Enjoy the last flush of blooming roses along with the bounty of the fall harvest.
Tasks:
• Adjust watering systems as weather cools.
• Remove and dispose of any fruit and nuts that cling to the tree.
• To discourage spider mites, spray hedges and shrubs with water to clean them and keep them free of dust.
• Water citrus, being careful not to overwater. Continuously wet soil risks root rot.
Pruning:
• Do not apply any treatments to pruning cuts or other wounds because these materials are ineffective (and often detrimental).
• Deadhead and shape rose bushes to promote a final fall bloom.
Fertilizing:
• Wait two weeks after planting new flowers and vegetables before feeding with organic or complete fertilizer.
• Add bulb fertilizer to planting hole before planting bulbs.
Planting:
• This is the best time to plant shrubs and groundcovers.
• Groundcovers: Carpet bugle (Ajuga), Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys ‘Nanum’).
• Perennials: Cyclamen, French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), cranesbill (Geranium).
• Before planting winter vegetables, turn a generous amount of compost into the vegetable bed.
• Fruits and vegetables: garlic, onion sets, lettuce, parsley.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: Acacia baileyana, strawberry tree (Arbutus ‘Marina’), hawthorn (Crataegus), sago palm (Cycas), desert willow (Chilopsis linearis).
Enjoy now:
• Annuals and perennials: vinca (Catharanthus), chrysanthemum, dianthus, coneflower (Echinacea), globe amaranth (Gomphrena).
• Bulbs, corms, tubers: dahlia.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: pineapple guava (Feijoa), morning glory (Ipomoea), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia).
• Fruits and vegetables: almonds, lettuce, melon, nectarines, persimmon.
• Fall color: goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua).
Things to ponder:
• Do not replace vinca with pansies in the same bed, due to a soil borne fungal root rot that affects these plants.
• • •
Source: Adapted from A Gardener’s Companion for the Central San Joaquin Valley, 3rd edition, currently available from Fresno County Master Gardeners for $30. These can be purchased at our demonstration garden — Garden of the Sun, 1750 N Winery (McKinley/Winery), open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. to Noon, and via email at mgfresno@ucanr.edu. Gardening questions answered as well at mgfresno@ucanr.edu. Prepared by Terry Lewis, Master Gardener UCCE Fresno County.