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STREET ADDRESS Durham County 721 Foster St Durham, NC 27701 (919) 560-0525 Phone (919) 560-0530 Fax Map & Mailing Information 
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Gardening Guide for SeptemberMaster Gardener Office, 919-560-0528LAWN CARE Remember this tip for fertilizing cool-season (fescue, bluegrass) lawns: Fertilize around Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day. 7 Fescue lawns are green and growing throughout the cool months of fall, winter, and spring. Use a slow-release fertilizer formulated for turf. Plant fescue seed to fill in bare spots or rejuvenate your lawn. The best time to plant fescue seed in the Triangle is the first half of September. Doing it right will pay dividends for years to come. Proper soil preparation is critical. Call for a publication on lawn care and renovation. If you haven't collected soil samples, do it now! Overseed warm season grasses with ryegrass in late September. Control winter weeds with a pre-emergent herbicide applied from September 1-15 on lawn and shrub plantings. TREES & SHRUBS Watch for borers, which are serious pests of fruit trees in the Prunus genus. Cherry, plum, peach, apricot, nectarine, and cherry-laurels, including ornamental varieties, are all vulnerable to borers. Watch for little piles of sawdust on the trunk or around the ground, or small entry holes in the trunk. Call your Cooperative Extension Center for ways to control borers. Prepare plants for dormancy. Trees and shrubs need time in the fall to slow down and prepare for the winter, so do not fertilize or prune after July. Properly acclimated plants are less susceptible to damage from winter weather. ORNAMENTALS Divide spring- and summer-blooming perennials, such as daisies, daylilies, and creeping phlox, that are overgrown. This is an easy way to enlarge your garden without having to purchase more plants. Dig the plants, gently separate them into smaller clumps, and replant immediately. They'll have plenty of time to get re-established before next spring. Set out cool-weather annuals for winter color. In addition to the familiar pansies and ornamental cabbages, other cool-weather ornamentals such as dianthus, snapdragons, dusty-miller, and ornamental sage will look great throughout the winter. Wait to plant spring bulbs till chillier fall weather arrives. VEGETABLES & FRUITS Start fall vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, collards, and cole crops to fill in empty spaces in the vegetable garden. LANDSCAPE IDEA Think ahead to next fall and consider plants that will provide autumn color. Trees such as ginkgo, red maple, southern sugar maple, Japanese maple, sourwood, crape myrtle and tulip poplar have outstanding autumn foliage color. The flowers of Sasanqua camellias and autumn-flowering chrysanthemums contribute much to the colorful autumn scene. Don't forget the brilliant red foliage of the burning bush (Euonymus alata) or rabbiteye blueberries. The berries of pyracantha, nandina, viburnum, beautyberry and many hollies provide bright accents into winter. WILDLIFE & INSECTS Check your lawn for white grubs. At this time of year, grubs (actually beetle larvae) are still small and close to the surface, and are relatively easy to control with soil insecticides or Milky Spore. Call for more information on controlling grubs. HOUSEPLANTS Plan to bring houseplants and tropicals indoors when temperatures dip below 50°F. Move plants into partial shade for a week to condition them to lower light levels indoors. Prune them, if necessary, to a manageable size. Give them a good bath in soapy water or spray with insecticidal soap to keep insect pests from moving indoors with them. Indoors, give tropical plants as much light as possible.
PUBLICATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER |
