Phil’s Garden Tips and Tricks for September 2022
My two favorite months of the year are September and October. That is because these two months tend to remain on the dry side with sunny skies yet have cooler weather than either July or August. September is also Summer’s last month, and I think that it is the best month of summer. Take a moment as you walk, jog or drive to enjoy the slow change of the seasons. The rainy season will be with us soon, usually by the end of October. The transition here in Western Oregon from Summer into Fall is so different than the transition between Spring into Summer. Spring’s entrance is often a furious fight between the chilly wet days of winter and the warmer sunnier days of summer. This competition often includes storms, frosts, winds, sudden heat and so on. Fall’s entrance, on the other hand, comes upon us with a slow, cooling, gentle slide into the rainy season and on into winter.
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.
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.








