Landscape & Container Garden Care: September

  • Deadhead annuals and perennials
    • Benefits of deadheading include; a tidier look, encouraging the plant to set more flower buds, allowing the plant to conserve energy, and preventing seed formation in some plants.
  • Plant trees, evergreens, and shrubs
    • There is still a good amount of time before frost and newly planted trees will have plenty of time to root in well. Just make sure you water well all the way up to frost!

 

Freshly cut grass in the backyard of a private house.

  • Seed and fertilize lawns
    • Cooler weather is perfect for lawn care like fertilizing, overseeding to fix bare patches, aerating, and dethatching.
  • Harvest fruits and vegetables
    • This is what you’ve been waiting for! Enjoying the bounty of your harvest! Canning, freezing, and preserving fruits and vegetables make the fruits of your summer labor available all winter long! Check out the U of M Extension’s Preserving and Preparing page for great information on how to safely process and keep your garden harvest!

In the kitchen-garden

  • Transition containers to cool-weather tolerant flowers and plants
    • Swapping out warm-weather-loving plants for their cooler-weather counterparts is a great way to ensure your planters thrive and remain visually attractive! (Try one of our Autumn Container Planting Workshops!)

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  • Divide spring-blooming perennials
    • Siberian Irises, Oriental Poppies, and peonies are among the best to divide in the autumn instead of the spring.
  • Look for Fall Bulbs around mid-September
    • Bulbs like allium, tulips, narcissus, daffodils, paperwhites, and garlic will be available to buy around the middle of September. This is a wonderful time to plant them so they can get settled in for the winter and get ready to bloom in the Spring! If you love the look of early spring flowers, FALL is the time to plant them! IMG_2214