It will soon be Fall.
The leaves are changing colors and the summer season is coming to an end. It is time to get your lawn and garden ready for the winter season.
While this season is fresh in your mind, take some notes on the things that need addressing. Such things can be dry areas or areas that got too much shade, or when you did water it, may have gotten too wet.
Are there plants that grew too big for their space? It will soon be time to move them to a new home.
It is time to mulch your garden beds. I like to use the fallen leaves to top dress. Any leaves that may have diseases you may want to recycle them in the yard waste bins.
If you choose to compost them, make sure that you heat the pile to kill any pathogens. For bigger leaves, run a lawn mower over them to chop them up before adding them as mulch.
And, before adding any mulch you need to make sure you weed the area first. You also can add newspaper first then mulch over it. It will act as a weed block.
The benefits of leaf mulching are that it feeds the soil and it suppresses weeds. In my experiences of composting and mulching, it makes gardening so much easier and fun.
It’s so cool to see the earth come alive with all the little creatures.
Now, that the cooler weather is starting to set in, and maybe we will be getting some rain, we will have a window of time to address lawns.
What I like to do is do a light thatch and aerate. Then top dress the lawn with some nice organic compost.
You may over seed with the appropriate cool season grass such as fine-leaved fescues and perennial rye grasses.
Hold off major seeding until spring.
On the note of seeding, it is a good time to cover crop your garden. Cleaning out your spent veggies and rototill the surface. Then add seeds such as vetch and clovers.
In the spring you till them in, to add high rich nutrients to the soil.
For more information on any garden subject please contact a Master Gardener. They can direct you to many publications on any subject of gardening.
We Master Gardeners are always here to help you with any question you may have.
Happy Gardening,
Gardener Joe
Contact Joe at besthands@aol.com.
