“By all these lovely tokens, September days are here. With summer’s best of weather and autumn’s best of cheer.” — Helen Hunt Jackson
In 1875, Helen Hunt married William Jackson of Colorado Springs and made Colorado her home. Surely, they had our shared experiences of September days being noticeably shorter, with cooler nights and pleasant daytime weather. I wonder what plants were growing in their garden?
Here are some gardening tasks to tackle this month:
Through September
• Depending on varieties, harvest pears, apples and everbearing strawberries as they ripen. Cover new fruit on Heritage raspberries with bird netting.
• Continue to harvest tomatoes, peppers, onions and winter squash. Mature green tomatoes can be ripened indoors.
Early September
• Plant radishes, spinach and lettuce.
• Divide peonies. September and early fall is the optimal time to divide this long-lived perennial. While this plant does not require regular division to maintain successful blooming, you can divide the mother plant to increase the planting area. After digging up the main plant, divide it so each fleshy root division has three to five “eyes.” These are the shoots for next season. Plant carefully — an inch or 2 below the surface. Peonies won’t flower if they are planted too deep.
• Daylilies and tall garden phlox can be divided at this time.
• Dig up tender bulbs such as gladiolus, cannas, caladiums and tuberous begonias. Allow them to air dry and store in dry vermiculite.
• For ever-lasting dried arrangements, cut strawflower, statice, baby’s breath, Annabelle hydrangea and celosia. Bind them securely and hang upside down in a dry, well-ventilated area.
Late September
• Plant spring flowering bulbs. Select large healthy-looking bulbs as the larger the bulb the larger the flower. Plant bulbs at a depth 3 times the height of the bulb. Cover bulbs with 3 inches of mulch or plant shallow-rooted low-growing ground covers like sedum Angelina that act like a living mulch and can help disguise the drying leaves of bulbs next spring.
• Reduce watering for established trees and shrubs so they can harden off in preparation for winter. But continue to water newly planted trees and shrubs.
• Improve your garden soil by adding manure, compost and leaves to increase organic matter.
• Mark perennials with permanent tags, or create a map showing their locations.
Lawn
Do you need to rejuvenate? Aeration, over-seeding or new sod. This is the best time of the year to address any issues in your lawn. Tall fescue grass can also be planted at this time. If you didn’t fertilize in late August, apply fertilizer by mid-September at the rate of 1 pound nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.
With cooler weather you can attack broadleaf weeds like dandelions, and bindweed while they are actively growing. Apply an herbicide such as 2, 4-D following directions on the package.
Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. They will fade away soon!
Submit gardening questions to [email protected] or call 719-520-7684. The help desk is open 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at 17 N. Spruce St. Find us on Facebook at Colorado Master Gardeners – El Paso County.
Submit gardening questions to [email protected] or call 719-520-7684. The help desk is open 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at 17 N. Spruce St. Find us on Facebook at Colorado Master Gardeners – El Paso County.
