Here are some great tips -- from gardening 'goddess' Daryl Pulis -- for taking care of your lawn, trees, flowers and just about anything else that you nuture outdoors...
Below are some great pointers for taking care of your yard in September, per gardening guru, Daryl Pulis.
Lawns - Aerate Fescue lawns. Over-seed or reseed if necessary. Fertilize Fescue lawns.
For information on renovating, planting or maintaining your lawn, see:
http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubs/pdf/b773.pdf
Trees and Shrubs - Plant new container-grown plants. When planting, loosen the roots so that they will quickly grow into the surrounding soil.
Mulch and water as soon as you plant.
Not sure what to plant? I’ll be teaching a Landscape Design Series at the Cumming Recreation Department beginning September 28th. For information, call 770-781-2030 or see www.cityofcumming.net/landscape.pdf.
Flowers - Divide overgrown perennials and plant new perennials now so that they will become established before winter.
Spread a layer of compost one-half to one inch thick on old perennial beds, but not on the plants themselves.
If your Houseplants had a summer vacation outdoors, check them for insects and treat if needed. Prune or pinch back if needed so that they will fit inside.
Bring in houseplants before heat is turned on.
Root cuttings of Impatiens, Begonias, Coleus and other plants to bring indoors. You can start them in water, then transfer them to moist potting soil as soon as a few roots show. A better way is to root them in moist potting mix or perlite , with a cover of plastic wrap, a plastic cake dome, or Mason (fruit) jar to keep the tops from drying out. Keep them in a bright spot with no direct sun.
Fruits and Vegetables - Plant cool season vegetables such as Beets, Broccoli, Spinach, Lettuce, Cauliflower, Kale and Collards early in the month.
Clean up dropped fruit and mummies.
Clean out spent vegetable plants to help prevent disease and insects.
Plant a cover crop such as Vetch or Annual Rye where garden soil is bare.
A Little Scoop on Mrs. GreenThumb, a.k.a. Daryl Pulis:
Daryl has been interested in plants since she began talking to them at age 2. Never able to resist starting seeds or cuttings, her collection of plants soon reached ridiculous proportions.
As a newlywed living in a small apartment, her plants overflowed onto the front steps and sidewalk. Neighbors teased about the jungle she created, and began calling her Mrs. GreenThumb.
Decades later, Daryl is still a self-confessed plant freak. Her husband patiently digs holes and drags bales of potting mix so she can raise hundreds of plants to give away to clients, friends and the Master Gardener plant sale.
A popular speaker in the South, she hosted "The Garden Show" on WMLB Radio each Saturday morning for more than 7 years, and provided the "GreenThumb Garden Tip of the Week" for News Channel 4. Daryl is a featured Landscape Designer on the new HGTV show, "Landscape Solutions."
A Master Gardener since 1990, Daryl was named "Master Gardener of the Year" in 1994 and served as president of the Georgia Master Gardener Association in 1999.
After serving as Agriculture Program Assistant at the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service for nearly a decade, she formed her own Horticultural Consulting and Landscape Design Company, Mrs. GreenThumb, in 1999.
For more information on Daryl and her garden design and consulting services, please visit www.MrsGreenThumb.com.