It’s normal.
Fruits and Vegetables
- Dig parsley, rosemary, chives, thyme and marjoram, and place in pots to grow indoors over winter.
- Harvest herbs to freeze or dry for winter.
- Pinch off any tomatoes that are too small to ripen before frost.
- Check peach tree trunks for oozing gummy sap and probe hole with a wire to kill borers.
Miscellaneous
- Begin preparing houseplants for their return indoors. Check for insects and treat if necessary with a systemic insecticide.
- Keeping orchids outdoors as temperature cool in evenings will promote flower bud formation.
- Now is the time to start preparing poinsettias and Christmas cacti for holiday blooming. Keep them in a cool, dark place for 14 hours each night through September and October until color appears on poinsettias and buds form on cacti.
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