BY CHERYL CAPALDO TRAYLOR
This is one of a series of online articles we offer on maintaining and improving your garden throughout the year.
Ah, at long last, the nights and mornings begin to feel a bit cooler and fall-like. By mid-September, the sun isn’t nearly as high in the sky and the angle of light falls more gently on the garden, and on us. Although temperatures still tend to be high, this liminal space between late summer and early fall invites gardeners to begin feeling reinvigorated and excited about getting back into the garden. We are fortunate to live in Central North Carolina where gardening is a four-season adventure.
The focus here is on ornamental gardening. See the NC State Extension website for information on vegetables and lawns.
Planting
- Prep your garden beds now as fall is the best time to plant shrubs, trees and most hardy perennials in Zone 8a Raleigh. It’s also a great time for relocating plants.
- Perform a soil test to determine what nutrients are missing and how to amend the soil.
- If test results advise additional lime is needed, fall is an excellent time to apply. Mix into soil with a garden fork and then water. It takes at least three months for lime to alter soil pH, so wait until the spring to plant beds treated with lime.
- Add compost or other organic matter to soil.
- Order spring-flowering bulbs like daffodils, crocus, allium and tulips now for best selection.
- Sow pansy, snapdragon and calendula seeds.
- Purchase seeds of poppies, larkspur and aquilegia to be direct-sown in November.
Pruning
- Hold off on most pruning until winter. Dead or damaged wood can be pruned anytime.
- If hydrangea blooms are looking brown and ragged, cut them back to a healthy set of leaves.
Perennial Care
- Divide crowded daylilies by using a spade or the double-fork method.
- Divide German and Siberian iris, discarding any rhizomes that are soft.
- Other perennials to divide in late summer include coreopsis, coneflower, hosta, beebalm, phlox and yarrow.
- Continue deadheading to encourage more blooms. Some plants, like sunflower, black-eyed Susans and coneflowers, attract song birds, so you may leave some seedheads intact.
- Continue fertilizing most perennials and roses through September.
- Lift and divide overcrowded surprise lilies (Lycoris) bulbs after blooming.
- Many tender plants, including scented Geraniums (pelargonium), wax begonias and coleus, do well indoors after spending summer outside. Take cuttings or bring the entire plant inside to overwinter.
Containers
- When the weather cools, switch out summer annuals for fall and winter annuals. Some top-performing cold-weather container plants include pansies, snapdragons, ornamental kale and cabbages.
- Well before the first frost, prepare houseplants to bring inside. Repot or freshen soil, if needed. Prevention is important, so check for insects that are trying to hitch a ride inside.
Disease, Weeds and Pests
- Keep weeding! Every season brings different weeds for gardeners to learn about and eradicate.
- After weeding, mulch can be applied to discourage future weed seeds from germinating.
- Consider Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies, such as selecting pest-resistant varieties and encouraging beneficial insects, to reduce many destructive garden pests.
Above all, enjoy your garden!
Cheryl Capaldo Traylor is a professional gardener and owner at Six Seasons Garden Consulting. She creates and tends beautiful gardens in the Raleigh area. Through writing she explores her lifelong love of nature and plants. https://sixseasonsgarden.com.
