September Garden Calendar

-- Water as needed. Even though weather is getting cooler, plants still need adequate moisture. If the fall is dry, water well. Otherwise, plants might go into winter dehydrated and stressed, making them more likely to die out by spring.

-- Keep weeding. Late summer and early fall are when many of the worst weeds go to seed. Let them go now, and they'll scatter thousands of seeds all over your garden. Basic cleanup in late summer and fall will prevent far more cleanup and weeding come spring.

-- Pitch 'em. If any annuals are struggling this late in the season, just pull them up and put them in the compost heap. If a perennial is looking shot, cut it off at ground level and discard the foliage.

-- Start raking. Don't worry about leaves that collect around shrubs and perennial plantings--they'll actually protect your plants. But don't allow leaves to hang out for more than a few days on lawns. They suffocate the grass.