September Garden Calendar

by Bronwynne Bailey

Planning

Planting

Plant cool season vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, spinach, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, beets, radishes, and English peas.
Sow hardy annuals: sweet alyssums, calendulas, annual pinks, snapdragons, sweet peas.
Sow rye grass seed in winter lawns (only when necessary).

Fertilizing

Miscellaneous

Apply pre-emerge herbicide to the lawn for winter weed prevention.
Turn your compost pile.
Propagate by layering: Scrape the underside of a strong branch, bend it down to the ground, cover with soil, and weigh down with a brick. Check for roots after 3 months.
Pick flowers in bloom and dry them for future arrangements. Bundle flowers together and hang them upside-down in a dry, sheltered area.
Repot houseplants. Prune away damaged foliage and apply fertilizer.

Blooming

Cannas, cosmos, copper plants, marigolds, periwinkles, salvias, ageratums, coleus, asters, celosias, chrysanthemums, coral vines, ginger lilies, morning glories, petunias, phlox, rattle boxes, spider lilies, torenias, vincas.
Once a flowering fall mum is water stressed, it turns off flowering. This doesn’t necessarily kill the plant, but the flowering will not recover. So, keep those fall mum plants and containers consistently watered. Don’t water the foliage, but directly water the base of the plant and continue until water starts to flow from the bottom of the container.

Fruiting