Compost – Composting container size depends on the space you have available. It can be as small as a sweater plastic box to a series of bins similar to those at the Arboretum. For more information request UK Extension Service pamphlet HO-75 or google Home Composting: A Guide to Managing Yard Waste to download it. Cornell University: cwmi.css.cornell.edu, go to Composting(bottom of the page), Home Composting.
Garden – Continue to spray roses for black spot and powdery mildew. Bag black spot foliage on the plant and soil and destroy. Powdery mildew on lilacs not harm but looks bad. Control it with rose fungicide. Cut Liatris, to enjoy now and later as dried material for fall wreaths. Remove most of the foliage and place in a container without water. Order lilies and plant as soon as they arrive.
Pour left-over coffee(without cream, milk, or sugar, and unflavored) around acidic plants to add nitrogen to the plants. Dilute it if using it to water acid-loving houseplants to prevent build-up of acid. Do not water more than once a week.
Lawn – Dig dried patches for grubs. If more than ten per square foot are found, treat with a fast- acting insecticide. If your leaf blower needs replacing, purchase one that also vacuums and mulches the leaves.
Trees and shrubs – Prune out or hand pick bagworms. By now insecticides are not effective.
Plant evergreens. Before planting trees and shrubs, fill the hole with water, and saturate the plant’s root ball. Once the hole has drained, plant so that the root ball is level with the ground. If your automatic irrigation system or the soil is slow to drain, plant slightly higher than the ground level. Mulch, but no more than three inches and three inches from the trunk.
Vegetables – Compost or till under spent vegetable plants. For larger gourds, but no more, pinch the growing tips when fruit is set. Continue planting seed directly in the ground for a fall harvest. Dry onions for two weeks before storing.
