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Raised bed garden

Learn—month by month—the necessary gardening activities for lawns and shrubs, annuals and perennials, fruit and nut trees, and bulbs, roots, and tubers. Included is a timeline for activities such as soil testing, planting, pruning, fertilizing, pruning, mulching, indoor plantings—from cauliflower to okra, from camellias to dahlias to heirloom roses.

Fruits and Nuts

  • New catalogs will be arriving soon.
  • Start plans for future selection and plantings.
  • Take soil test for new planting areas.
  • Fertilize established strawberry plantings.

Shrubs

  • Study landscape to determine plant needs.
  • Check early camellia varieties for damage caused by insects and disease.
  • Replace landscape plants as needed that have severe damage caused by insects, disease, or freezes.
  • After fall growth is completed, spray all shrubs with a fungicide.

Lawns

  • Mow often (5 to 10 days) to remove just 1/3 the grass height at each mowing.
  • If daytime temperatures are consistently cooler than 80 degrees F, apply fire ant bait. Read the label carefully for best control.
  • If winter or spring weeds were a concern this year, apply preemergent herbicides.
  • Reseed tall fescue lawns and fertilize at 1 pound slow-release nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.

Roses

  • Protect fall crops of blossoms from aphids and thrips.
  • Keep plants healthy.

Annuals and Perennials

  • Plant perennials and biennials. This is the last planting time for these.
  • Divide old clumps of perennials.
  • Plant peonies.

Bulbs

  • Plant spring-flowering bulbs late this month in north Alabama.
  • Delay planting in south Alabama.

Miscellaneous

  • Clean up infestations of insects on azaleas, camellias, boxwoods, gardenias, hollies, etc.
  • If oil spray is needed, don’t use in freezing weather.
  • Build a compost bin or box; leaves will be falling soon.
  • Monitor house plants for insects and diseases before moving them indoors. Treat as needed to prevent carrying unwanted pest indoors.

Vegetable Seeds

  • South: Plant beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard, onion seeds, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, parsley, and turnips.
  • Central and North: Continue planting carrots, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard, onion seeds, parsley, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, and turnips.

Vegetable Transplants

  • Whole state: Continue planting cole crops, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard, and spinach transplants, and onion sets.
  • South: Plant celery transplants.

Questions?

Call the Master Gardener Helpline at (877) 252-4769. A Master Gardener Extension volunteer is waiting to answer your call.

 

See other months from Alabama Gardener’s Calendar at www.aces.edu.

 


Peer ReviewKerry Smith, Extension Associate, Horticulture, Frances Sledge, Horticulture Intern Auburn University. Originally prepared by Dave Williams, former Extension Horticulturist, and Ron Shumack, former Extension Horticulturist.

Reviewed July 2022, Alabama Gardener’s Calendar – September, ANR-2621

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