VEGETABLES

• Remove spent vegetable plants as soon as possible to reduce carry-over of insect and disease problems. Consider keeping a separate compost pile for diseased plants and do not use that compost in the vegetable garden.
• Plant fall vegetables by mid-month. Sow lettuce seeds every couple of weeks for continual harvest. Cilantro and dill can be sown during cooler weather.
• Look NOW for starts of cool-season crops like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and Swiss chard at tailgates and garden centers.
• Insects can be a problem with all the cabbage family crops. Use row cover or a weekly application of B.t. bacteria spray to prevent cabbageworms. Use insecticidal soap for aphis if needed.
• Consider planting a cover crop on vegetables beds to build organic matter for next year’s garden. Mark your calendar to mow and turn it under in Feb or March or leave it as a mulch for the next growing season.
• It’s not too early to make plans for” season extenders”. These are materials and techniques to protect plants and extend the growing season.

PLANT GARLIC NOW

The Western North Carolina Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs says September – November is the time to plant garlic.

How to Grow Garlic 
Types of Garlic to Grow 

WANT TO STORE WINTER SQUASH?

Some winter squash types keep longer through the winter (up to 4 months!) in cool dry storage

Also they can be preserved by canning or freezing

FRUIT

• To reduce the recurrence of fruit rot in peaches and grapes next year remove all plant debris including mummified fruit left hanging on the plant and lying on the ground.
• Remove weeds and fertilize in strawberry beds where plants are forming next spring’s flower buds. Also water if September rains are lacking.
• Prune blackberries and raspberries and remove the old fruit-bearing canes from this year. Also thin new canes to leave only 4-8 canes per square yard. Read more https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/southeast-regional-caneberry-production-guide/pruning-and-training

ORNAMENTALS

• Now is NOT the time to fertilize perennials and woody plants. Late-season nitrogen can reduce cold hardiness and force growth that can be damaged by hard frosts.
• This is a good time to cut flowers for drying. Good candidates for air-drying include celosia, yarrow, statice, globe amaranth, strawflowers, goldenrod and grasses.
• Leaving some of the few remaining seed heads of coneflower, sunflower and black eyed susan can be good for the birds to enjoy in the months ahead.
• Hold off cleaning up perennials stems and consider leaving them for overwintering pollinators. Read more Garden Cleanup For Pollinators Trim Perennial Stems in Their First Winter
• Make preparations to move houseplants indoors before temperatures drop below 45 F. Check for signs of insects and treat. Rinse foliage and pots, remove dead leaves and cut back long stems. Repot if necessary.
• Now is time to divide peonies that have not flowered well. Leave several “eyes” on each division and be sure to replant them with the eyes no more than 2 inches below the soil surface. Keep them watered this fall.
• Check evergreens for bagworms. Removing them now prevents re-infestation next spring. Visit this link to learn more about Bagworms.
• Pull spent summer annuals from containers and replace them with pansies orornamental or edible kale or cabbage.

LAWNS

• Overseed thin or bare areas as weather cools. Use a blend of “turf-type” tall fescue cultivars at 6 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet suitable for sun/shade conditions to your site. Apply a starter-type (high phosphorous) fertilizer. Keep the seedbed moist with light watering several times per day. Do not let the seedlings dry out.

CHECK OUT THIS TALL FESCUE LAWN MAINTENANCE CALENDAR

FOR MORE INFO ON FALL LAWN CARE & RENOVATION VISIT CAROLINA LAWNS