Gardeners Checklist: Here Is What to Do the Week of Aug. 25

By Ron Kujawski

Labor Day is a day to celebrate labor by not laboring on that day. Nevertheless, here is your list of labors to guide you through your labor-less Labor Day weekend:

* Pull up insect-defiled, disease-ridden, slug-ravaged, drought-damaged annuals. It’s a tough life being an annual. Replace these with colorful fall-blooming mums. Garden centers are awash with potted mums.  A question that often comes up with regard to these potted mums is “Are they hardy?” Yes..no..maybe! Some varieties are hardy, others less so, and some not at all. Improve the odds of winter survival by planting hardy varieties. (Ask before you buy.) Cut the stems down in late fall and place mulch, e.g., pine boughs, over the plants after the ground freezes. 

* Plant trees, shrubs, and perennials. September is often overlooked as a time for planting, yet conditions are usually ideal. Favorable factors include warm soils, longer and cooler nights, and increased soil moisture. Soil moisture is often plentiful, though not so much this year, so watering new plantings is essential.

* Harvest split tomatoes when seen. Otherwise, sap beetles and other insects, and some diseases will invade the fruit. Split tomatoes should be eaten as soon as possible. Leaving them on the counter for just a day or two often leads to mold developing in the splits. 

* Don’t let any vegetable get over-ripe. As mentioned above, ripe fruits and vegetables become very attractive to insects and diseases. Harvest them at the peak of maturity, even if you can’t use them.  Food pantries have a huge need for garden produce, so donate your surplus.

* Take a few moments to analyze and evaluate your garden successes and failures this year. Just a few notes now can be very valuable when planning next year’s gardens and when buying seeds and plants. Never rely on your memory because……….uh, I forgot the reason.

* Apply fertilizer to lawns. Labor Day weekend is the best time of year to fertilize lawns. If applying fertilizer only once per year, this is THE time to do it.

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Now is also a great time to extend or create new flower beds. If the bed to be created is currently in turfgrass, dig out the grass rather than tilling it into the soil. Clumps of grass left in the soil will become a weed problem. As an alternative to digging up turfgrass, mow it as low as possible. If there are any woody or deep-rooted perennial weeds in the grass, dig these out. Then, place cardboard or several layers of newspaper over the scalped grass. Wet the paper before applying straw, shredded leaves, compost, peat moss, or other mulch over the top. The grass, the paper, and the mulch should be well rotted by spring.  At that time, it can all be tilled into the soil and will make an ideal planting medium for new perennials and annuals.

Excuse me now while I take a nap.

Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service. He serves on Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Advisory Committee. His book, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, is available here.