October is the transition month, weather-wise, in western Oregon. Autumn has arrived, and with it, all the things we love—cooler days, vibrant fall colors, and a fresh start for your garden. Often, we begin experiencing some serious rains about mid-month, and then by Halloween, the rainy season has begun! · The last week of October (but sometimes the first week in November) is the last time that we mow lawns weekly. Watch your lawn so that you can decide the best time to stop the chore. · October is the first month we have a higher probability of being able to transplant from moist, soft soil into a moist, soft, new hole. All plants, of course, prefer to be dormant (asleep) when being transplanted. So, the coolness of October and (hopefully) moist soil are perfect for the beginning of the transplanting and planting season. The best planting time usually extends through the rainy season until about the middle of March. From mid-October to mid-March is the best time to plant in western Oregon. · If you want more bulbs in your garden to bloom in March, April, or May, visit your local nursery to purchase spring bulbs and plant them. October and November are the traditional months for planting spring bulbs. You can also plant fall bulbs, such as Saffron Crocus and Colchicums. However, do not expect much from them until next fall! · The rains will bring out the dormant, sleepy slugs, so setting slug bait out in your beds now will thwart a winter and spring invasion of new baby slugs! · The fall leaves will soon begin dropping all over your garden. Remember to keep them off the lawn/grass areas and instead rake or blow them into your beds. The wet leaves will cause damage if left on your lawn! (Sometimes only one day can leave a scorch mark on your lawn.) However, these leaves can become great free compost/mulch for your planting beds. · This month, mulch should be placed around potentially tender plants such as Cannas, Fuchsias, Dahlias, and Calla Lilies. This will insulate them from frosts or freezes this coming winter. · Get some bark mulch or chips and spread them two inches thick over any bare areas in your beds to prepare for the rainy season. This will prevent erosion and help to choke out sprouting weed seeds in spring. · Late October is a great time to broadcast Native hardy annual seeds. If you can get them going now, most species will sail through the summer months with no water needs.  Pro tips: · Plant garlic bulbs now for harvesting next summer. · Pick your green tomatoes and bring them into the garage to ripen. · Harvest sunflower heads and bring them into the garage to dry. These are great birds to set out over the winter for birds or human snacking. · Dig and store potatoes. Harvest apples, squash, and pumpkins, keeping them all in a dark, dry, cool place around 40-45 degrees. · Harvest filberts and walnuts, placing them on mats where they can dry at about 60 degrees to get them ready for cracking and eating. · Harvest the red Saffron pistils from your Saffron crocuses. It would help if you were quick to harvest each day because the rain and slugs will quickly spoil the beautiful red threads. · Consider digging up and storing your Pelargoniums, hanging Fuchsias and Begonia bulbs in a cool, dry location in shredded newspapers or shavings for the winter, and watering them lightly once a month over the winter to keep them alive. Do not let them freeze! · Consider propagating these plants from stem cuttings: Fuchsias, Chrysanthemums, and Pelargoniums. Put them in moist, sandy soil and cover them with a clear plastic bag–this keeps the moisture in. Also, keep them away from freezing temperatures. Give them some light from a window, and if they are at room temperature, they will root faster. · Spray peach, cherry, and prune trees with a simple fruit tree and copper spray to prevent cankers and leaf curl diseases. · Store any chemicals and fertilizers out of the moisture and away from children. · Clean and prepare your greenhouse for winter storage. · Consider manipulating light now to force your Christmas Cactus to bloom around the holidays. This is done indoors.

Garden Tips and Tricks for September 2024 September and October are my two favorite months of the year. The weather is beginning to cool down, but we still have some beautiful sunny days. Halloween is just around the corner and I have an abundance of bird activity in the garden still. Mornings are noticeably chilly, and it feels nice to add an extra layer to stay warm. The transition to Fall is my favorite! September Gardening Tasks: Slack off on watering in the beds, but water if your soil is dry. Less water now hardens plants off for winter. Weed. Yes, keep doing this! Never give up! September/October are the best months to plant new or to renovate old lawns, particularly as the air gets cooler and before it gets completely cloudy and cold. You may want a landscape company to perform this task for you. Bait for slugs. Remember the beer option, and if you do, make sure to bury something like a mason jar in the earth and fill it with beer to 1” below the lip, that way the slugs won’t be able to lean in and get a sip but will instead fall in. You can begin trimming off the tops of those perennials which have finished blooming and have turned brown, this will help to clear up the clutter before Winter arrives. September and on through March are the best months of the year to transplant or plant. The peak month for planting and transplanting is November. Pick and store winter squash when it is ready. This is usually late in September. Keep picking tomatoes and potatoes. Early September is the last month to plant your winter vegetable garden west of the Cascades. Examples are winter hardy kale, Brussels sprouts, different Italian greens, broccoli, raab, turnips, cabbage, kohlrabi and more. September is also the final month for regular summer lawn fertilizer application (use a special Fall/Winter mix for November). Now is a good time to take Rhododendron cuttings to start new ones if you are so inclined. Prepare your compost piles for recycling vegetation from your gardens and deciduous trees this fall. Use a copper spray for peach and cherry trees during dry periods. If you are prone to these diseases, spray for bacterial canker of blueberries, leaf cane spot and juniper twig blight (after pruning away dead and infected twigs) during dry periods. Bring houseplants indoors after cleaning and re-potting them, if nights get too cool. If possible, keep them out through October. Short Blog on How to Over Seed Your Lawn The best time for over seeding (filling in bare spots) or just grass seeding in general is September/October/November or March/April/ May. Scratch/rough up the bare areas in the lawn with a hard rake. Sprinkle some seed over these bare areas with just a little natural fertilizer and lime. Cover it to no more than ¼” deep with grass seed mulch. This looks like straw but does not have the weed seeds like straw bales have! Keep the area moist but NOT soaking wet. Lots of spritzes on hot days and just a few spritzes on cloudy days. Wait about two weeks to see what happens. If tiny green shoots, like green dog hair, begin appearing, you are doing well. If no green appears—or not enough to create happiness—repeat the performance every three weeks until you have grass. Keep the bag of grass seed in a cool place (like a garage) over the winter. In the summer put it in a refrigerator. (Watch out for rodents, they love the stuff!) Remember that overseeding a lawn regularly here and there in damaged areas is just a part of the life of owning a home which has a lawn.

Summer is full-on, and we can all expect sunny, warm days. I naturally call this time of the year the Dry Season because that is what it normally is! That also means that if I plant ANYTHING, I had better hand water it because irrigation systems are meant to maintain plants, not get them through the hot, dry summer! Next summer, the system will take care of it, but not this summer! Weeds: I should encounter fewer weeds this month as the dryer weather prevents most seeds from sprouting. Therefore, unless my weeds are setting seeds, I pull them up and lay the helpless little things out in the hot, dry sun, where they can desiccate and turn to mulch! Mow regularly: I continue mowing at my preferred higher setting for the summer months rather than a low setting—this keeps the lawn healthier. It also helps to shade the grass roots and keep them cooler. This is especially important if I am trying to keep my irrigation system turned down to conserve money and water. Water: Make sure to water those plants that need a drink! The best time to water is in the early morning so that it does not evaporate quickly or blow away in the breeze. Generally, I set my irrigation so that it puts out one inch a week for the lawn. (Use up to 2” if it has been hot and dry). The planting beds get about half that amount of water per week! I recommend a drip system as it uses less water, and if you use the underground system, you don’t even see the water as it is under the mulch; there are NO little black spaghetti drippers to trip over! I always monitor my veggie garden closely so that crops do not dry out, and harvest regularly! Bouquets in the house! This is a great month to walk through the garden in the cool morning air to pick whatever looks good to bring into the house, either foliage or flowers. Fertilize: I will fertilize cucumbers, summer squash, and broccoli this month. I harvest vegetables when ripe to stimulate further production. Pest Control: I use Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) to control caterpillars on leafy vegetables, Geraniums, and Petunias, as needed. This bacteria is a disease of Caterpillars and won’t harm other creatures, including me! Keep in mind that insects are an important aspect of any habitat garden. Mulch: I use mulch to protect the soil and the plant’s roots from hot weather damage. Arborvitae care: It is essential to watch browning patches in the Arborvitae during the hot, dry summer months. This means that spider mite control is needed. They are a problem, particularly with Arborvitae hedges, hose off their foliage once a month, once a day, and for three days in a row. I usually pick the weekend to do this, so I spray once on Friday, then on Saturday, and then on Sunday. Arborvitae hedges are very susceptible to spider mite damage, and as a result, in a hot, dry summer, they can brow out or die! I have seen a lot of dead Arborvitae around. I avoid using Kelthane and other poisons for Spider mites. It is very poisonous for humans and animals. If I can just make the effort, spraying the foliage with water is not that big of a deal! Fleas: August is an important month to control outdoor fleas with spray (if one has outdoor pets.)

It’s been a few months since I posted part 1 of my visit to Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens, and I've received messages asking when part 2 would be posted, so here you go! If you missed part 1, you can catch it [here] .