by Geri Williams

It’s hard to believe that September is starting, where has the summer gone? With July and August so dry and hot, I spent so much time watering flower, vegetable, and fruit gardens that I was not able to weed, deadhead and prune as much as I usually do. So, my gardens are a bit unruly with many flowers stressed by the heat and lack of moisture. Fortunately, most of the perennials will spring back with cooler weather and some rain. The tomatoes are loving the heat and yielding a great crop. We have really been enjoying them! I have been removing the spotted and yellow leaves from the plants and putting them in the trash to control tomato diseases and applying organic tomato fertilizer every 3-4 weeks. It is important to water the tomato plants at the soil level by hand rather than by overhead sprinkler so as not to spread any disease from leaf to leaf.

The rabbits have become real nuisances over the last few years. To protect my beans, carrots, and leafy vegetables, we have put a 2-foot-tall chicken wire fence around those beds, but some manage to find a way in. So, I use organic sprays that deter rabbits and deer with bad smells. I’ve found ‘Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent’ works pretty well as does ‘Plantskydd’. I switch sprays so they don’t get used to them. You need to reapply the spray after heavy rain and every week or two. I use these sprays to protect my dahlias, zinnias, hostas, and other ‘deer candy plants’ around my yard.

I love my Lobelia cardinalis, or cardinal flower which has been blooming for several weeks now with tall red bloom stalks that attract bees, butterflies, humming birds and other pollinators. It is a native plant with a long spectacular bloom time. I have been able to spread it around my varied gardens for a punch of color. It seems to do well in full sun and part shade, but it does require some watering during these dry days.

If you have any empty spots in your vegetable garden you can plant some radish, leaf lettuce, turnip, and other cool crop seeds right now for fall crops. Late in October when the ground is cold, you can plant garlic. I select the largest of the garlic heads I dug up earlier, separate into individual cloves that I plant in compost-enriched soil about 8 inches apart in each direction. If you have never grown garlic, which is easy and delicious, you can purchase garlic bulbs from Morrison’s or other garden shops.

September can be a good time to dig up and divide iris and daylilies. Iris blooms diminish when the clump gets overcrowded. You should dig up the clump, break it into pieces with roots and green fans of leaves, and discard old tuber parts without leaves. Mix some compost or fertilizer into the soil and replant some of the pieces with space to grow and share the surplus plants. If your daylily plant has grown too large for the space or you want to spread the plant to other spots, you can use a pitchfork or spade shovel to separate pieces off the sides. I find this easier than digging up the whole clump and then dividing it into pieces.

We have had several serious clear-cutting situations around Great Herring and Little Herring ponds over the last couple of years. When pond front
properties cut down trees and shrubs to improve their view or clear a beach area, they are not only violating Conservation Bylaws but also increasing runoff pollution into the ponds that can cause cyanobacteria blooms. Unfortunately, not everyone is familiar with wetland regulations. When they see another property owner cut down trees and shrubs near the water, they think it is fine to do it on their land. Land within 35 feet of the water’s edge is called the ‘no touch zone’ meaning no alterations can be made. With Paul Denoncourt, who is a member of the Conservation Commission, I wrote an article in the newsletter last summer about the important Conservation Bylaws. Click here to read the regulations in this article.