September 2004
Edible
- Pot up
rosemary and chives
for the indoor garden .
- Watch for the annual arrival of the multi-colored Asian
lady beetle. These are the good guys. They eat scales and
aphids. In the fall , they are looking for a place to spend the
winter, preferably your home. They will also lounge on the side
of your house by the hundreds. They will not reprduce indoors.
Best control indoors is to vacuum them up.
- Sign up for the Chicago Master Gardener program. Classes start
in January at Garfield Park Conservatory. Apply online at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/cook/mgchicago/index.html
or call 773-233-0476.
Ornamental
- Select spring blooming
bulbs for fall planting. Select bulbs that are firm and free
of soft spots. Larger bulbs will produce larger blooms.
- Plant
trees and shrubs now. The hole should be two times the diameter
of the root ball, but at the same depth. Keep the plant watered
until the soil freezes.
- Bring houseplants
indoors. Rinse the leaves and check the plants for any signs of
insects and disease. Isolate the plants from the rest of your
houseplant collection for two to three weeks.
- Control creeping
charlie and dandelions
with a broadleaf weed killer. Control is more effective in the
fall than the spring.
- Dig up dahlias,
caladiums , cannas, gladioli and tuberous begonias before the
first hard frost. Our average date of first frost is around mid-
October. Store in vermiculite or peat moss under cool temperatures.
- Fertilize
the lawn with a controlled release nitrogen fertilizer. Controlled
release fertilizers release small amounts of fertilizer over a
long period of time. This provides more uniform growth. If conditions
are dry at the time of application, water the lawn.
- Start a compost
pile with plant debris and leaves. A good mix is two parts
grass clippings to one part leaves. Layer this material in 5 to
7-inch layers with a handful of soil. Soil contains microbes,
which help to breakdown the plant material.
- Watch for fall color. Some trees because of a summer dry spell
and our unusually cool summer temperatures started turning two
weeks ago. This could mean an early fall color peak in Northern
Illinois. Our normal peak is around mid-October. For more information
about fall foliage, check out the web site, the Miracle of Fall
at www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/fallcolor
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