What to do in the Garden this Month

Indian Summer is upon us!  We never know if or when a blast of warm weather will hit, but we love it when it does!  Don't worry, frost will be here and the leaves will change all too soon.  I love to start new hardscape projects this time of the year.  My enthusiasm for gardening has not dropped off but harvesting and maintenance has, giving me time and energy to build a new fence or put in a new bed.  There's always a bed to dig up and re-do ~ it's a wonderful time of year to dig!!

Here's a list of tasks for the garden this month.  Enjoy!

• Dethatching your lawn is a great task to do early this month.   
• Rake leaves and add them to your compost pile.
• While you are at it, turn the compost pile.
• Dig up tender herb plants such as rosemary, thyme and transplant in containers to bring indoors.  These plants need a rest period so keep them in a cooler area of your house over the winter.  Enjoy adding them to culinary dishes throughout the winter.
• Brussel sprouts, kale, and kohlrabi are cold-tolerant veggies and best harvested in cooler weather. 
• Plant garlic cloves for next season.  
• Beets, carrots, leeks and turnips will survive into early winter if mulched with straw or leaves. 
• Continue to add spring flowering bulbs to your gardens.
• Cut dahlias back and dig up the tubers after the first heavy frost. Brush off dirt and air dry.  Share some with your friends.  Store tubers in a cardboard box between layers of vermiculite, peat moss, saw dust or wood shavings.  The bulbs can also be potted in a soilless mix and stored in the cellar or heated garage.  Do not water until mid-May. Store at 35 - 45 degrees.
• Canna bulbs must be dug up once a heavy frost hits.  Cut back the stalks, dig up the bulbs and store them in an airy container with peat moss or rice hulls to help maintain bulb moisture.
• Transplant trees or shrubs now. Water them well.
• Gather fallen leaves, twigs, fruit and debris to keep disease at a minimum. 
• Remove spent annuals from your garden.  Compost them. :)
• Cut back spent perennial foliage to 3" or so.  Compost the stalks.