It's Over?

September 2015

Pickaway to Garden

It’s Over?

By Paul Hang

Does it seem like summer is over? Walk around the yard and you might get the feeling that it’s all over, leaves are turning brown in the flower beds, vegetables are ripe or spent, the grass looks tired and thinner, ironweed, Joe Pye  weed, asters and goldenrod are in bloom. Unfortunately ragweed is also pouring out its pollen. The genus for ragweed is Ambrosia, the food of the gods. How did they come up with that? Hay fever sufferers must find that particularly cruel and ironic.

Returning from vacation and sorry it’s over? Look around, the weeds haven’t been on vacation. Does it look hopeless, like it’s over? Don’t despair. Pull those weeds before they go to seed and multiply next summer. Lately the cooler weather, quite unusual for August but welcome, brings hints of fall. Is summer over? Technically the last day of summer is September 22^nd. On that day, as I often repeat, the Autumnal equinox marks the passage of the sun over the equator heading south for the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere.

School started, for many, weeks ago. Is it over? Summer has many definitions, astronomical, meteorological, emotional. Emotionally, for me, some days it seems it’s over. But then, some days it seems there is still time left, that it’s not over. That’s the problem with emotion; it can change abruptly, like the weather.

When I feel it’s over I can feel regret and yet sometimes I feel relief. Regret of the things I won’t be getting done. Relief that some things I should have done I won’t be able to get done, that it is too late. As a gardener, these conflicts can be troubling and self-defeating. Can I get the garden cleaned up before bad weather arrives? Can I plant some fall vegetables and harvest them before freeze? Will I be able to protect my lettuce and flowers from frost? Should I try? If this back and forth and contradictory thinking seems confusing, well, it’s over.

Don’t give up on the garden or the yard. In many ways this is the best time to prepare them for next year and there is time to plant more vegetables and flowering plants. Check out the “Things to do in the garden,” and decide which apply to you and to your “to do” obligations. Gardening should be fun even if it is also hard work. It will be over soon enough.

Things to do in the garden:

As plants "give up the ghost" remove them from the garden. If they are annuals pull them up, if perennials cut them off unless you want their winter interest. Dispose of the debris in a "hot" compost heap, bury them or put them in the trash. In the butterfly garden you will surely want to leave the host plants as they are harboring the overwintering eggs and larvae of next year’s butterflies. Those plants that you don’t want to re-seed by all means remove the seed heads before their seeds are scattered. Or, leave them for the birds. Clean up old fruit from around fruit trees.

Collect, dry, and store seeds for next year. Use only heirloom varieties, hybrids will not grow true. Harvest and cure winter squash and gourds if they are ready. Leave a two inch stem. Gourds should be finished with growth before you cut them from the vine, store indoors at 60 degrees.

September is the best time to plant grass seed whether you are re-seeding, patching or establishing a new lawn. If you only fertilize your lawn once a year, or if you have never fertilized it, fall is also the best time to do it. Cooler, wetter (usually) fall weather promotes good root growth and your grass will start out next spring healthier and ready for more vigorous growth. Want to really get your lawn in shape? Fertilize in September and then again around Thanksgiving. Labor Day and Veterans’ Day are easy to remember. Read directions for amounts.

In those areas that are not to be fall planted, plant a cover crop or “green manure” that will be turned in in the spring. Buckwheat, annual rye, sweet clover, winter barley, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, and hairy vetch make good green manures.

Now is the time to plant spring flowering bulbs. A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs at a depth about three times the height of the bulb. Planting irises and peonies this fall takes advantage of the warm earth. They should be planted about 2 inches deep. If your peonies haven’t bloomed well because of shade from nearby competing trees, now is a good time to move them to a sunnier place in the yard.

Watch for yellowing of gladiolus leaves. Dig the corms and hang until the tops turn brown. Then store in a cool, not freezing, well ventilated basement or garage. Do the same with caladium, cannas, and dahlias when their tops turn brown. Fall is a good time to divide Lily of the Valley, primroses, peonies, day lilies, coral-bells and bleeding heart. Adding bulb food and humus will be rewarded in the spring.

You can plant onion seed now for early green onions and bulbs. Yes, onions are bulbs. You can still plant cool season vegetables. It’s not too late to start beets, carrots, kale and lettuce, maybe even bush beans! If you have row covers, or can make them, you can have these for Thanksgiving dinner. Of course this assumes we don’t have a hard freeze and if we do you are prepared to cover the plants if it happens. If the ground temperature stays above 50 roots continue to grow.

Now is a good time to test your soil. The called for amendments will have time to work their way into the soil and be available to the plants for the next growing season. Information on soil testing is available at the OSU Extension Office 474-7534.