Order or purchase bulbs by October 1 for best availability and choice selections. Store the bulbs in a cool, dry room until you plant them late October to Thanksgiving. Winter annuals, such as pansies, violas, snap dragons, kale, and swiss chard should be planted as early as possible. This means ripping out your summer annuals when they are looking there best. Violas have smaller blooms than pansies, but perform far superior.
Continue dead heading annuals and perennials to encourage more blooms until frost.
Mid-to-late September is a great time to aerate. fertilize and over seed your lawn! Aerators must have workable soil. We suggest turning on your irrigation the night before aerating to make sure the soil is able to be punctured by the machine. Aerating a bone dry lawn is a waste of money!
When fertilizing, use a fertilizer with a higher first number. For example, 16-4-8 or 15-5-10. These show the ratio of these three elements, in that order – N-P-K. As long as the fertilizer has a high first number relative to the others, the Nitrogen number, it will stimulate growth and be suitable for Fescue grass. It is important to fertilize by a program, whether you hire the work done or do it yourself. Contact one of the many commercial applicators or visit one of the stores in the area that sell a fertilizer program.
Liming is best done in the fall as well. It can take over a year for the lime to become active. If moss begins to grow, the soil is definitely too acid. Get a soil test to find out if you need to lime for sure if moss is not growing. Applying 20 pounds of lime per 1,000 square feet twice a year will create soil conditions more conducive to healthy grass.
