Gardening
for Your Watershed – September 2003
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This month’s
topics:
* Lawn care
* Cover crops for home gardens
* Pest of the Month: Slugs
* General gardening tips
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Lawn care
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Although air temperatures will start to cool this month, soil temperatures will remain warm, making it a good time to fertilize and overseed lawns. The Lake Whatcom Blend, a zero-phosphorus fertilizer based on recommendations by WSU soil and turf scientists and locally made by the Whatcom Farmers Co-op, is available at several local retailers.
If there’s some rain this month, aerate your lawn to help water and nutrients get down to the roots. Does your turf have more than an inch of thatch--that layer of matted grass roots above the soil? If so, it might be time to dethatch, either with a thatching rake or a power machine (available for rent at several Whatcom County retailers).
A City of Seattle study shows that topdressing your lawn with compost can improve its health. If you aerate before or after you topdress (or both), sprinkle a layer of compost up to half an inch thick on your grass and rake it out. Without aeration, use no more than a quarter of an inch.
The fall is also a good time for starting over and installing a completely new lawn, if you’re so inclined. Be sure to till in several inches of compost, as it builds soil structure and is a good amendment for all types of soil. In addition, compost helps to retain stormwater and will slowly release it.
For more information on dethatching, see: Dethatch Your Lawn this Spring
For the complete City of Seattle study on compost use on lawns (an 89-page PDF file), visit: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/util/lawncare/docs/Grnlwn61.pdf
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Cover crops
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Have a flower or vegetable bed that will be bare for the winter? Try growing a winter cover crop such as crimson clover, fava beans, or perennial rye, or a combination of any of these. A cover crop benefits both your garden and your watershed by:
* Preventing erosion
* Absorbing extra nutrients that might otherwise leach into streams, lakes or aquifers
* Suppressing weeds
* Adding nutrients and organic matter if you till it into your soil in the spring
* Fixing nitrogen (if you choose a legume cover crop), one of the three major nutrients needed by plants
* Providing habitat for some beneficial insects
When planting for soil and water conservation, choose a cover crop that spreads quickly. Plant before October 10 for best results, and be sure to hoe the crop into your bed before it goes to seed.
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Pest of the Month: Slugs
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Even though slugs aren’t very active yet, thanks to the very warm and dry summer we've had, now is a good time to begin preparing for the slug onslaught of this winter and next spring. Once the fall rains begin, slugs will emerge and start feeding again. This will also be an opportunity for them to reproduce and lay eggs. You need to start your management now for the new batch of slugs that will be active this winter and next spring.
September scouting for slugs:
* Search slug hideouts, like shady spots and under rocks and pots.
* Dormant slugs will cover themselves in goo and stick to pots, tree trunks, under rocks and other structures.
* Look for slug eggs (milky-looking, round, squishy eggs) in the soil of your garden bed. This will give you an idea of springtime populations.
* Be on the lookout for silvery slime trails--a sure sign of slugs.
* Record what you see. Estimate slug populations in a given area when you patrol to make comparisons of population growth easier.
* Set out beer-baited traps. Even slugs can’t pass up a drink of beer during these warm days of September.
September slug management:
* Squish dormant slugs when you encounter them with your favorite slug-slicing device.
* If you are finding slugs in your beer trap, keep the traps maintained because a drunken and/or drowned slug won’t reproduce.
* Till soil after gardens finish, which is when slug eggs are present. Bringing eggs to the surface will dry them out and destroy them. When you see slug eggs, dispose of them.
* DO NOT start using slug-killing products until you are sure that slugs are active.
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General gardening tips from WSU Master Gardeners
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* September is the time to dig and divide perennials such as phlox, foxglove, and bleeding hearts. Transplant them now so that their roots can establish before winter.
* Try a bit of winter gardening, with garlic, onions, cabbage, and spinach. If you plant rhubarb now, it will be ready next spring.
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This newsletter
is produced by Whatcom County Extension. To subscribe or unsubscribe,
or to make comments and suggestions, please contact Scarlet
Tang or
360/676-6736.
