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Gardening Jobs for September

Compost should be watered during dry periods so that it remains active.

Now is a good time to evaluate the success of this year's garden. Make notes that will help you improve your garden next spring.

This is the best time to plant dormant evergreen trees and shrubs.

Correct any soil deficiencies you've noticed. Healthy soil is crucial to healthy plants.

Check coniferous trees for tip damage on new growth. If the tips have been mutilated by borers or otherwise damaged, remove them and establish a new leader by forcing a new side shoot into an upright position.

Young trees should be staked to prevent the roots from being pulled by fall and winter winds.

If you haven't brought your houseplants in yet, do it before you have to start heating your home. This gives them a chance to adjust. Wash them thoroughly before bringing them in to rid them of any pests and eggs.

As perennials fade away, mark their locations with small sticks. Some might not be apparent after the winter and might be disrupted by spring cultivating.

Plant spring bulbs as long as the ground is workable. Plant the following bulbs soon: trout lily, narcissus (including daffodil), snowdrop, winter aconite, starflower, and crown imperial. For crown imperial, add a little lime to the soil.

Take cuttings from such outdoor plants as impatiens, coleus, and begonia. An early frost can ruin your chances for cutting at a later date.

Dig up your rosemary, basil, tarragon, oregano, marjoram, English thyme, parsley, and chives to grow them inside as houseplants. Keep them in a cool, sunny spot, and allow the soil to dry out before watering. Snip off the leaves as needed in the kitchen, but do not strip them completely.

Onions are nearly ripe when the tips of the leaves turn yellow. Break them at the necks. This will speed the final ripening process. Loosen the soil to encourage drying, and after a few days turn them up and let them cure on dry ground. Always handle them very carefully -- the slightest bruise will encourage rot to set in.

Clean out any older growth of mint. It can become a nuisance, running rampant. Leave the younger stock.

Cider made from blemished apples, known as drops, will be fine, but avoid using too many apples with bruises or open wounds. If rot has already set in, it will affect the taste and longevity of the cider.

Supplement your apple pies with fruit frozen or canned earlier in the season.

If you have unripe tomatoes still on the vine and frost is fast approaching, pull out the vines by the roots and hang them upside down in a cool, dark place.

Transplant rhubarb, strawberries, and raspberries well before the first light frost so that some root development may take place. Rhubarb and strawberries deplete the soil of nutrients in a short time, so find new locations for them every three or four years.

Sunflower seeds are best dried on the plants. The seeds will be difficult to remove if you harvest the plants before they die naturally. Cover the heads with cheesecloth if you need to protect your crops from the birds.

On Michaelmas Day the devil puts his foot on the blackberries.

Prune those trees that are susceptible to disease if pruned in the spring, such as maple, birch, oak, and mountain ash.

This is a great time to plant new trees and shrubs because the new roots will have plenty of time to become established before the spring.

Fall is the best time to start lawn grasses from seed. Till the soil before sowing and provide several light waterings each week.

Dig the herbs from your garden and plant them in pots to bring indoors for the winter; such herbs include rosemary, parsley, chives, and thyme.

Begin moving houseplants inside.

Perennials can be divided and replanted.

Watch for frost forecasts. Harvest tomatoes before the first killing frost. Ripen indoors away from sunlight.

Harvest Brussels sprouts and parsnips once they've been exposed to frost.

If you want to prolong your fall crops, sow radish, lettuce, spinach, and other greens in cold frames.

Be sure to bury or throw away any fallen fruit to help keep away any unwanted pests from your yard.

Compost garden debris and kitchen scraps.

Take root cuttings from annuals, such as begonias, geraniums, and impatiens; plant them in a container and keep them in a sunny place indoors.

Save the seeds from your favorite self-pollinating flowers. Dry the seeds and store them in sealed containers for the winter.

Improve your garden soil by adding manure, compost, and leaves to provide it with more organic matter.

Aerate your lawn if the soil is compacted. Have your soil tested to see if you need lawn fertilizer.

Fertilize your lawn. Lawns fertilized in the fall are better equipped to survive the winter. Reseed in bare patches.

Begin cutting back on watering of the garden and lawn (except newly-seeded areas) so that plants can prepare for dormancy (not growth).

Save the seeds from your self-pollinating flowers, such as marigolds, cosmos, or coneflowers, to plant next spring by drying them and storing them in closed containers.

Plant spring wildflowers now.

If you purchased spring-blooming bulbs, plant them as soon as you get them.

In some areas, you can plant cool-season vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, carrots, garlic, Swiss chard, lettuce, beets, kale, parsnips, radishes, peas, spinach, turnips, and celery. See our seed-starting chart on Almanac.com/Gardening.

Plant cool-season annuals, such as pansies and snapdragons, when the temperature begins to decrease.

Plant any perennials. Divide and replant overcrowded perennial beds. Remember to apply a layer of organic matter to the new bed.

Use only phosphate fertilizers on perennials and bulbs (no nitrogen).

Do not fertilize annuals.

Cut back annuals when they finish flowering.

Plan to seed cool-season lawns, such as bluegrass or ryegrass, towards the end of the month; fall is the best time to establish such lawns.

Place tropical houseplants under shade trees to prepare them for winter indoors.