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September Gardening Weeks 1 & 2

Garden Beds:

  • Check plants, shrubs and trees for pests and spray as required. Using an insecticidal soap such as Safer’s is an effective and environmentally safe way to get rid of unwanted pests.
  • Maintain your weeding program in the beds.

Hedges: 

  • Trim hedges for a tidy look all winter long.
  • Slow growing hedges can be pruned and shaped early in the fall. Boxwoods, cedars, yews all benefit from being hedge trimmed at this time of the year.

Lawn Care:

  • Overseed lawns on any thin areas, using the same seed mixture orginally used to establish your lawn. In Vancouver, blue Fescue is a good performer. Use one pound per 1000 square feet.
  • Continue to water your lawn as required. September is often a continuation of summer weather patterns. Your turf will benefit from being kept continuously moist.
  • Continue to mow at a two inch height.

September Gardening Weeks 3 & 4

Garden Beds:

  • Begin collecting early falling leaves. You know how much can come from a single street tree!
  • Water only any fall-planted trees and shrubs.
  • Continue weeding. We have noticed how easy spring clean ups can be if garden beds are kept free of weeds right through the fall. The later your final fall clean up, the better the garden looks in spring. You also have the chance to get all the leaves out of your garden, for a tidy looking property all winter long.

Hedges: 

  • Once the weather begins to cool down, book a hedge trimming service for all your hedges. Even fast growing hedges such as English laurel, Portuguese laurel and Western cedar (Thuja plicata – the really tall ones) can be pruned for a straight, compact look in the last weeks of September.
  • Keep watering hedges in the fall weather has been dry, so that hedges overwinter well.

Lawn Care:

  • Apply a fall fertilizer. Experts recommend using the highest possible nitrogen content at this point, such as urea (45-0-0). Apply 2 pounds per 1000 square feet.
  • Continue to mow your lawn so long as it is required.