Community ClicksSeptember is a busy month as gardeners begin preparing the garden for winter.
General: Because the weather is cooler and rain usually returns to the North Olympic Peninsula, it is a great time to plant trees, shrubs, perennial flowers and bulbs.
Continue to water as usual until the rain returns, especially newly installed plants.
If you move plants, do it at least a month before the expected date of the first hard frost.
Rake leaves as they fall and use them to mulch flower beds for the winter or save them for compost.
If you moved houseplants outdoors for the summer, bring them back in but first examine them carefully for insects and diseases.
Bulbs: Plant spring-flowering bulbs now until the end of October.
Store them in paper or mesh bags in a cool, dry place until planted.
In general plant bulbs two to three times as deep as the height of the bulb.
Create or update maps of where your bulbs are planted so you do not disturb them before they sprout.
Flowers: Plant chrysanthemums and pansies for fall color.
Save seeds from hollyhock, zinnia, marigolds, cleome and nigella.
Pull out annuals with powdery mildew but do not compost them.
Do not plant, move or fertilize roses.
Take cuttings for propagation.
Continue to deadhead roses, but by the end of the month, let the old flowers go to hips (seeds) to help harden off plants for winter.
To overwinter non-hardy fuchsias and geraniums, cut them back and store them in a dry place that will not freeze.
Cut peony stems to the ground after the leaves fall, but do not compost the foliage.
Plant new peonies, but avoid moving or dividing old ones since they like to stay in the same place.
Divide spring-flowering perennials.
Sow very hardy perennial seeds.
Stop watering amaryllises and let them die back, if you want them to bloom for Christmas.
Trees and shrubs: Plant new trees and shrubs but be prepared to water them.
Transplant deciduous shrubs after the leaves have fallen.
Do not apply high nitrogen fertilizer or undertake pruning since this will stimulate new growth.
Fruit trees and small fruits: Harvest apples as they ripen and plums when they are ripe.
Remove plant debris around berries to prevent insects and diseases.
Prune second-year raspberry and blackberry canes, the ones that produced fruit this year, to the ground.
Apply organic fertilizers to berries in the fall to allow sufficient time for them to break down and provide nutrients when plants need them.
Thin strawberries and apply a layer of mulch to protect them during the winter.
Veggies: Plant winter cabbage early in the month.
Sow choys and mustards.
Consider sowing a cover crop that will be tilled into the soil to improve soil texture and nutrients.
Harvest onions when the tops fall over and turn yellow.
Plant next year’s garlic.
Lawns: Fertilize after the rains come with a 3-1-2 slow-release formula.
Renovate the lawn late this month with thatching, aerating and over-seeding.
Now is an ideal time to install new lawns.
Janet Oja and Marilyn Stewart are certified WSU Clallam County Master Gardeners.
For more free gardening help visit a local Master Gardener plant clinic.
The clinics are held on Saturdays at the Co-Op Farm & Garden, 216 E. Washington St. in Sequim, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through September and on Mondays at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October.
Bring samples of your problem plants and garden pests to clinic.
