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PLANT

• Prepare beds for planting pansies when they become available at the Co-op. They need a well-drained soil and exposure to at least a half-day of sun. It is best to use started plants, as seeds are difficult to handle.

• Bok choy, Chinese cabbage, kale, Swiss chard, garlic, green onions, mustard greens, spinach, rape and turnips can be planted now.

• Fall is a great time to plant a “salad garden.” Unlike the vegetables of the summer garden, home grown radishes, lettuce, onions and herbs can flourish with cooler weather, less sunlight and less garden space.

• Fescue lawns can be reseeded now; summer grasses can be over seeded with rye.

• Begin to plant spring-blooming bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers. Don’t forget the starter fertilizer. Plant bulbs in well prepared beds so the base of the bulb is
at a depth that is three times the diameter of the bulb. In sandy soil, set slightly deeper and in clay soils less deeply. Mulch area after planting.

• There is still time to divide and reset such perennials as phlox, violets, hollyhocks, irises, day lilies, and Shasta daisies.

• For some indoor color, force bulbs for early blooms. A few of these are paper whites, amaryllis, hyacinths, tulips, crocus, glory-of-the-snow, grape hyacinth – check bulb pack to see if it can be forced.

• Pot and bring indoors some geraniums before first frost.

• Transplant into small pots any cuttings taken earlier.

• Some indoor herbs to consider planting this year would include oregano, thyme, parsley, sage, rosemary, sweet bay, chives, onions, garlic, pepper mint, spearmint and lemon balm.

• If your water garden is shallow, lift hardy water lilies out of the pond, cut away the leaves and move to cool location (40-50°F).

FERTILIZE

• Use a slow-release fertilizer at planting time with hardy annuals.

• Foliar feed all plantings and feed cool-season vegetables as needed.

• Use lime in your vegetable/flower garden and on your lawn based upon the results of a soil test.

• Apply a winterizer formula fertilizer (low nitrogen type) to St. Augustine (thru Nov).

• Fertilize forced bulbs with water-soluble houseplant fertilizer.

• Holly plants with a heavy set of fruit often suffer a fertilizer deficiency. An application of complete fertilizer late this month can be helpful and provide a head start next spring.

• If not done in September, fertilize lawns with a slow-release, organic fertilizer with a 4-1-2 or 3-1-2 ratio. Final application of high nitrogen fertilizer should be applied in November. This late treatment will help the grass to green up faster in spring.

PRUNE/REMOVE

• Now that the woody plants have completed their growth cycle, you can prune if you wish. Skip the spring bloomers - they get pruned after flowering next year.

• Pick-prune shrubs as needed, but save major pruning for winter.

• Remove dead and damaged wood from trees.

• Prune away dead twigs for general clean up of roses.

• Cut back lily stalks to soil level after they have turned yellow.

• Enjoy fall annuals like mums, asters, and pansies. Cut back mums after they bloom. Deadhead pansies for prolific blooms all season long.

• Pull up frost-tender plants (like marigolds, impatiens and zinnias) toward end of month before first expected freeze to allow room to cool-season annuals.

• Thin turnip and radish plantings to give more room for roots to develop.

• For bigger and better Brussels sprouts, pinch out the top of the plant when sprouts at the bottom are fully-grown.

WATER

• Water cool-season vegetables, newly set out annuals/wildflowers and emerging seedlings during dry spells.

• Keep forced bulbs’ potting medium moist (but not sopping wet).

PEST/DISEASE CONTROL (always read and follow directions)

• Remove cabbage loopers in your garden by using Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or Dipel.

• Watch for grass fungus (Brown Patch, etc.) use Immunox, Immunox Plus or Lawn Fungicide Granules.

• Handpull or hoe any weedy grass clumps and wild garlic (make sure ground is moist so you will get the bulb).

• Pre-treat for spring weeds including spurweed sticker. Spread pre-emergent herbicide, FL Winterizer & Weed Preventer (common Bermuda and St. Augustine lawns only) or Balan (also prevents cool season weeds).

• Continue insect and disease control on roses.

• Inspect all plants before bringing indoors. Keep quarantined and treat for any pest infestation before exposing to other indoor plants.

• Watch for storage diseases on bulbs.

ODD JOBS

• Check your journal to see if there are any new plants or areas you want to develop. Continue to make notes in your journal of developments and ideas for spring.

• Soil test lawns and garden areas (separately) if you haven’t done so already.

• Continue to mow lawns at 2-1/2 inch to 3 inches. Grass clippings may be added directly to compost heap. Avoid adding soaking wet clippings to compost.

• October is a good time to reduce the insect and disease potential in next year’s garden by removing all annuals that have completed their life cycle. Remove the tops of all herbaceous perennials that have finished flowering or as soon as frost has killed the leaves. Clean up orchard area: remove broken limbs, old fruit and debris.

• Harvest sweet potatoes, gourds, pumpkins and winter squash before frost.

• After a killing frost, remove annual plant material from garden and add to your compost heap. Keep compost pile active by adding layers of green material (grass clippings and frost-killed annuals or perennials), brown dried material (fallen leaves, shredded twigs, dried grasses), with small amounts of soil, fertilizer and moisture. Turn regularly. Keep diseased material out of pile. Use completed compost to prepare new planting beds. Use partially completed compost as a
top- dressing mulch for ornamentals and vegetables.

• Excess fallen leaves can be shredded and kept aside to use later next month as mulch for perennial and garden beds once the ground has frozen hard.

• Rake up fallen pine needles and use for mulch.

• Renew mulch around shrubs and rose beds and mulch all shrubs that have not been mulched. Loosen mulches that have packed down.

• If you have saved seeds of your favorite plants, allow them to become air dry, then place them in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Be sure to label each packet carefully. Remember, seed from hybrid plants will seldom resemble the parent plant.

• A few weeks after a killing frost, lift and store tender bulbs. This might be as late as November. Cut back above-ground foliage and stems of cannas and dahlias to 4 to 5 inches. Gently lift up tubers using a pitchfork. Shake off excess soil and dry tubers in a warm dry place. Do not separate the mass of tuberous roots at this time. When dry, place labeled tubers in cardboard boxes lined with newspaper and filled with barely moist wood shavings, peat moss or vermiculite. Store between 40 and 50 degrees in dark ened room. Check periodically to be sure tubers haven’t rotted (throw away) or begun to dry out (sprinkle gently with water). Gladioli corms are dug, dried and stored between 35 and 40 degrees in paper bags or open-weave mesh bags.

• Cut back any remaining herbs and bring indoors to use fresh or dry.

• Cover tender plants from light freezes at night by covering them with sheets, plastic or upturned bushel baskets.

• To re-flower a poinsettia, give it uninterrupted darkness 14 hours each day until December, then move to a well-lighted location.

• Keep Christmas cactus in a sunny spot where night temperatures can be kept below 65 degrees F. Buds will drop if you allow night temperatures to go above 70 degrees F. or if you allow the plant to become excessively dry. They should also be kept in total darkness from 5:00 pm until 8:00 am for about 30 days in October to initiate flower buds.

• Collect some of the season’s last blooms for drying. Globe amaranths, Mexican bush sage, zinnias, mealycup sage, cockscombs, and golden fernleaf yarrow will all dry well. Cut flowers in midmorning after the dew has dried. Remove foliage from stems. Then tie flowers in bundles, and hang upside down in a cool place with good air circulation to dry.

• Houseplants should be gradually acclimated to indoor conditions and brought inside before first anticipated frost of October 15. Monitor all plants carefully for insects or disease before bringing them in. Discard seriously diseased plants. Sequester new plants from those that grow indoors year-round to prevent disease or insect contamination.

• Any soil-less mix from window boxes or containers can be discarded or kept aside for one more year. If used for a second year, mix equal parts old mix with fresh soil-less mix.

• Clean and sterilize containers before storing over winter.

• Pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn are available in multiple colors at grocery stores and roadside stands. Mix them with dried flowers such as celosia, sunflowers, and gomphrenas to make simple arrangements for your table.

• Winterize aquatic gardens. Hardy water plants may remain in ponds as long as they don’t freeze.

• Protect small ponds from freezing and cracking the walls of your pool by covering it with thin plywood sheets and layers of mulch or shredded leaves. If you have fish, install a pond heater to keep the water surface from freezing. You can also float a tennis ball, soccer ball or other air-filled rubber object before hard freezing weather. Banging on the ice can hurt your fish.

• Remove tropical water plants, cut off all foliage and flowers and store tubers in an indoor aquarium where the water remains 55 degrees or in moist sand in a bucket at 55 degrees.

• Continue to feed the birds with seed and suet - they’ll help rid your trees of pest larvae, eggs and insects. Plus the bring color, sound and movement to a sometimes dreary winter.

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