Annuals: The kids have returned to school, and football fans are descending on Columbia to support their teams. Even though our thoughts have turned to fall, summer is not yet over. Don’t neglect summer annuals—keep them weeded and deadheaded. It’s too early to plant cool season annuals; the heat will cause them to stretch and become “leggy.” High heat and humidity, typical this time of year as a result of tropical storms, can cause fungal problems, so be on the lookout for gray mold or powdery mildew. Butterfly caterpillars can be found munching on food plants such as parsley, dill, fennel, Queen Anne’s lace, and other annual wildflowers. Don’t spray! Butterflies and moths are important pollinators in the ecosystem.
Turf: You may find that you need to mow more often now, thanks to beneficial rains from the tropical storms and hurricanes. Do not fertilize. Check to be sure your mower blades are sharp—ragged grass blades from dull mower blades can give turf diseases an opportunity to start.
Perennials: See which perennials are ready to be divided. Perennials are divided for propagation, to control size, and to invigorate them. Older perennials that have been blooming sparsely can become more vigorous through division. A general guideline is that spring and summer blooming perennials can be divided in the fall. When dividing perennials, use clean and sharp shovels or garden forks to help to prevent the spread of fungal diseases. A sharp tool also makes it easier on the gardener! Once a plant is divided, place the division into a bucket of water to keep the roots hydrated until they can be planted to lessen transplant shock.
Looking ahead, order bulbs now for planting next month. Since perennials generally go dormant during the winter, under planting the perennials with bulbs such as daffodils will make for a longer color time in planting beds. Daffodils and other bulbs co-exist easily with perennials, emerging right through the perennials’ root systems. There are generally three spring bloom times for bulbs, so careful planning can let you have bulbs in bloom anywhere from January to March. Choose fragrant varieties to plant near places where people gather so they can enjoy the fragrance. If squirrels are a potential threat to your bulbs, consider using a product like PermaTill® to discourage them.
Roses: If you are considering ordering roses from a catalog, place your order early. The best selections will be the first to go.
Shrubs: Little or nothing should be done to shrubs now. Make your replacement list now, and get orders together for fall replacement. Toward the end of the month, deciduous shrubs will start to put on their fall colors. Once leaf drop begins, be sure to keep the leaves raked out to discourage any harmful insects from being able to winter over in the debris. Don’t neglect weeding, as summer annual weeds will be dropping seed heads at this point for next year’s crop.
Trees: Fall web worms have shown up by now. While unsightly, they rarely do any major damage to trees, other than to the leaves within the webbing. You can take a “let them be” attitude, break up the nest with a stick, or prune the branch that the nest is on and dispose of it. If you break up the nest with a stick, birds will quickly find the worms and consume them, so you need not apply a pesticide. Some trees will already start showing their fall colors, soon to be followed by leaf drop. A smart way to deal with the leaves is to run a lawn mower over the leaf debris. This will shred the leaves into smaller pieces that will compost faster and add nutrients to the soil. However, you may want to first rake or blow the leaves away from the area immediately around the tree’s trunk to avoid any lawn mower damage to roots covered up by leaf debris. Never blow leaf debris into the street, as this will cause our storm drains to become clogged.
