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Garden tips for OctoberBy Ray Ridlen Turfgrass --You can continue to replant or establish cool-season lawns like fescue. --The mowing height for fescue should be lowered to approximately 2 1/2 inches for fall and winter cutting. --Broadleaf weeds like dandelions can be easily controlled during October (HLA-6421 and HLA-6601). --Mow and neatly edge warm-season lawns before killing frost. Ornamentals --Plant cool-season annuals like pansies, ornamental cabbage or kale, snapdragons and dusty miller when temperatures begin to cool. --Begin planting spring-flowering bulbs like tulips, hyacinths, crocus and daffodils. --Good companion plants for bulbs are ground covers such as ajuga, vinca, English ivy, alyssum, moneywort, thrift, phlox, oxalis and leadwort. --Peonies, daylilies, and other spring-flowering perennials should be divided or planted now. --Dig and store tender perennials like cannas, dahlias, and caladiums in a cool, dry location. --Purchase trees from nurseries and garden centers at this time to select the fall color you prefer. --Many perennials can be planted at this time and the selection is quite nice. --Plant fall mums and asters and keep them watered during dry conditions. Don't crowd since they take a couple of years to reach maturity. --Plant container-grown trees and shrubs this month. --Check and treat houseplants for insect pests before bringing them indoors and re-pot rootbound plants. Fruits and vegetables --Dig sweet potatoes and harvest pumpkins and winter squash. --Remove green fruit from tomato plants when frost threatens. --Harvest Oriental persimmons and pawpaws as they begin to change color. --There is still time to plant radishes and mustard in the fall garden. --Use a cold frame device to plant spinach, lettuce and various other cool-season crops for production most of the winter. --Plant cool-season cover crops like Austrian winter peas, wheat, clover, and rye in otherwise fallow garden plots. --Remove all debris from the garden to prevent overwintering of various garden pests. --Start new planting bed preparations now with plenty of organic matter. Water gardens --Take tropical water garden plants indoors when water temperatures near 50 degrees Fahrenheit. --Close the water garden for the winter by placing hardy plants in the deeper areas of the pool. Stop feeding the fish. --Cover water gardens with bird netting to catch dropping leaves during the winter months. Date: 10/8/2012
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