THE GARDEN WEBSITE.COM
  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Grub Control
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
  • Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Astilbes
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
  • Garden Tour Blogs
    • Hatley Castle's Italian Garden
    • Butchart Gardens, Oct 2021
    • Butchart's Japanese Garden
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe

The Garden Website.com

Amanda's Garden Consulting Company
Flowering kale, gourds, chrysanthemums and Michaelmas daisies. Photo by Amanda Jarrett

The Garden Website for September

 September Introduction -  September Plant Combo - Amanda's Garden Blog -September Garden Chores - Job Postings
September Garden Stars - Plant Police - September Lawn Care – Fall Containers - Preparing Beds for Winter
Planting Spring Flowering Bulbs - Planting & Transplanting - ​Naked Beds Cry Foul – Mystery of Seed Collecting – Fall Pruning Tropicals & Houseplants – Winter gardening – Harvest Baby, Harvest – Tomato Troubles – Cutting back Perennials – Saving Tender Bedding Plants – Geranium Cuttings – Fallen leaves
September Arrangement - Need Help? - For the Tropical Gardener - Plant of the Month: Autumn Crocus

harvest,fall harvest,vegetables,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
A bountiful harvest.

September Intro

Michaelmas Daisy,asters,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Aster flowers covered with morning dew.
As fiery August ends, September brings sweet rain, serene temperatures and hopefully less smoke from the forest fires. There’s no time to rest, it’s fall; time to harvest, deadhead, prune, clean up garden beds and prepare new ones, if needed.
With the cooler temps and the onslaught of inevitable rain, northern plants will start to perk up and put up new growth. Fall’s flora begins to take centre stage with starry blue asters, pink and white Chinese anemones, conical flowers of the butterfly bush and sparkly yellow coreopsis. Meanwhile tomatoes and other heat loving plants will start to decline and will show their displeasure by getting all buggy and disease ridden.
Harvesting is at earnest now, with many crops coming to an end. Daily visits to the garden are warranted so produce is picked at its peak and not left to rot. I’ve had many zucchinis and tomatoes become a mushy mess seemingly overnight.
Depending on where you live, autumn may hang on for a few months, or it might be gone in the blink of an eye. For those of us that live in more temperate climates, we have a couple of months to prep the garden for winter.
​For those that live up north, this is your last month to get the garden ready before it becomes impossible to do so.  

I hope wherever you live, the beginning of your autumn is a glorious one.
Cheers,
Amanda
September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett

Garden Classes

Gaia College and the Burnaby School District offers many garden courses for landscapers and avid gardeners. Classes start soon. For more information click here.

Amanda's Garden Blog

Amanda's Garden Blog,seed saving,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
A skeletonized seed head of an oriental poppy resembles a crown.
  • Collecting & Saving Seeds
  • Heritage Vancouver 6th Garden Tour
  • The Dunbar Garden Tour 2018
  • Easy Roses Do Exist.. Really!
  • Dart's Hill, A Garden Park
  • VanDusen Botanical Gardens Visit
  • Tall Kale Tales
  • Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle
  • Pruning in Winter
  • Pruning & Training Grape Vines in Winter
  • Insects & Diseases Control with Dormant Spray
  • Why Christmas cactus Don't Blossom
  • A Quickie Festive Swag
  • Putting the Garden to Bed
  • How to Drain Soggy Soil
  • A Visit to the Arizona - Sonora Desert
  • Banana, Palm Tree Winter Protection
  • Lasagna Gardening, Sheet Mulching
  • Saving Geraniums, Coleus, Bougainvilleas & Other Tender Plants 
  • Spiders Everywhere - Oh My!
  • Tomato Troubles & Soil Solarization
  • Trees That Drip That Sticky Stuff
  • Balcony Bliss
  • One Huge Beetle! 
  • A Summer's Day Harvest
  • The Dunbar Garden Club Private Tour
  • Leaky Birdbaths and Slug Free Strawberries
  • Easy Roses
  • Oops... Wrong Plant, Wrong Place
  • I Had An Ugly Lawn...
To subscribe to my blog click here. 

bee,aster,pollen,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
A pollen covered bee enjoying a Michaelmas daisy.

Job Postings 

White Glove Lawn & Property Services, Abbotsford, is hiring lead hand, drivers, assistant manager and crew. Experience an asset. Salaried and hourly positions available. Read more...
Heartwood Gardenworks, South Surrey, is expanding and looking to hire landscapers and non-professionals willing to work hard and learn. On the job training is provided and enrollment to the RLT program or Organic Master Gardener Program available. Read more..

​For landscapers looking for work and landscape companies looking to hire.
If you are looking for work or if you wish to post a position please go to Job Postings.​

September Garden Stars

Chysanthemums,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Chrysanthemums, herbaceous perennial, 1 -3ft, sun, part sun, Zones 5 - 9.
Sedum 'Autumn Joy' stonecrop,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Autumn Joy sedum, herbaceous perennial, sun, 1 to 3 ft, Zones 3 to 9.

Lespedeza thunbergii ssp. thunbergii 'White Fountain'
White Fountain bush clover, Lespedeza thunbergii ssp. thunbergii, deciduous shrub. Zones 4-8, up to 6ft x 12ft, full sun part shade.
Clematis terniflora,sweet autumn clematis,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Sweet autumn clematis/virginsbower (Clematis terniflora), deciduous vine, 15-30ft, fragrant, Zones 5 to 9, sun to part shade.

rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'goldsturm',September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Goldsturm black-eyed susans, (Rudbeckia fulgida), herbaceous perennial, 2 ft, sun, part shade, Zones 4 to 9.
Japanese anemone,Anemone hupehensis,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Japanese anemone (Anemone hupehensis), herbaceous perennial, 3ft, full sun part shade, Zones 5 to 9.

Potentilla fruticosa 'Mango Tango' cinquefoil,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Mango Tango cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa 'Mango Tango), deciduous shrub, 2 to 3 ft tall and wide, Zones 3 to 8, full sun, part shade.
Abelia x grandiflora,glossy abelia,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Glossy abelia (Abelia x grandiflora) are broad leaf evergreen shrubs, Zones 6 to 9, 4 to 6 ft tall, 5 ft wide, full sun to part shade.

Golden Sceptre dahlia,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Golden Sceptre pompom dahlia
Kanika Peruvian lily,Alstroemeria 'Inticancha Kanika',September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Kanika Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria 'Inticancha Kanika', herbaceous perennial, Zones 8 to 9, full sun to part sun.

September PLANT COMBO

Gomphrena 'Pink Zazzle',Pennisetum setaceum,September plant combination,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
An effective annual duo, Pink Zazzle Gomphrena and crimson fountaingrasss, Pennisetum setaceum.

Preparing Beds for winter

chop and drop,mulch,soil,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Fall bed clean up doesn't mean stripping the beds bare. The prunings from this peegee hydrangea are being used as a mulch around the mother plant. This chop & drop technique returns organic matter to the soil, which provides food to plants and improves soil.
While we prepare the garden for winter at the start of fall, plants are also girding their loins for the months ahead. They do that by garnering all their sugars and storing it in their roots. Weak plants, sickly plants, starving plants and thirsty ones will have a tough time as they lack the internal resources.

​Water plants if they are suffering from drought: planters, raised beds, under the eaves and anywhere that’s protected from the rain.
​
Replenish soil fertility with an inch or two of compost, composted manures, SeaSoil and/or triple mix. Feed hungry plants, sickly plants and new plants with a winterizer fertilizer high in potassium (the last number). Although winterizer fertilizers are associated with lawns, it is perfectly acceptable to use them on all garden plants, especially newly planted ones. Avoid using high nitrogen fertilizers (first number highest) this time of year as it promotes lush, tender growth that’s susceptible to winterkill.

plant police

pruning,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Removing the tops from trees disfigures trees and makes them unsafe as suckers replace the branches.
Pruning trees is a science that requires skill and education. If you want your tree pruned go to the professionals with the correct training and credentials, not a guy with a pick up truck and a chainsaw. Look for arborists with ISA certification (International Society of Arborists). They should be fully insured and covered by Worksafe BC.

Lawn Care
Fall Maintenance

lawns,fall lawn care,lawn renovation,new lawns,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Fall is the best time to install a new lawn, whether it be sod or seed.
Fall is the ideal time to start a new lawn and to make amends to an existing lawn after a long hot summer. 
  1. ​Fertilize: Apply a winterizer fertilizer. Look for one that is low in nitrogen, but high in potassium, (the last number on fertilizer labels).
  2. Lime: If you didn’t apply lime in spring and have lots of dandelions and moss apply dolomite or dolopril lime. Don’t apply fertilizer within 3 weeks of applying lime, as the nitrogen is lost to the air.
  3. Aerate: To relieve compacted soil and to reduce thatch, aerate first before fertilizing and liming. Rent a core aerator or hire someone; it’s hard work.
  4. Mow: Cut northern grasses at 2 to 3 inches. Don’t go lower as it stresses the grass plants. Mow often, only removing 1/3rd of the leaf blades off at a time.
  5. Kill Weed Seeds: Apply corn gluten to kill seedlings as they germinate. Don’t apply if you have just overseeded the lawn!
  6. Frost: Keep off the grass when it is frozen as it breaks off the crowns, killings the plants.
  7. Overseed:  To fill in bare patches and to thicken sparse lawns sow more grass seed on top of the existing grass.
  8. Water the lawn the day before, especially if it’s dry.
  9. Rake any bare spots to rough up the soil then add approximately ½ inch of compost or triple mix (3 equal parts of topsoil, peat and compost) or a garden blend.
  10. Mix in a low nitrogen, high phosphorous fertilizer, (the second number is the highest) or just use a winterizer fertilizer high in potassium (the last number is highest).
  11. Select Grade A grass seed. Most grass seed packages denote whether they are for sun or shade so select the one best suited for your location.
  12. Sow the seeds according to directions; rake the seed into the soil, gently and lightly.
  13. Firm the seeds into the soil with something flat like a board. For large areas rent a light roller.
  14. Water the seeds after sowing, but gently so they don’t erode away.
  15. Keep the seeds moist until grass blades emerge. You might have to water more than once a day depending on the weather, but do it lightly, just to moisten the top layer of soil. Reduce the water once germination occurs.​

Plant Spring Flowering Bulbs

spring flowering bulbs,planting spring bulbs,protecting tulips,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Planting spring bulbs asap gives them time to grow vigorous roots so they will be hardier and more floriferous.
It’s down on your knees time if you want to enjoy daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and other spring flowering bulbs this coming spring. You have to the end of November, but the sooner they are in the ground, the more roots they produce before winter sets in. This results in healthier plants with larger flowers. If you delay, they will flower, but it will be later and plants won't be so robust. Add bonemeal when planting as it promotes root growth and sprinkle the bulbs with cinnamon. Cinnamon as it is a natural fungicide and helps to reduce disease.
spring flowering bulbs,planting spring bulbs,protecting tulips,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Protect tulips from critters by placing them in bulb pans, covering with chicken wire and burying them.
Protect Your Bulbs!
Tulips are considered fine cuisine according to squirrels and chipmunks, as anyone who has had them dug up can attest to. Protect tulips, foxtail lily (Eremurus robustus) by planting them with bulbs they don’t like such as daffodils (Narcissus), flowering onions (Allium), Fritillaria, snow drops (Galanthus & Leucojum), grape hyacinth (Muscari), Siberian squill (Scilla siberica), windflowers (Anemone blanda), Italian arum (Arum italicum), and camas lily (Cammassia leichtlinii).

​Another option is to wrap the bulbs in chicken wire, then place in a bulb pan, cover with chicken wire and bury the whole thing. Don’t leave any of those papery skins on top of the soil after planting, as those skins advertise where they were planted.


Blood meal spread over the soil surface also deters critters; however, it’s water soluble and must be reapplied after rain. Store bought repellents work, but are also water soluble. Avoid using hot pepper products as it may cause excruciating pain to any animal. ​

Planting & Transplanting Time

fall planting,autumn planting,planting trees,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Fall is the best time to plant, just in time to take advantage of garden centre sales. Art's Nursery, Port Kells.
Did you know that planting trees, shrubs, perennials and roses is best done in autumn? Roots eagerly grow into the warm soil heated by the summer sun. Rain returns ensuring moist soil and daylight hours are shorter and gentler, which new plants and transplanted plants appreciate. As an added benefit this is a great time to buy new plants as most nurseries have their plants on sale. Selection is often slim, but I can’t help saving plants in need, especially if the price it right. 

​Naked Beds Cry Foul -
use Cover Crops

cover crops,vegetable gardening,crimson clover,spring flowering bulbs,planting spring bulbs,protecting tulips,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Crimson clover covers the soil during winter then is cut back and dug in spring. It protects soil in the winter, improves soil texture and fertility. Bees like it too and they are very pretty.
If you are not using your veggie beds for growing hardy, cool season crops, it’s best not to leave the ground bare for winter. Cover with a thick layer of mulch or sow a green manure (cover crop) such as crimson clover or annual rye. Covering the soil reduces soil erosion from winter rains and prevents weeds. Cover crops also has the added benefit of replenishing soil once the crop is turned under in the spring. For more info on growing fall and winter crops, click here. 

Fall Pruning

fall pruning,autumn pruning,Rose of Sharon,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Once Rose of Sharon has finished flowering, cut it back by 1/4 to 1/3rd to increase branching.
My garden is not perfect - whatever that means. Some shrubs have overstepped their allotted space with their rambunctious behaviour, while others are looking as though they are pining for better days. It’s tempting to gain control by pruning the large plants to size, while cutting back the spindly ones to make them branch out, however, one has to be careful not to prune the wrong plant at the wrong time.
​
Avoid pruning spring flowering plants as they have already set their flower buds for next year.  Cutting them back now will remove those flowers of fruit trees, lilacs, dogwood trees, quince, flowering currants, magnolias, camellias, forsythias, just to name a few.
 
There are numerous plants that benefit from a fall pruning, but do so once they have finished flowering: butterfly bush, rose of Sharon, hydrangea, abelia, honeysuckle, birch, hornbeam, golden rain tree (Laburnum spp.). No matter you’re your plant flowers, always remove dead, diseased, broken, suckers and watersprouts.

Tropicals & Houseplants 

Datura metel,Devil's Trumpet,houseplants,saving tropical plants,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
The fragrant flower of a Devil's trumpet (Datura metel). Bring topicals inside while they still look good.
It’s time to bring in those houseplants and tropical that have been vacationing outside: tuberous begonias, citrus,  bougainvilleas, oleander.
  1. The sooner you bring them inside the better and do so before frost. Once the weather turns, they are more prone to pests and diseases, and death from frost.
  2. Toss out really buggy or disease ridden plants, as their success rate will be slim.
  3. Wash the outside of pots and their trays to prevent diseases and insects from infiltrating your home. Remove any debris on top of the soil surface.
  4. Due to the change of conditions from outside to inside, plants will drop leaves and flowers.
  5. Cut stems back by a half, just above a leaf or node. Place in a bright, frost free area until new growth begins, then place in your brightest window or under grow lights. Keep it on a timer for 8 to 12 hours if you want them to continue to grow and be viable houseplants.
fuchsias,saving fuchsias for winter,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
There's no need to buy tender fuchsias every year.
Tender Fuchsias
There are two methods of saving tender fuchsias: inside and outside depending on how far north you live. Both methods start with doing so now before frost. If you live in cooler zones from 1 to 6, bring them inside. Store in a cool dry place, 4-7°C ( 45-55°F), a basement works well. Water every 3 to 4 weeks to moisten the soil, but don’t soak it.
​
​To overwinter fuchsias outside, bury them in the garden, pot and all.  Cover them with 3 to 4 inches of soil, fallen leaves or another organic mulch. Unbury them in March. The top growth will probably be dead, but the roots should be alive. Replant them with fresh soil, water and keep them away from any lingering frost.
​Tuberous Begonias ​
tuberous begonias,storing tuberous begonias,saving tender plants for winter,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Store tuberous begonias in a frost free, dry location.
 Keep potted tuberous begonias in their containers and lift those growing in the garden. Plant them in pots just wide enough to place the tuber and roots. Bring them inside to a bright spot and water. They will soon drop their leaves and flowers. Once the plants starts to die back, stop watering. Discard all the plant parts and keep in a dry, frost free location. Allow the soil to dry, but not so dry it pulls away from the pot. Water them in spring when they start to regrow, repot in fresh, well-draining potting soil, water and place in a sunny window.
tuberous begonias,storing tuberous begonias,saving tender plants for winter,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Once plants die back, remove the debris and store in a frost free, but cool and dry location.

Need Veg? Plant now
Winter Veggies

winter vegetable gardening,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Squeeze in an extra crop of cool veggies: bok and pac choi, spinach, lettuce
There’s still a wee bit of time to try your hand at growing veggies through the fall and into winter. Once summer crops have been harvested, sow seeds or plant starter plants (available at plant nurseries) of Asian greens, arugula, beets, lettuce, pac and boc choi, radish, spinach, turnips. If you have already started seeds indoors, plant them outside when they have two to three sets of leaves. Don’t forget to harden them off first to acclimatize them to the outdoors. For more info on winter gardening click here. 

September Garden Chores

September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Freshly plucked apples are ripe and ready to turn into pies.
​Plant: Trees, shrubs, vines, roses, perennials, and fall/winter hardy veggies.
Cover Crops: Plant cover crops on veggie beds or mulch them, don’t let them be bare for winter.
Spring Bulbs: Plant spring flowering bulbs and autumn flowering crocus.
Harvest: Keep harvesting crops and discard those that are diseased and buggy, including infected plants.
Seed Collecting: Collect seeds from desirable plants when they are brown and mature, not green.
Save Leaves: Rake fallen leaves from the lawn into beds for a free and effective organic mulch.
Prune: Prune fall flowering plants if needed. It’s too late to prune spring flowering ones.
Hydrangeas: Remove flowers just above plump green buds. Cut off really old branches, spindly and dead one at their base. 
Deadhead: Keep removing dead flowers from perennials and annuals to further their blooming.
Lawns: Mow often and mow high at 2.5 to 3 inches, apply Dolopril lime, corn gluten to control germinating seeds (don’t use if seeding lawn), repair patchy lawns, and plant new lawns with sod or seed. Apply a winterizer fertilizer, high in potash.
Perennials: Cut them back to a few inches above the ground once they begin to die back.  
Divide perennials: coral bells (Heuchera ), lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria sp.), primrose, violets, lenten rose (Helleborus sp.), Brunnera sp., peonies and any other plants that have overgrown their spaces.
Weeds: Apply corn gluten to kill germinating weed seeds, such as shepherd’s purse and chickweed. Do not apply where you have recently sown desirable seed.
Containers: Fix up tired planters by removing spent plants and adding new ones and add fresh compost.
Winterize: Apply a winterizer fertilizer (high potash), to newly planted plants, hungry and sickly plants.
Garden Beds: Apply compost and mix in and apply organic mulch.
Raspberries: Cut back raspberry canes that fruited this year to their base.
Cuttings: Take semi-hardwood cuttings from trees, shrubs and vines.
Cuttings: Take cuttings from tender annuals to grow inside to use as houseplants and for stock plants next spring: coleus, impatiens, fuchsias and geraniums.
Houseplants & Tropicals: Bring them inside well before they decline, and before frost.
Cold frames, Greenhouses: Clean out and disinfect all flat surfaces, especially if diseases and insects were present.
Disinfect: Use bleach, soap & water to sterilize pots, starter trays, cell packs, flats and drainage trays so their ready for spring.
Weed:  Remove them now to prevent extra work in spring. Don’t add seedy weeds into the compost as it probably will not be hot enough to kill them.
Compost: Turn weekly and water when needed. Avoid adding plants that have gone to seed, are infested with bugs and/or diseases. Add fall leaves for the carbon (brown) layer. Save some to add later.  
Pictures: Take pictures of the garden and make entries into your garden journal regarding successes and any learning experiences, while it is still fresh in your head. 

Fix up Sad Looking Planters 

winter planters,fall planters,autumn,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Rejuvenate a tired planter by replacing spent plants with hardy flowers and plants for fall and winter.
My once lovely planters that were overflowing with petunias, impatiens and such, have seen better days. They are obviously in need of new colourful plants that will last through fall and into the winter: winter pansies, primroses, a dwarf aster perhaps and some winter flowering perennials, like a lovely lenten rose (Helleborus). The hardier the better.

Scrounge around the garden and the woods for interesting twigs and branches to add to the arrangement. Or add an ornament of your own. Throw in some tulips, narcissus and other spring flowering bulbs too. Use a long narrow trowel to slide them in so you don’t have to dismantle the whole thing.
​
Remove the old plants and a few inches of soil from the top of the planter. This provides more room for new plants and fresh soil. Add compost, potting soil, triple mix, Sea Soil and bone meal and mix well. Arrange the plants on top of the soil in a pleasing manner, then plant and water.  Keep out of direct sun for a few days until plants have perked up. 
fall planters,autumn containers,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett

The Mystery of Seed Collecting 

collecting seeds,hollyhock seeds,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Individual seeds from a mature hollyhock seed capsule.
I love expanding my burgeoning plant collection by gathering seeds from my favorite plants. It’s cost effective, extremely rewarding and very mysterious yes – mysterious…  read more...

Harvest Baby, Harvest!

harvest vegetables,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
This bountiful harvest includes, potatoes, cucumbers, red and green basil, scarlet runner beans, Purple Prince eggplant, rosemary, fennel, feverfew, garlic. Tomatoes: bush beefsteak, yellow pear, Oregon Spring and Tasmanian Chocolate (yes, that's the name!).
Ruby red tomatoes, bright orange peppers, plump deep green cucumbers are ripe for the picking, but what about those that are past their prime or are diseased and riddled with insects? Don’t leave them in the garden to rot as this brings disease, unwanted insect pests and maybe even a few critters to the garden. If left on the ground, they will overwinter to contaminate next year’s crops. It is best to pick them off the plant and the ground asap and toss them out. Don’t compost them, unless you have a hot compost, 50 to 66° Celsius (122°-155°F) for a few days.

​For more information on the best stage to harvest specific crops, click here. 

Still having tomato troubles?

tomato problems,late blight,blossom end rot,verticillium wilt,early blight,tomato diseases,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Late Blight.
Click here for:
Quickie Tomato Troubles Table
Happy Tomatoes - Late Blight - Cracked Tomatoes
Blossom End Rot -Verticillium Wilt
Early Blight - Preventing Disease
s

Cutting Back Perennials

cuttSeptember gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarretting back perennials in fall,
Cut back perennials after they start to die back, leaving 4 to 6 inches.
  • Although it may be tempting to cut back ornamental grasses in fall, it’s best to wait until spring. Their stems protect their crowns (where the stems meet the roots) making them hardier.
  • Keep the seeds and spent flowers on ornamental grasses, sedums, sunflowers and coneflowers as the birds appreciate the seeds and they look darn attractive in the snow.
  • When cutting plants back, leave stems 2 to 4 inches long to reduce winterkill.
  • Anything you cut off can be used as a mulch if it is disease and insect free. Just cut the stems into pieces and place around the plant. 
  • For those that live in more northern climates where winterkill is a real issue, place the plant debris on top of the plant as well as around it. This method is referred to as ‘chop and drop’. It becomes a winter mulch, an organic mulch and it’s easy an easy fix for us lazy gardeners.  
ornamental grasses,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Cut back ornamental grasses in spring, not now.

Saving Tender Bedding Plants

Pelargonium regal 'Black Lace',saving geraniums,saving annuals,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
This Black Lace Martha Washington geranium is three years old.
​Geraniums (Pelargoniums)
Geraniums make great houseplants, even ones that have been grown outdoors during the summer. A sunny window or supplemental lighting is essential to keep them beautiful throughout the winter.

Before frost, bring in potted geraniums, and lift ones that were planted in the garden and plant them in pots just large enough for the roots. Use a good draining potting soil. Add sand and/or vermiculite to aid in drainage if it’s too peaty. Cut stems back to 6 to 8 inches, remove all flowers, dead, buggy, diseased and dead plant parts and water. Save a few stems for cuttings as they root easily. Keep in a bright location, out of direct sun, for a week when new growth should emerge. Cool conditions are best, 10° to 16°C (50° to 60°F, but I find they do fine on my sunny kitchen windowsill. Don’t overwater. Allow the plant to wilt slightly before watering.  
​
Another way to overwinter geraniums is to remove them from them the ground and shake off as much soil as possible. Hang them upside down or place them in paper bags and place in a cool, dry, frost free area. Mist their roots weekly. All their leaves will fall off, but their stems should remain intact. Remove any shrivelled stems. In late February or in March, remove any dead parts, shrivelled sections and discard any dead plants. Soak their roots for a few hours before potting them up in potting soil that drains well. Add sand and/or vermiculite if soil is too peaty. Water well. Place in a bright location for a week, then give them full sun. They should start to sprout new leaves in no time. 

Geranium Cuttings

geranium cuttings,herbaceous cuttings,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Geranium cuttings should have numerous leaves, nodes and be healthy.
  1. Cut the stem off the plant just above a leaf (node).
  2. Remove the tip end of the cutting.
  3. Cut the base of the cutting just below a leaf (node).
  4. Remove all foliage from the lower nodes that will be buried.
  5. Remove all flowers and flower buds.
  6. Allow the cut end to callous over by leaving it in a bright, but not sunny area inside the house for 48 hours. It will wilt, but that’s okay.
  7. Prepare a small pot, with drainage holes, with moistened, well-draining potting soil.
  8. Insert the stem into the soil. Place in warm area out of direct sunlight until new growth emerges. Be careful not to overwater as geranium cuttings are prone to ‘black leg’, a fungus that results in their demise. 
geranium cuttings,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Remove the lower foliage, buds , flowers and pinch off the top. Cut the bottom of the stem just under a node.

Fallen Leaves

fall leaves,autumn leaves,organic mulch,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Their is no need to bag all those fallen leaves. Just rake them from the lawn onto the beds.
Although raking leaves is not the most favorite autumnal activity for most people, it is necessary to keep them off lawn, but there’s no need to rake them out of the beds. It is better for the soil and the plants to keep this leaf litter in situ. They protect the soil from erosion, weeds, and fluctuating temperatures as they also insulate the soil. As they break down they also provide free and exceptional nutrition to the plants. So instead of bagging all your leaves and placing them curbside, rake them off the lawn and into the beds.   

September Arrangement

September flowers,flower arrangement,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Pink dinnerplate dahlia, Mystery Day dahlia,Goldsturm black-eyed susan, Bobo hydrangea, mophead hydrangea, peegee hydrangea, Audrey Michaelmas daisy, alpine Michaelmas daisy, Blue Lace delphinium and pink garden phlox.

Plant of the month
Autumn Crocus, Colchicum autumnale

autumn crocus,Colchicum autumnale,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
A bee exits an autumn crocus.

autumn crocus,Colchicum autumnale,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Autumn crocus multiply quickly, but make a beautiful splash in fall.
autumn crocus,Colchicum autumnale,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Autumn crocus are called 'naked ladies' as their flowers emerge without foliage.
autumn crocus,Colchicum autumnale,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
A single autumn crocus surrounded by petunias.
autumn crocus,Colchicum autumnale,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Their leaves emerge in spring and the leafless flowers bloom in the fall.
Common Name: autumn crocus, meadow saffron, naked ladies
Botanical Name: Colchicum autumnale
Form:   low, spreading
Family: Colchicaceae
Genus: Colchicum
Species: autumnale
Plant Type:  perennial corm
Mature Size: 6 to 10 inches
Origin: Great Britain, Europe
Hardiness Zone: 4 to 8
Foliage: 5-8 dark green, strap-like leaves up to 10" long, appears in spring then dies back during the summer.
Flowers: showy lavender-pink to lilac-pink cup shaped flowers that open into stars, appear in August, Sept without any foliage
Fruit: small brown seeds form in capsules
Exposure: full sun, part shade
Soil: rich, well drained soils
Uses: woodlands, mix borders, fall colour, naturalizing
Propagation:  divide corms, sow seeds
Pruning: cut back foliage once it turns yellow
​Problems: as their abundant foliage yellows in summer, it becomes unsightly, they also multiply quickly
Comments: Each corm grows an abundance of foliage in spring that yellow and dies back in summer. In August and September, multiple flowers emerge from each leafless corm, hence their common name ‘naked ladies’. Avoid locations where they take center stage during the summer as their yellowing foliage is abundant. Grow in containers so you can place them where you want when they are in flower.  Reduce water when the foliage starts to yellow. Although their common name implies they are a crocus, however, they are not related. 
autumn crocus,Colchicum autumnale,September gardens,September plants,September flowers,fall gardening,autumn gardening,landscaping jobs,The Garden Website.com,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda’s Garden Consulting,Amanda Jarrett
Since their foliage dies back in summer, fall crocus look best when tucked in with other plants or just plant them in containers.

Need Help?

Picture
Need help figuring what to do in your garden? Make an appointment for Amanda to come to your garden to show you how to grow food, sow seeds, prune, design beds etc.  Need help trying to figure out how to get the garden ready for spring? Get Amanda to teach you the ropes by making an appointment here. 

THE GARDEN WEBSITE INDEX


​About & Services ​                        Contact ​                         Job Postings ​              Ask Amanda                     Classes & Workshops

Learn How to Garden Introduction 
  • Planting Know How
  • Soil Building
  • Cover Crops
  • Composting
  • Compost Tea
 ​ Growing Food Introduction
  • Crop Succession, Crop Rotation, Companion Planting
​Pruning
Lawns
Container Growing 101
  • Choosing a Container
Monthly Flower Arrangements
Growing Roses Introduction 
  • Types of Roses
  • Climbing Roses
  • Rose Insects & Diseases
  • Pruning Roses
Mulching & Types Introduction
  • Living Mulches – Groundcovers​
Fertilizing & Feeding Plants Introduction
  • Fertilizers & Ratios
  • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
  • Organic Plant Food
Propagation Introduction
  • Growing Seed Outdoors
  • Growing Seed Indoors
  • Taking Cuttings
​Amanda’s Blog
Plant of the Month

for the tropical Gardener

Ornamental Tropical Shrubs,Pineapple Press,Amanda Jarrett,thegardenwebsite.com
While working in Florida as horticultural consultant, it became apparent that there was a need for a book on tropical shrubs. There are so many wonderful shrubs to choose from, so I wrote a reference book to make the selections easier. Ornamental Tropical Shrubs includes pictures in full colour and information about the plants in point form. So if you live in the tropics and subtropics and need a reference book on tropical shrubs, or you just want to have a look-see click here. 


Love plants, love to garden. ​
​Amanda's Garden Company
The Garden Website ​

Copyright 2017 The Garden Website.com, Amanda's Garden Consulting Company - All Rights Reserved

Home

 About, Services & Contact

Ask Amanda

Copyright © 2017
  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Astilbes
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
  • Garden Tour Blogs
    • Hatley Castle's Italian Garden
    • Butchart Gardens, Oct 2021
    • Butchart's Japanese Garden
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe