October Garden Reminders

Charmaine Turbow
Oct 2, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Sep 19

Cooler weather starts to trigger a myriad of change in the garden. Behold-- "Fall is really here!!" Take note of a few things to take care of before we close it up for the season.

Treat for powdery mildew

You may notice a powdery white film on plants such as dahlias, roses and zinnias. It is now late in the growing season. If you see a plant that is highly infected, it is best to remove all the diseased leaves first. Decide whether the plant should be discarded outright, or if you've got a bit of growing time left, you can treat infected plants with a thorough spray of neem to help suppress the spores and control further spread.

powdery mildew

2. Dahlias: Turn off irrigation and get ready to lop them!

As the hours of daylight begin to shorten and temperatures drop, dahlias will dramatically drop in production. Stems will start getting leggy in their last attempt to thrive. Turning off irrigation and lopping your dahlias to about 18" above soil level triggers dahlias to start hardening off their skins and head into dormancy.

3. Don't throw out all your leaves!

Disease-free Leaf debris is great for mulching!!! This time of year, our Willow and fruit trees are starting to shed. We simply rake up and collect the leaves and redistribute them into beds and areas of the garden that need mulching.