View full sizeSeptember is time to plant spring bulbs.Planning to sow a new lawn? You'd best get cracking. The best time is through mid-September. This month is also a good time to aerate an existing lawn.
And if you're seeing notched leaves on rhodies -- a sign of root weevils -- September (while soil is still warm) is the best month for applying beneficial nematodes. You'll find the microscopic critters at full-service nurseries. They also help control European craneflies in lawns and many caterpillars, borers and root-feeding insects.
It's also a good time to start thinking about fall planting. Plants will still have time to get a good start, and the fall rains, once they start, will keep the plants watered. On cooler days, transplant woody ornamentals and mature herbaceous perennials. Lift, divide and replant needy perennials. Just don't forget to water until the rains start.
Other garden tasks to keep in mind this month:
• Plant spring-blooming bulbs, such as tulips, daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths.
• Continue feeding and pinching annuals to keep them blooming till frost.
• Harvest potatoes when tops die down.
• As you harvest vegetables, seed in lettuces and other greens for late fall salads, or
plant cover crops. Spread manure or compost over unplanted garden areas.
• Clean houseplants that have summered outdoors with a spray of water, repot if necessary and bring indoors.
• Cut back languishing perennials that have finished blooming.
• Have a soil test done, and add the necessary lime or other rock minerals that take a long time to incorporate into the soil.
• Protect tomatoes, or pick them green and ripen indoors if frost threatens.
-- Homes & Gardens staff
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