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New York City Gardening Calendar: Autumn
Autumn is the season to enjoy the late bloomers in your garden and the last warm days of Indian summer, while battening down the hatches for the harsh winter months ahead. Following are tips from BBG gardening experts for keeping your garden in fighting form this fall.
September
Vegetable gardening
- Continue to harvest summer crops.
- Plant cool-weather vegetables like radish, cabbage, and carrot.
Perennials
- Begin fall planting.
Bulbs
- If September is cool, begin bulb planting; if it's still warm, hold off until October.
- Plant at a depth 2-1/2 times the bulb's diameter.
- Dig up tender bulbs and store in a dark airy spot.
Roses
- Stop deadheading and fertilizing about 45 days before anticipated first frost.
- Prune diseased canes.
- Order roses for fall planting.
Water Gardening
- Stop feeding perennial water plants.
Trees and Shrubs
- Remove dead wood, but don't prune after leaves have dropped.
- Chilly nights signal that it's time to transplant trees and shrubs.
- Water and mulch with composted wood chips.
Lawns
- Continue mowing with a sharp blade.
- Seed and water thoroughly but infrequently to encourage deep roots.
October
Vegetable gardening
- Harvest produce from September plantings.
- Plant garlic and shallots for harvest next spring.
Perennials and annuals
- Continue fall planting.
- Begin dividing perennials that have developed hollow centers.
Bulbs
- See September.
Roses
- Blast aphids with water, oil spray or insecticidal soap.
Water gardening
- Cover pool with netting to keep out leaves.
Trees and shrubs
- Transplant lilacs.
- Apply horticultural oil to azaleas and mulch.
Lawns
- Clean up leaves.
- Aerate and test soil, top dressing lawn with lime if necessary.
November
Vegetable gardening
- Harvest cool-weather crops.
Perennials
- Continue dividing perennials with hollow centers.
- Water until ground freezes.
- Apply mulch.
Bulbs
- Last call to plant hardy bulbs and to dig up tender bulbs.
Roses
- Transplant roses, preparing hole with rich organic soil; water thoroughly.
- Aerate the soil around the roots of established roses.
- Mulch with leaves and straw.
Trees and shrubs
- There's still time to plant deciduous trees; water until ground freezes and mulch thoroughly.
