Gardening Calendar

Ornamentals

• Continue watering, especially evergreens if soils are dry.
• Weeks 1-2: For best bloom later this winter, Christmas cactus, potted azaleas and kalanchoe may be left outdoors until night temperatures drop to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Weeks 2-3: Cannas and dahlias can be dug when frost nips their foliage. Allow the plants to dry under cover in an airy, frostfree place before storage.
• Weeks 2-4: Spring bulbs for forcing can be potted up now and stored in a cool, frost-free place until it is time to bring indoors, usually 12 to 15 weeks.
• Week 3-4: Transplant deciduous trees once they have dropped their leaves.

Fruits

• Store apples in a cool basement in old plastic sacks that have been perforated for good air circulation.
• Weeks 2-3: Persimmons start to ripen, especially after frost.
• Week 3-4: Monitor fruit plantings for mouse activity and take steps for their control if present.
• Week 4: Place wire guards around trunks of young fruit trees for protection against mice and rabbits.

Vegetables

• Weeks 1-2: Continue harvesting tender crops before frost.
• Weeks 1-2: Dig sweet potatoes before a bad freeze.
• Weeks 1-2: Harvest winter squash and pumpkins before frost. For best storage quality, leave an inch or two of stem on each fruit.

Turfgrass

• Weeks 1-2: Seeding should be finished by October 15.
• Weeks 2-3: Broadleaf herbicides can be applied now to control cool season weeds such as chickweed and dandelion.
• Weeks 3-4: Continue mowing lawns until growth stops.
• Week 4: Winterize lawn mowers before storage.

Miscellaneous

• Weeks 1: Fall color season begins.
• Weeks 3: Begin peak fall color in maples, hickories and oaks.