Priority items for gardeners this month include lawn care, vegetables and flowers. Various kinds of weeds also need attention.
Pruning shrubbery occupies a low position on the list of things to do in September. According to Virginia Tech Extension’s shrub pruning calendar, September is the ideal time to prune only one kind of shrub: sumac.
Lawns luxuriate in the cooler temperatures of September. New blades of grass push up toward the sun while roots begin to grow vigorously and repair the damage done by July’s long hot drought.
Definitely sow grass seed sometime in the next month — the sooner the better. There is no better time of year for seeding to repair bare spots and establish new lawns.
September also is the time to fertilize ryegrass, fescue, Kentucky bluegrass and other cool season grasses found in local lawns. You could be fertilizing monthly until Thanksgiving or not fertilizing at all, depending on the level of lawn quality you seek.
A dry period in fall causes amaryllis bulbs to form flower buds that will yield clusters of huge blooms in winter. This is the month to quit watering and place these potted plants in a basement or closet and forget about them for the next four months while their leaves shrivel up and turn yellow.
Fertilizing is a timely cultural practice for the winter-blooming Christmas cactus but not for most foliage houseplants. The days are getting shorter and as a result their growth is slowing.
The time to fertilize cold hardy pansies, violas and asters is at planting time. Chrysanthemums need only a light dose of fertilizer, if any, to maintain their color for a month or more.
Food crops are planted this month from seed and transplants. The best ones for seeding in September are lettuce, arugula, creasy salad, mesclun, kale, collard, turnip and radishes.
Spinach is planted in September, the earlier the better. This cold hardy vegetable will produce edible leaves in as little as 30 days and keep on producing until winter sets in.
The only way to grow spinach is from seeds. Stores sell potted spinach plants for $3.79, a price that makes planting a bed or row of spinach plants way too expensive.
You can expect changes in weed growth this month. Crabgrass seeds will quit germinating as cooler weather sets in, while the seeds of cold hardy chickweed and henbit will begin spouting in great numbers.
Figs slowly turn from green to a golden brown as they ripen this month. You need to check on them every day and pluck them from the tree or bush as they begin to soften or they could be invaded by ants and yellow jackets.
The inside of a ripe fig contains the remains of female and male flower parts along with gritty structures often called seeds. They actually are unfertilized ovaries that failed to develop, and they give figs their characteristic resin like flavor.
Don Davis is a retired Virginia Cooperative Extension agent. He can be reached at dodavis2@vt.edu.
Don Davis is a retired Virginia Cooperative Extension agent. He can be reached at dodavis2@vt.edu.
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September 04, 2020 at 02:45AM
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Don Davis: Make lawn care a priority in September - Lynchburg News and Advance
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