Tending the Garden - July to December
This is a continuation of our Tending the Garden article January to June. If you are the type of person who loves schedules, makes lists and who has a life mission to organize your life, you will love this month by month garden timetable. However, if you are the type of person who feels overwhelmed by all the work you see in the garden and don’t know where to start, you will love it, as well.
July
- Soak trees slow and deep in dry locations.
- Weed and apply mulch in the garden.
- Deadhead flowers and feed them with a high phosphorus fertilizer.
- Plant gladiola bulbs
- Sow vegetable seeds for fall crops, such as cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli and radishes.
- Cut and dry (or freeze) herbs for winter.
- Thin out fruit in fruit trees.
- Turn the compost pile, monthly.
- Mow the lawn.
August
- Pull up onions when the tops fall over. Place them in the sun for several days to cure.
- Water the garden in early morning, while it is cooler.
- Remove fallen fruit from under trees.
- Harvest vegetables.
- Mow the lawn.
September
- Harvest fall vegetables, such as pumpkins and squash, before the first frost.
- Pot up any outdoor herbs you wish to bring indoors for the winter.
- Pull all weeds.
- Fertilize the lawn at the beginning of the month.
- Reseed the lawn, if needed, for next spring.
- Shop for spring flower bulbs to plant in the fall.
October, November, December
- As plants begin to go dormant, make sure they get a long slow watering, if it has been dry in your location.
- Continue to mow the lawn, as long as it needs it.
- Work compost into garden beds.
- Plant spring flowering bulbs before the ground freezes.
- Trim broken and dead branches from trees.
- Pull up annuals.
- Mulch flowerbeds.
- Drain and store hoses. Drain any drip systems.
- Store garden tools after cleaning and oiling them.
- Do a thorough garden clean up before it’s too cold to work outdoors.
- Mulch any remaining plants.
See the first part of this article. Tending the Garden – January to June.
