FOOTBALL ISN’T the only thing that kicks off in September; so does our fall gardening season. Now is a time to think differently about your garden and landscape’s health.
It’s time to plant annual flowers and vegetable plants. Also, if you’re looking to transplant any trees and shrubs, now is a good time.
Here are some additional tips for fall gardening: check your soil’s pH, or acidity level, before you plant. We’ll do that for you for free at Doty’s Farm & Garden Supply in Winter Haven. Just make sure your samples come in dry.
It’s also time to fertilize your lawn. The heavy rains of August have washed out any nutrients in the soil. This month is an opportunity to ensure that your grass receives quality nutrients. Be sure to check for chinch bugs, sod webworms, mole crickets, and fungus. If you have any weak patches of grass, there’s still time to seed, plug, or sod them.
You can feed your azaleas, gardenias, camellias, and ixoras with a good acid-type fertilizer. But those poinsettias should have been pruned for the last time before Christmas by September 10.
CREDIT
column by BILL DOTY
BIO: William R. “Bill” Doty is owner of Doty Farm and Garden Supply Inc., founded in Winter Haven in 1954. Bill graduated from Winter Haven High School and Florida State University. Growing up, he learned valuable lessons in listening and asking questions and was a student of the family business. Bill shares his knowledge with his customers daily and with the readers of Central Florida Ag News monthly.
