Kent Gardener: September is the ideal time to start planting spring bulbs

Here is your gardening calendar for the month of September:

First week

Start a compost pile.
Apply lime and fertilizer to your lawn area. It’s a good idea to have a soil test done to know the correct amount needed.
Space strawberry runner plants about 6 inches apart. Pull out extra plants.
Harvest vine-ripened vegetables from plants that continue to produce.
Select a short-day variety tomato plant like “pixie” and start it indoors in a peat pot. When large enough, transplant into a 3.5-inch or larger pot and place in the sunniest window in your home.
Tomatoes require six to eight hours of light daily. You will have to keep artificial light on them part of the time. Water and feed them regularly and you should have tomatoes for your Christmas dinner.

Second week

Collect and dry herb blossoms, grasses and seed pods to decorate your holiday wreaths.
Start cuttings from geraniums and begonias.
Dig up and divide roots now if you’re thinking about starting new peonies. You may want to use a sharp knife to slice through the root system. When dividing, make sure each division has three or four buds (the small pinkish colored buds at the crown of the roots).
When planting your new roots and buds, do not place the tops deeper than 2 inches below the soil surface. If you do, the plant will produce foliage, but may seldom bloom. Provide moisture to promote new root growth.
Select and prepare the site now if you are going to plant or establish a spring flowering bulb bed. Be sure there is good drainage; add three to four pounds of limestone per 100 square feet and 2 to 3 pounds of 5-10-10 garden fertilizer.

The extension office has a fact sheet on spring flowering bulbs; call the office at 857-6426 or 730-4000 if you’d like one.

Third week

Plant evergreens and ground covers. To transplant needle-leaf or cone-bearing evergreens, be sure each plant has an adequate rootball.
Clean up garden debris and add to your compost pile or turn under the vegetation, but not where you have your fall crops growing. To improve soil structure and decrease erosion during the winter, plant a cover crop. These winter cover crops can be planted from Sept. 1 through Nov. 1.
Bring in your Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus, place on a cool porch or cool part of your house, and do not water for four weeks so that buds can set. After that time, fertilize well and resume weekly watering.

Here is your gardening calendar for the month of September:

First week

Start a compost pile.
Apply lime and fertilizer to your lawn area. It’s a good idea to have a soil test done to know the correct amount needed.
Space strawberry runner plants about 6 inches apart. Pull out extra plants.
Harvest vine-ripened vegetables from plants that continue to produce.
Select a short-day variety tomato plant like “pixie” and start it indoors in a peat pot. When large enough, transplant into a 3.5-inch or larger pot and place in the sunniest window in your home.
Tomatoes require six to eight hours of light daily. You will have to keep artificial light on them part of the time. Water and feed them regularly and you should have tomatoes for your Christmas dinner.

Second week

Collect and dry herb blossoms, grasses and seed pods to decorate your holiday wreaths.
Start cuttings from geraniums and begonias.
Dig up and divide roots now if you’re thinking about starting new peonies. You may want to use a sharp knife to slice through the root system. When dividing, make sure each division has three or four buds (the small pinkish colored buds at the crown of the roots).
When planting your new roots and buds, do not place the tops deeper than 2 inches below the soil surface. If you do, the plant will produce foliage, but may seldom bloom. Provide moisture to promote new root growth.
Select and prepare the site now if you are going to plant or establish a spring flowering bulb bed. Be sure there is good drainage; add three to four pounds of limestone per 100 square feet and 2 to 3 pounds of 5-10-10 garden fertilizer.

The extension office has a fact sheet on spring flowering bulbs; call the office at 857-6426 or 730-4000 if you’d like one.

Third week

Plant evergreens and ground covers. To transplant needle-leaf or cone-bearing evergreens, be sure each plant has an adequate rootball.
Clean up garden debris and add to your compost pile or turn under the vegetation, but not where you have your fall crops growing. To improve soil structure and decrease erosion during the winter, plant a cover crop. These winter cover crops can be planted from Sept. 1 through Nov. 1.
Bring in your Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus, place on a cool porch or cool part of your house, and do not water for four weeks so that buds can set. After that time, fertilize well and resume weekly watering.

Last week

Keep strawberry beds weed free. Every weed pulled now will help make weeding much easier next spring.
Plant your spring bulbs. Depth of planting varies with the size of the bulb, for example, tulips are about 5 to 6 inches, 4 to 7 inches for daffodils, 3 to 4 inches for hyacinths, and 1.5 to 3 inches for small bulbs. A good rule of thumb when planting bulbs is to set them three times as deep as the bulb’s greatest width.
Don’t wait for frost warnings to bring houseplants indoors. For many tropical houseplants, night temperatures of 50 degrees or lower can cause damage. Check all houseplants that are brought in for pests and diseases and for repotting where needed.