Cool nights, rainfall and morning dew are just about as good as it gets for grass. Now the lawn is ready to grow again, and is looking for the nutrients it needs to recover from summer damage. Some experts will say this is the single most important lawn feeding of the year.

Apply your final feeding right before the winter months, when grass is prepping for a winter nap. This will strengthen roots and increase nitrogen storage for an early spring green up and a healthier lawn next year.

As I am writing this, we are experiencing our first real rain of the 2009 – 2010 season. There are certain activities that are important to be doing now to maintain your lawn’s vigor and health. While I often advocate for reducing turf areas to save water – I am also an advocate for maintaining the health and vitality of your landscape! Your lawn will respond best to feedings in the fall. I refer clients to Scotts Annual Lawn Care Program. It is a region specific program and it will tellyou which fertilizer is best for your particular lawn. I also like Scotts Turf Builder WinterGuard Fall Fertilizer.

Fall also presents a great opportunity to eliminate weeds in your lawn. There are many weed and feed products that can be found at your local home improvement store .. even Target. I like Ortho Weed-B-Gon MAX. Be sure to select the right product for your grass type.

Be on the lookout for lawn diseases that could start to thrive in the fall conditions when it is damp. If you suspect a disease is affecting your lawn just e-mail me at debbyevans@att.net with a photo attached and I will do my best to help you identify the source.

Dealing with Leaves and General Garden Care

Fall leaves are your garden’s FREE secret to having a beautiful chemical-free landscape. Shredded leaves allow you to turn your kitchen and garden waste into compost. That disease fighting, plant feeding, soil improving gardener’s gold! And shredded leaves are the absolute best mulch for your garden plants; preventing weeds better than most barks. But if you are not the composting, shredding leaves kind of gal or guy dealing with your leaves will still be important. Because they block the sunlight from reaching the grass blades, try not to allow the leaves to build up on your lawn. When leaves start falling, try to remove them from the lawn or as stated above mulch them by shredding them and using for mulch or your composting.

If leaves fall in your area, clear them out of garden beds (unless you have shred them for mulch) so they will not provide a nesting place for insects. Keep cool-weather annuals and perennials growing strong and healthy with the proper nutrients by feeding them every other week with Miracle Gro Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food or any good slow release fertilizer (lasting up to 3 months).

Planting

Fall is a good time to control the spread and improve the health of your perennials by dividing and transplanting. Make sure the roots on the divided plant are large enough to support it, and place divided perennials at the same depth as the original plant. Feed transplants with Miracle Gro Quick Start Starting Solution (good for all new plants – potted or in the ground) to prevent transplant shock and stimulate growth. I mix 1/3 Firmulch with 2/3 of our soil to amend my planting beds before any kind of planting.

A great neighborhood activity is a plant swap. As everyone is dividing perennials, share with your neighbors to increase the variety of plants in your gardens.

Want to add color to your deck or front porch? Put together a container of beautiful mums to add fall color. Pot them in your favorite potting soil. Never use soil from the garden to plant in containers.

Fall is a good time to add vining plants to your garden or container planters. In the Sacramento region Clematis ‘Ernest Markham’ or ‘Nelly Moser’ are great. They need some shade from the heat of summer but will bloom repeatedly. ‘Campsis Radicans’ or Trumpet Creeper is a vigourous climber with clusters of trumpet-shaped orange to red flowers from late summer through autumn. Coral Honeysucke and Trumpet Honeysuckle (‘Lonicera sempervirens’) are woody, twining climbers with two-lipped, tubular scarlet-orange flowers, yellow inside, in terminal whorls in summer and autumn. Bright red fruit appears in autumn. ‘Lonicera japonica’ or Japanese Honeysuckle has dark green leaves, white flowers (sometimes flushed with purple), aging to yellow. Flowers of the Honeysuckle mature to blue-black fruit attracting birds and other wildlife.

Enjoy your garden … whether rain and wind … sun or snow.

Be safe and Happy Fall Gardening!