Before Labor Day, check out the sales at garden centers to get deals on summer perennials. Note: Some garden centers are closed or have limited hours on Labor Day. Days have turned cooler, and, hopefully, rain will become more frequent. As a result, September and early fall are an ideal time to plant perennials, shrubs, and trees.
And don’t forget ornamental grasses as accents in your perennial border. Native grasses also provide for native wildlife foraging for pollen, seeds, or nesting material. Plus, grasses add texture and subtle color for months. They contribute structure to a good garden design by anchoring the scheme. Grasses do it all; they are like a lazy gardener triple play.
Fall annual color is also available from garden centers, garden departments, and grocery stores. Long-blooming annuals like million bells, cosmos, and marigolds may be looking spent by now. You can replace fading plants with frost-tolerant mums, ornamental cabbage or kale, potted dwarf annual sunflowers, or annual grasses for color into October. These plants won’t overwinter, but they will survive frost into November.
We have already started to feel hints of autumn with cooler temperatures. However, hot days have followed the cold nights, and some perennials, shrubs, and trees have started to turn color or drop leaves from the stress of temperature swings this summer.
We are getting close to fall harvest season! Support your local orchard. Apple picking has started at many locations. Still one of the nicest and simplest autumn pleasures, picking apples is an economical way to get a variety of apple flavors for eating fresh, cooking into desserts, or melding into a unique apple sauce. In 2023, a late frost decimated the apple crop, but apples are back in 2024!
In my garden, I have been focusing on picking zucchini, starting a fall crop of greens, and picking new strawberries. A few tomato plants—normally prolific—haven’t exploded like I expected. I blame too much competition from cilantro plants. However, one plant in a pot may have been overwatered. Another started to show signs of tomato hornworm damage. Tomato flowers and whole sprigs of tomato blossoms disappeared overnight. Strangely, I didn’t see any frass from the caterpillar feast.
I kept looking and then, voila! I spotted the fiend. I still don’t know why I didn’t see any droppings, but no matter. Sections of the plant would be stripped from one day to the next. I discovered the three-inch-long, half-inch-thick pest; confirmed there were no white parasitic eggs on its back; and I destroyed it. I would normally suggest you pinch off tomato blossoms in late August to encourage the plant’s energy focus on the current fruit. The hornworm did the task for me, at least on one plant.
I found the pupa of a hornworm in the soil this spring, but of course, they can fly in from elsewhere and lay eggs. Try leaving a brush pile or leaf pile near your vegetable garden through the winter and spring to encourage overwintering parasitic wasps who can help keep pest pressure down.
Other vegetable garden strategies for late August include topping Brussels sprouts to create more uniform sprouts along the stalk. By topping, I mean you prune off the top growing tip of the Brussels sprouts stalk. The plant will then direct growth to the sprouts along the stem.
I planted spinach seeds a month ago and they sprouted, but I think heat and rapidly drying soil have stalled out the plants. I suggest waiting to sow your fall spinach crop until soil temperature is 60 degrees. The plants will have a better start.
As days get shorter, the sun doesn’t dry out the soil as quickly, but it is best to keep up a regular watering routine to help plants prepare for winter. Many plants set buds now for spring bloom. Plants undergoing drought stress will reduce the number of buds and weaken. Keep up the watering routine on new plantings by watering deeply one to two days a week. My vegetable garden still needs thorough watering daily.
I will sort through my garlic and other vegetables to cull any damaged and bruised bulbs, then use those first. Limit winter storage of onions, carrots, and potatoes to those in the best condition. Damaged fruits can easily spread pests and fungus to otherwise healthy produce. The Lazy Berkshire Gardener does a little sorting now to avoid cleaning up a mess later.
I call myself the Lazy Berkshire Gardener because I don’t want to work too hard in my gardens. I want to enjoy them. I find it easier to observe my landscape and let the compost happen, the water pool up, or daisies to self-sow. I look for ways to do the minimum task for the biggest impact. For example, mulching is better than spraying and much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that thrive in or at least tolerate my garden conditions. Plus, I am willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.
