The Whistling Gardener

by Steve Smith

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, located at 3915 Sunnyside Blvd., and a respected local expert on all things horticultural. You can reach Steve at 425-334-2002 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Would someone please tell me what happened to summer? Here we are in the first part of September and it is cold and cloudy and hardly conducive to working in the garden. My tomatoes are struggling to ripen and I bet the farmers are sweating out the pumpkin crop.

But I have been assured by my weather guru that more normal weather will return by this coming weekend (September 11-12). I sure hope he is right. In the meantime, like it or not, there is much to do in the garden, so here's my "to-do" list for September.

LAWNS: With the exception of a few days of really hot weather, lawns have had it pretty easy this summer. They should be looking at least halfway decent, and if you apply a slow-release organic fertilizer and spot spray for weeds, you should be in good shape. If you never sharpened your lawn mower blade this year, do it now so it doesn't bludgeon the grass blades to death. This is the perfect time to plant a new lawn or overhaul an existing one, so if that is on your agenda then visit the garden center and find out how the pros do it. Lawns planted this month will look fabulous all winter and take off super fast in the spring.

ROSES: You should be able to squeeze one more flush of blooms out of those beauties if you prune now and fertilize, but this is your last chance. Fall is prime mildew season, so a timely application of a fungicide of your choice will keep this problem in check until the leaves start falling off in November. There is nothing quite like an arrangement of late blooming roses, Japanese anemones and some purple fountain grass to dress up the dinning table for a fall meal.

PERENNIALS: With this cool summer, my perennials have just kept blooming for what seems like forever. You would be amazed at the choices you can still find at the garden center too. Japanese Anemones and Toad Lilies are wonderful for the shade. Asters and upright Sedums work well in the sun. This is the ideal time to dig and divide large clumps of perennials like day lilies and irises. Share the extras with a neighbor. Always add some fertilizer and compost when you are planting. Those new little roots need the food. And water them in deeply since our soils tend to be very dry this time of year.

BULBS: Believe it or not, now is the perfect time to plant spring bloomers like tulips, daffodils, crocus and hyacinths. But that's not all! There are many other fine specialty and minor perennial bulbs available, most of which will naturalize and never have to be dug again. Buy them early while the selection is at its best, and then don't forget to plant them. I hate finding bags of shriveled bulbs in my basement in April!

FRUITS AND VEGGIES: Most of us think of September as harvest time. But it's also planting time for cool season crops like peas, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, carrots and garlic. After the last two Decembers, I would highly recommend that you figure out some way to build a cold frame over your veggies to keep them a bit warmer and safe from the snow and/or arctic blast. Fruit trees need their limbs supported before the weight of the fruit breaks them. Keep the ground underneath trees clean. This will help minimize diseases come spring.

CONTAINERS: Most of my mixed baskets and containers are on their last leg despite the TLC I have given them all summer. I am ready for a new and fresh look to carry me through the fall and winter. In addition to winter pansies, dusty miller and flowering cabbage and kale, I like to use herbs, grasses, evergreen perennials and small conifers in my containers. Think of using foliage and texture rather than just flowers, and don't forget to stuff a few bulbs underneath the plants while you are at it.

I think we are probably all in agreement about the challenges of this year. The weather has been our constant nemesis throughout the spring and summer and this fall isn't looking a whole lot better. But being the eternal optimists that all gardeners are, we just keep believing that the next day or week or month will surely be perfect and our gardens will flourish in the warmth and sunshine that nature rains down upon us. Here's hoping that September will be the month it happens.

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville. You can reach him at the nursery at 425-334-2002 or online at [email protected].