Back when I was a county agent, I learned a trick to help farmers and ranchers save 75 percent of their time, effort and water by establishing alfalfa with seeds. The trick was to delay planting this perennial feed source till late August. Think about it, in August, the soil is warm. If you apply water to this warm soil, the alfalfa seed quickly germinates, and by October an established crop is ready to go into winter. If farmers and ranchers plant in the spring, they had to water and care for their crops throughout the heat of the summer. This trick can be applied to gardening and landscaping as well.
If you’ve been procrastinating putting in a new lawn, now is the time. Your soils are warm. With a little water, grass seed germination takes place much quicker than in spring when the soils are cold. Most lawn grasses, and especially Kentucky bluegrass, performs at its best in the cool of the season. Sure, it’s hot now, but we’re heading into the cool of autumn, and by October the lawn you planted in August will be fully established. The same goes for sodding a new lawn. Planting now will save you enormous amounts of time and water compared to a spring time planting.
This is also an excellent time to be planting trees, shrubs, perennial flowers and ornamental. Plant food is made by the plant itself through photosynthesis – the conversion of sunlight into glucose (plant food). Most plants are done growing for the season, but they are still photosynthesizing and storing this plant food for the long haul of winter. Their energy levels are at their highest levels of the year right now, making for a wonderful time to plant. They will easily establish themselves before winter sets in at a fraction of the water and your time. As a garden center owner, I know that the 2014 crop of trees, shrubs, perennials and ornamental grasses are ready now at a time of year when most people are done gardening.
In other words, right now you have the pick of the litter, so to speak.
And if you want a late autumn harvest of veggies, consider planting spinach, radishes and other cool season crops like carrots and lettuce now. The same trick applies: warm soils, quick germination and heading towards the cool of autumn. Late season veggies, by the way, are much tastier than spring grown veggies because in late autumn they store their plant sugars for the onslaught of winter. That means sweeter food for you and your family.
So whether you’re a savvy gardener or a procrastinating one; now is the time to do some late season gardening for great results.
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