What to do in Your Garden in September: Zone 5

In the Ornamental Garden

  • Divide perennials. Dig up the plant; cut it into sections; plant and water.  Keep well watered for first several weeks after transplanting.
  • Plant perennials.  They need 3 to 4 weeks of mild weather in order to become established before winter.
  • Plant trees and shrubs.  But wait until spring to plant the following because they are susceptible to winter damage:  dogwood, tulip tree, sweet gum, red maple, birch, hawthorn, cherries, plums and many oaks. Continue reading “What to do in Your Garden in September: Zone 5”

What To Do In Your GARDEN IN SEPTEMBER: ZONE 5

 

By Laura Christensen                                                      9/5/13

In the Ornamental Garden

  • Divide perennials. Dig up the plant; cut it into sections; plant and water.  Keep well watered for first several weeks after transplanting.
  • Plant perennials.  They need 3 to 4 weeks of mild weather in order to become established before winter.
  • Plant trees and shrubs.  But wait until spring to plant the following because they are susceptible to winter damage:  dogwood, tulip tree, sweet gum, red maple, birch, hawthorn, cherries, plums and many oaks.
  • Purchase spring-flowering bulbs.  Larger bulbs will give you larger flowers. Choose firm bulbs with crisp paper casings with no mold.
  • Seed bare spots in the lawn in early September.
  • Give your lawn a fall turf feeding. Use a fertilizer where the nitrogen is mostly water insoluble or controlled release.  This application will provide stronger and healthier growth next spring.
  • Watch for multicolored Asian lady beetles to enter the home as temperatures cool.  To keep them out, caulk and seal any visible cracks and spaces around the exterior of the home.  Indoors vacuum the beetles up and discard the bag.  They will not reproduce indoors.  Do not crush the beetles because they will stain surfaces.
  • Plant pansies, mums, ornamental cabbages and kale as weather cools.
  • Stop fertilizing flowers.
  • Start fall clean-up in the flower beds, cutting back anything that has finished blooming or is diseased.
  • Take cuttings to overwinter indoors (coleus, etc.)
  • The best time to plant spring bulbs in zone 5 is when the soil has cooled to about 55 degrees, which is usually the month of October.  Bulbs need cool soil to make roots before the onset of winter.  You have about 8 weeks to plant after the first frost, as long as the ground is not frozen, you can still plant bulbs.

In the Edible Garden

  • Dig up and repot herbs for growing inside during the winter.
  • Plant lettuce, radishes and spinach for a fall harvest.

In the Indoor Garden

  • Bring house plants indoors before nighttime temperatures drop below 55 degrees.  Inspect the plants for insects and any diseases. Isolate them from other house plants for 2-3 weeks.  Repot plants if necessary. Expose plants gradually to reduced lighting.  Bringing plants from bright light to reduced light will cause leaves to drop, but new leaves will form after plants adapt to lower light.
  • Force spring-flowering bulbs indoors for holiday blooms.
  • Wash windows so indoor plants will receive maximum light during winter.

WGC 2013 Flower Show

Poster4Please join us as Wheaton Garden Club presents Rhythm & Blooms, a Standard Flower Show, at the Wheaton Public Library,  225 N. Cross Street, Wheaton, IL, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, 12:30-9:00 pm and Friday, Oct. 4. 2013, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.  Admission is free.

The new Victorian Garden at Adams Park

imageThe new Victorian Garden at the northeast corner of Adams Park designed my our member, Laura Christensen, for the Friends of Adams Park in cooperation with the City. Several of the pictures show the urns which WGC donated to the Park.

John Richter’s Hosta Garden

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Our last club meeting of the season was held in lovely garden of John Richter. John not only gave us a tour of his 650 kinds of Hostas but sold us some of them right out of his garden! If you want to learn more about John’s garden, call him at (630) 393-3279.

How to Care For Your Garden/Gardening Tips

With this source Plant care can be simple when you know what to look for. Below are a few key care tips for maintaining a vibrant and healthy garden:

Check the health of your plants. Whether you’re transplanting plants from nurseries or growing your own from seeds, fully inspect your garden plants to make sure they are pest and rot free. Bringing in infected or diseased plants can harm the whole garden. Aside from plant disease, destructive bugs like aphids, gnats, and whiteflies should be eliminated using pest control Box Hill services.

Water properly. Overwatering can lead to fungi growth, leaf spots, and unhealthy plants. Only water as often as necessary during the growing season for your specific plant species, and let the soil dry between waterings to keep from oversaturating. The trick is to keep your garden well-watered but not soaking, and avoid wetting the foliage. You can get great information on this if you  visit goodfellers.ie. Water directly onto the soil instead. This is easy to do when watering by hand, but if you want to automate things, opt for a drip irrigation system rather than sprinklers.

Treat your soil. Soil degrades over time and needs to be refreshed every so often. You can buy new soil from a local garden center, so make sure to check the quality of your garden soil and replace when necessary. Adding mulch is also useful for retaining the soil moisture of your garden. Mulching material will keep weeds down while also supplying organic matter to your soil when it begins to degrade. Fertilizing your garden is another method to keeping it healthy. Depending on the type of plant species you’re growing, use the right amount of fertilizer and apply appropriately to make sure you don’t overstress your plants.

Clean your gardening tools. Garden tools should be cleaned to control disease and prevent transferring any bacteria or dangerous elements into your garden. In addition to the other methods of garden care, clean tools can help keep your garden healthy longer.