Garden Tips

September2005

Edible

Sign up for the Chicago Master Gardener Program. Classes start in January at Garfield Park Conservatory. Apply online at www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/chicago/mg or call 773-233- 0476.

Pot up rosemary and chives for the indoor garden.

Watch for the annual arrival of the multi-colored Asian lady beetle. These are the good guys. They eat scales and aphids. In the fall, they are looking for a place to spend the winter, preferably your home. They will also lounge on the side of your house by the hundreds. They will not reproduce indoors. Best control indoors is to vacuum them up.

Ornamental

Bring houseplants indoors. Rinse the leaves and check the plants for any signs of insects and disease. Isolate the plants from the rest of your houseplant collection for two to three weeks.

Dig up dahlias, caladiums, cannas, gladioli and tuberous begonias before the first hard frost. Our average date of first frost is around mid-October. Store in vermiculite or peat moss under cool temperatures.

Select spring blooming bulbs for fall planting. Select bulbs that are firm and free of soft spots. Larger bulbs will produce larger blooms.

Fertilize the lawn with a controlled release nitrogen fertilizer. Controlled release fertilizers release small amounts of fertilizer over a long period of time. This provides more uniform growth. If conditions are dry at the time of application, water the lawn.

Control creeping charlie and dandelions with a broadleaf weed killer. Control is more effective in the fall than the spring.

Plant trees and shrubs now. The hole should be two times the diameter of the root ball, but at the same depth. Keep the plant watered until the soil freezes.

Watch for fall color. Some trees because of a summer dry spell and our unusually cool summer temperatures started turning two weeks ago. This could mean an early fall color peak in Northern Illinois. Our normal peak is around mid-October. For more information about fall foliage, check out the web site, the Miracle of Fall at www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/fallcolor

Start a compost pile with plant debris and leaves. A good mix is two parts grass clippings to one part leaves. Layer this material in 5 to 7-inch layers with a handful of soil. Soil contains microbes, which help to breakdown the plant material.

October 2005

Edible

Prepare to avoid frost damage. Our first frost usually occurs around mid-October. It is often followed by a few weeks of good growing weather. Protect tender veggies like tomatoes and peppers with layers of newspapers, blankets, tarps, sheets or floating row covers. Remove the coverings soon after sunrise. Vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, kale, collards and turnips can withstand light frosts and the frost will improve their flavor.

Remove plant debris from the vegetable garden after frost. If plants were not diseased, they can be dug into the soil. Leaving dead plants in the garden will provide a home for over wintering insects. Also add a 3 to 4 inch layer of other organic matter and dig in. Your garden will be ready for planting in the spring.

Saving seeds from your favorite tomato can be fun and will save you money, but unless the tomato is an old-fashioned variety, the new plant will not be as flavorful, vigorous and disease resistant as the parent plant. So avoid saving seeds from hybrid plants. Saving Seeds factsheet available.

Choose a pumpkin for Halloween from a local pumpkin farm. Choose a pumpkin with a good stem; it will keep better. A pumpkin that is light in weight for its size will have less "meat" making carving easier. For a listing of local farms call 773-233-0476 or check out the Pumpkins and More web site at www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/pumpkins.

Ornamental

Stop raking those leaves and mulch them into the turf. Mowing over the leaves will chop them into little pieces, which will filter into the turf. University research has shown that mulching the leaves into the lawn will not harm the grass and will improve the soil. Chopped leaves can also be added to the compost pile or dug into garden soil.

Plant spring flowering bulbs now. Bulbs can be planted until the ground is frozen. Planting early will insure good root development. Root growth will occur until soil temps drop below 40 degrees F.

Use sod to repair any dead patches in the lawn. Seeding the areas now may not allow the newly germinated turf time to become established in order to survive the winter. The sod should knit and grow quickly in the cool fall weather. Keep the sod moist until it is established. This takes about three weeks.

Make a late fall application of a soluble nitrogen fertilizer to the lawn. A late fall application will promote good root development and will keep the lawn green longer. It will also help provide an early spring green up. Make the application while the grass is still green.

Watch for the Asian lady beetle invasion. They will show up in large numbers on the sides of homes with sunny exposures. The beetles will enter the home through cracks and crevices, windows and open doors. They will not reproduce indoors. Avoid the temptation to smash them; they leave a stain. Vacuuming is the best control indoors. Outdoors caulk cracks and crevices.

Dropping of needles from pines, yews, junipers and arborvitae is a natural fall occurrence. Evergreens drop their older needles to allow for new growth. The dropped needles can be used as winter mulch.

Fall 2005
Emerald Ash Borer | Garden Tips | Fall Garden Chores | Fall & Winter Greens, Reds & More | Pumpkin Facts | Hort Shorts | Cybergardening Sites | Did you know? . . | Fall Vegetable Parade of Colors | Health and Household Tips | Lactose Intolerant? Calcium From Plants | Self-medicating and Drug Interactions | In Pursuit of a Good Night’s Sleep

 

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