I want to start a new feature on my blog called “This Month in Gardening.” Each month, I will write about what gardening activities should be done in order to prepare or maintain your yard and garden. I am writing from zone 7A in Nashville, Tennessee, so most of these suggestions will pertain to Tennessee and Kentucky, or other similar climates. Eventually, I hope to include other zones, but feel free to chime in with what you are doing in your zone at the moment!
Perennials
- Order fall planted bulbs soon, as many online sites start to sell out of the popular varieties quickly. Fall planted bulbs include: tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, crocus,
- There are A LOT of online vendors for bulbs and seeds, so I recommend going to the site Dave’s Garden. It has an extensive collection of ratings and reviews for online and mail order gardening companies. Check out some reviews from where you intend to order first. They have a list of the Top 30 rated companies on their site; that would be a good place to start.
- Wait to plant the bulbs until October.
- If you’re like me, continue planting late summer blooming perennials like coneflowers and water them daily.
Annuals
- You can start to change out summer annuals for fall annuals, such as chrysanthemums and pansies. I would wait until it cools off to plant pansies or ornamental kale.
- Save seeds from annuals that you want to plant next year. Wait until the pod has completely dried before harvesting. Watch the video below for an example of saving seeds from petunias:
Yard
- Now is the time to seed your lawn if you are using fescues or Kentucky bluegrass. If you are working from scratch, make sure all the grass and weeds are completely removed. Till the soil. Spread out fertilizer, then seed according to package directions. Water thoroughly and continue watering every day such that the soil is moist.
- If you have a lawn that you are working with, you can overseed by mowing the lawn low and spreading seed. Water as mentioned above.
- My lawn is not the best, but that is probably because I have been trying to do all the seeding in spring and summer. Fall is the best time to seed your lawn.
What are you doing in your garden this month? Do you like this feature of my blog? Let me know in the comments!
