September in the Garden / build your own rainbarrel

tel: 512 280-1192 Thurs, September 11, 2014

Nursery Notes: on sale this weekend - tropical hibiscus $9.99

(reg. $19.99); Pride of Barbados reg. $14.99, now $9.99; and

the dollar table of spring & summer annuals remains on sale.

Also we have a sale table of select perennials - reg. $14.99 each,

now $9.99. 2 gal bougainvilleas reg. $19.99, on sale for $14.99.

All metal art - 50% off! / Veggies in this week: spinach, collard

greens, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, and Swiss chard,

cabbage and kale and cilantro and parsley. Bags of corn gluten

reg. $49.99, now $44.99 enough to cover 2,000 sq feet!

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How to Create your own Rain Barrel: In this excellent video,

you'll learn how to build your own barrel for under $50 using a

drill and some saws. A fine project for the cool temperatures of

the coming weekend! Presented by Fine Gardening Magazine

Potpourri garden: Aside from use in the kitchen, you can grow

and harvest herbs (and roses) to make a potpourri for your house,

or as a holiday gift. Mint, lavender, lemon or orange thyme, rose-

mary, cinnamon basil, sweet woodruff, scented geranium, lemon

verbena and lemon balm are all good choices. More notes on the

subject by east Texan Inez Denson: potpourri

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Fall annuals: as temperatures cool, we can plant petunias (above) dianthus & snapdragons.

September in the Garden

by Chris Winslow

This is a month of transition, as we move from the doldrums of sum-

mer into what can be one of the busiest of seasons for central Texas

gardeners. Some guidelines for this month.

1. Cutback annual summer flowers, mulch, and feed. We have about

80 days until the first frost . . . plenty of time to get a renewed flush

of color.

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2. Depending on the amount of rain we’re having, be ready to water

your trees, shrubs, turf grass and landscape beds. Slow, deep water-

ing will encourage a deep root system and make your landscape

more able to withstand drought.

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3. Plant new vegetables for fall and winter harvests during the last

week of Sept: broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.

(see last week's article by Amanda for more details on this.)

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4. Buy bulbs. The season to plant tulips, hyacinths, crocus, jonquils,

daffodils, grape hyacinths and anemones is just around the corner.

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5. Mulch all beds and trees with compost mixed with mulch. This

mixture will protect plant roots from heat and cold extremes, and

conserve water.

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6. Inspect trees for fall webworms, and if you find them, come up

with a strategy to get rid of them using Thuricide or Dipel.

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7. Fertilize lawn towards the end of the month. (Please choose an

organic fertilizer.)

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8. Be on ‘brown patch alert’ for your grass, and be ready to treat

this disease with the organic Actinovate.

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9. Keep on the lookout for a world of fall bedding (annual) plants.

As temperatures cool, we can begin to plant dianthus, snapdragons,

and petunias.

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10. Watch for black spot and mildew on roses. With cooler weather,

these pesky rose diseases will begin to show up. An organic spray

of Neem oil or wettable sulfur should help in keeping it at bay.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com

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