What to plant, fertilize and prune

Fall is the best time of year for a lot of gardening work, including creating new vegetable and herb gardens and landscaping projects. Here are some guidelines.

Plant: Leaf and root crops in the cool season such as turnips, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cabbage, garlic, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, sugar peas and beets. Annual and perennial plants such as dianthus, daisies, cauliflower, garlic, Icelandic poppy seeds, kale, nasturtiums, pansies, carnations, petunias, snapdragons, violas and wallflowers. Herbs like coriander, dill, parsley, chives, garlic, chives, coriander, thyme, chervil and comfrey. Trees, bushes and vines.

Solid lawns of any kind. Be sure to moisten the sward soil before planting and apply a thin layer of compost to the surface after planting. Wildflower seeds, if you haven’t already planted them. Cool season grasses such as rye and fescue. Deciduous plants such as clover, vetch, Austrian winter peas and other cool seasons.

If necessary, transplant spring onions, irises, daylilies, daisies, peonies, etc.

October is the best time to plant garlic in your vegetable garden, herb garden, or landscape.(Howard Garrett / special article)

Fertilizing: All planted areas with organic fertilizer from 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Fertilize all planted areas and lawns with compost tea or Garrett Juice. Make sure to include seaweed and apple cider vinegar in any mixture that you use. Soak potted plants with the same mixture. Liquid fish should be added for more punch. Feed trees by treating the soil surface or the top inches. Avoid “deep-root” feeding; Surface feeding in the “root zone” is better. Treat stressed and sick trees with the Sick Tree Treatment.

Pruning: Dead, broken, sick, in the way or dangerous / falling branches. Don’t use flush cuts or trim too much. Remove used flowers from summer flowering perennials. Do not prune knees from bald cypress trees – they are part of the root system. Instead, change the root zone areas from grass to ground cover or mulch.

Pest Control: Spray insect pests with Spinosad products with 1 ounce of liquid molasses added per gallon of spray. For illness, use a 1% solution of hydrogen peroxide or cornmeal tea (1 to 2 cups of cornmeal soaked in water for 2 hours). Spray weeds and grasses around tree trunks with 10 to 20% vinegar. Eliminate fire ants by applying dry molasses all over the site at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet.

Water: All plants less common, but deep during dry periods.

Weird Jobs: Mulch all of the bare soil with shredded tree cuttings. Mow weekly and leave the clippings on the lawn.

Build a new compost pile, turn the old one over and dry it. Build new beds with good quality compost, rock minerals like lava sand and azomite, and sugars like dry molasses and whole-ground cornmeal. Use compost or shredded tree cuttings to top dressing mulch for ornamental plants and vegetables. See GUIDES on the dirtydoctor.com homepage for full bed preparation and planting details and formulas for organic mixes.

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