As a planting season September is second only to April and May; and now that cooler weather has arrived, you will doubtless be raring to go.
Corms of autumn-blooming crocus and colchicums should be planted as soon as they become available. Two or three weeks after they are planted, they may bloom. Winter aconite tubers and snowdrop and narcissus bulbs should also be planted when received, for they deteriorate if they are kept out of the ground too long.
This is the best time to divide peony clumps and Japanese and Siberian irises. The soil is warm now and consequently favorable to root development, so that the plants will become established before the onset of winter.
Biennials also can be transplanted either to a coldframe or to the spot where they are to bloom. Whether they will need the protection of a coldframe depends upon their hardiness in your area.
Although spring planting is usually preferred for broad-leaved evergreens such as mountain-laurel and rhododendron and cone-bearing or narrow-leaved evergreens such as pine, spruce and fir, their new growth has now hardened sufficiently to permit transplanting them without much injury. However, in areas where these evergreens are just barely hardy, it would be wiser to postpone transplanting them until spring.
Conserving the soil
If there is no vegetation covering the soil when it goes into winter, it is in danger of losing plant nutrients through leaching. And if the soil is bare and slopes, it is subject to erosion. For these reasons it is smart gardening to sow a cover crop of winter rye as soon as patches become bare. The winter rye will germinate within a week or so and absorb the available nutrients and keep the soil from washing. Next spring when you dig under the cover crop, the nutrients will be returned to the soil. Sowing annuals and mulching the soil with partly decayed leaves or a similar organic material will also provide some protection from leaching and erosion.
Bringing in house plants that have been vacationing in the garden - House plants which have spent the summer outdoors like the outdoor philodendron should be prepared now for winter indoors. But first look them over critically. Those that are unhealthy now are not likely to improve when they are subjected to the difficult conditions of steam-heated house or apartment; throw these plants away. Only those which are worthy of house room should be brought inside and care for like caring for philodendron. The plants that were plunged while still in their pots need only to be dug up, washed and then top-dressed with new soil. But plants that were removed from their pots when they were put outdoors in the spring have by now developed vigorous root systems and will need to be carefully lifted and repotted.
If the plant has to be moved to a pot that is too large for convenient handling, discard it. If the plant is too handsome and valuable, try to find another home for it where its bigness is desired.
If you exercised forethought and rooted cuttings in July or August, you will, perhaps, be able to throw away the old plants without remorse. But even now cuttings of coleus, patience plant and pelargonium can be rooted easily. Take tip shoots and insert in sandy soil in a shaded coldframe. The rooted cuttings will grow more satisfactorily in-doors than the big old plants. Often little seedlings can be found around old begonia plants; they can be dug up, potted and moved to a shady place until there is danger of frost, when they can be brought indoors.
Protecting plants from early frost - Usually after the first fall frost there are two or three weeks of mild weather. Tender house plants such as geranium, fuchsia and begonia and also annuals such as petunia, marigold and zinnia will survive a light frost if they are covered with newspaper before sun-down.
Corms of autumn-blooming crocus and colchicums should be planted as soon as they become available. Two or three weeks after they are planted, they may bloom. Winter aconite tubers and snowdrop and narcissus bulbs should also be planted when received, for they deteriorate if they are kept out of the ground too long.
This is the best time to divide peony clumps and Japanese and Siberian irises. The soil is warm now and consequently favorable to root development, so that the plants will become established before the onset of winter.
Biennials also can be transplanted either to a coldframe or to the spot where they are to bloom. Whether they will need the protection of a coldframe depends upon their hardiness in your area.
Although spring planting is usually preferred for broad-leaved evergreens such as mountain-laurel and rhododendron and cone-bearing or narrow-leaved evergreens such as pine, spruce and fir, their new growth has now hardened sufficiently to permit transplanting them without much injury. However, in areas where these evergreens are just barely hardy, it would be wiser to postpone transplanting them until spring.
Conserving the soil
If there is no vegetation covering the soil when it goes into winter, it is in danger of losing plant nutrients through leaching. And if the soil is bare and slopes, it is subject to erosion. For these reasons it is smart gardening to sow a cover crop of winter rye as soon as patches become bare. The winter rye will germinate within a week or so and absorb the available nutrients and keep the soil from washing. Next spring when you dig under the cover crop, the nutrients will be returned to the soil. Sowing annuals and mulching the soil with partly decayed leaves or a similar organic material will also provide some protection from leaching and erosion.
Bringing in house plants that have been vacationing in the garden - House plants which have spent the summer outdoors like the outdoor philodendron should be prepared now for winter indoors. But first look them over critically. Those that are unhealthy now are not likely to improve when they are subjected to the difficult conditions of steam-heated house or apartment; throw these plants away. Only those which are worthy of house room should be brought inside and care for like caring for philodendron. The plants that were plunged while still in their pots need only to be dug up, washed and then top-dressed with new soil. But plants that were removed from their pots when they were put outdoors in the spring have by now developed vigorous root systems and will need to be carefully lifted and repotted.
If the plant has to be moved to a pot that is too large for convenient handling, discard it. If the plant is too handsome and valuable, try to find another home for it where its bigness is desired.
If you exercised forethought and rooted cuttings in July or August, you will, perhaps, be able to throw away the old plants without remorse. But even now cuttings of coleus, patience plant and pelargonium can be rooted easily. Take tip shoots and insert in sandy soil in a shaded coldframe. The rooted cuttings will grow more satisfactorily in-doors than the big old plants. Often little seedlings can be found around old begonia plants; they can be dug up, potted and moved to a shady place until there is danger of frost, when they can be brought indoors.
Protecting plants from early frost - Usually after the first fall frost there are two or three weeks of mild weather. Tender house plants such as geranium, fuchsia and begonia and also annuals such as petunia, marigold and zinnia will survive a light frost if they are covered with newspaper before sun-down.
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