photo credit: audreyjm529
Donna, I have day lilies that I have been nurturing in the garden for a few years to multiply, now I’m ready to transplant them into the landscape. My question is this – 90% of the time they are foliage at best, and ratty foliage at worst so I Don’t really want them to be the dominant plants in a big area. How do I place them so that they can be seen when they are in bloom but not be unattractive the rest of the time? » Read more: Using Day Lillies in the Landscape
Archive for September, 2008
Using Day Lillies in the Landscape
September 11th, 2008
September in the Garden
September 11th, 2008September in the Vegetable Garden
- Plant Garlic now to harvest next summer – buy bulbs right from the grocery store, divide them into cloves and plant 2″ deep and about 7 inches apart (intensive) with the pointy end up.
- Plant Spinach now for fall harvest – you may have to use cloches or row covers in a few weeks depending upon your zone to extend the harvest.
- This is also a good time to plant horseradish roots (straight from your grocers shelf) for harvest next fall (and ever after – it’s a persistent perennial) but consider planting in a plastic laundry basket or other large container sunk into the ground (with drain holes of course) to keep it from becoming invasive.
- Plant turnips as a winter cover crop that will also yield greens and turnip roots.
- Plant crimson clover as a green manure/cover crop to turn under or cut for compost next spring.
- Plant lettuce and other salad greens either to be covered later to extend harvest or in containers to take into a sunny window for winter greens.
- Stockpile grass clippings for making autumn compost when leaves start to fall.
- Use up any finished spring compost that you still have.
- Clean up crop residues and generally clean up the garden as summer crops finish up.
- Plan to prepare ground soon for mid winter planting (spinach in February, snow peas in March for example) while it can still be worked.
- Apply lime.
- Enjoy those last tomatoes – it’s gonna be a long time before next year’s crop.
September Lawn care
- Spread lime if needed
- Broadcast seed – early September is the best time for sowing cool season grasses like fescue or blue grass.
- Consider adding white Dutch clover (or other small clover) to your lawn seed. Clover is good for the soil – birds love it, bees love it, deer love it (which may be good or bad according to how you feel about deer) and it makes great compost – drawbacks are that it is somewhat invasive (nothing like Bermuda grass though) and your neighbors will think you’re nuts if they find out.
- Aerate if you get a chance after a soaking rain when the ground is softened.
- Fertilize very lightly if at all.
Ask Donna
September 7th, 2008Ask Donna questions about gardening, landscape design, lillies, daughters, etc. A little coffee, a little talk, no big whoop.
