Fall Chores 2024

   

August

• This is a good time to order and plant spring flowering bulbs (Alium) for next year's early flower display. Plan for different flowering times to extend the season.
• Continue deadheading flowers which will allow plants to use energy reserves for a final flower display.
• Some perennial flowers and bulbs will start to go dormant this month. Marking their location with a stick or drawing out a map of your bed is helpful come spring so you don’t forget where things are.
• Remove old plants which have stopped producing to eliminate a shelter for insects and disease organisms.
• Every weed that produces seed means more trouble next year. Control weeds before they go to seed.

September

• Pull tomato plants in mid-September and plant cover crop. Then plant garlic in the same bed in mid-October.

• Fall Planted Shrubs front slope: Spirea Blue Kazoo and Hydrangea.

• Keep harvesting second plantings of the cool season vegetables including broccoli, and the other cole crops. 

• Allow plants to finish the summer growth cycle in a normal manner. Never encourage growth with heavy applications of fertilizer or excessive pruning. Plants will delay their dormancy process that has already begun in anticipation of winter in the months ahead. New growth can be injured by an early freeze.

• Fall is a good time for improving your garden soil. Add manure, compost, wood ash  and leaves to increase the organic matter content. Wood ashes contain phosphorous, potassium and calcium. They can be placed on vegetable gardens and flower beds as a top dressing that will feed into the soil all winter.

• Be sure to keep strawberry beds weed free. Every weed you pull now will help make weeding much easier next spring.

• Take cuttings from herbs to propagate inside: basil, mint, lavender and rosemary plant after the flower has finished blooming in late summer. 

• Move potted plants, thyme, lavender, salvia, etc... inside to overwinter.

• Clear more of the  new wildflower bed, add compost and sow seeds. Overseed the existing beds as well. 

• Create new strawberry bed with cover. Transplant strawberries and fertilize.

October

• Plant spring flowering bulbs. Once your daytime temperatures are in the 60’s or lower consistently, this is a good time to plant your tulips. 

• Drain the hoses and empty the bird bath before a hard frost.

• Cut and dry or freeze remaining herbs.

• Harvest seeds from last cucamelon and dig tubers for winter storage. 

• Remove, chop, and compost asparagus tops after they have yellowed and died for the season. Wait until the ground has frozen to mulch.

• Cut strawberry foliage down to one inch. This can be done after the first couple of frosts, or when air temps reach 20°F (-6°C). Mulch strawberry and asparagus plants about 4 inches deep with straw.

• Mulch lavender plants about 3 inches deep with straw, chopped leaves or pine needles.

• Save seeds from favorite self-pollinating, non-hybrid flowers such as marigolds by allowing the flower heads to mature. Lay seeds on newspaper and turn them often to dry. Store the dry seeds in envelopes in a cool, dry, dark place.

• Comfrey cuttings make an excellent bio-activator in the compost bin. If you have a large amount of dried brown material—such as fall leaves—layering it with comfrey cuttings is an efficient way to balance out the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and jumpstart decomposition.

• Make a note of any particular productive or unsatisfactory varieties of vegetables that you planted this year. Such information can be very useful when planning next years' garden.

• Protect Hydrangea- May benefit from winter mulch in northern areas, mound shredded leaves or bark mulch around the base of the plant to about 12 inches or so. Put the mulch mound in place in late fall after the ground freezes, and uncover plants in spring when temperatures begin to stay above freezing. Easiest pruning is to simply remove any dead canes after the hydrangea sprouts in the spring. A slow-release fertilizer recommended for shrubs and trees may be applied once a year. Spread around the drip line of the branches, not the base. Lightly cover the fertilizer with soil to activate and water well.
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