Organic Gardening Tips For Late Summer And Fall

This article on organic gardening tips for the late summer and fall season will give you a checklist that you can use to make sure you are doing all that you need to do at this busy time of year. It's a crucial time in the vegetable garden in particular, because many crops are ready to harvest and need last minute attention to get the best from them. On the other hand, it is a time when most people have a lot of other activity in their lives - vacations, barbecues, sporting events, kids going off to school - and the garden is easily forgotten.

So what are the organic gardening tasks that we should be concentrating on at this time of year?

 (Watering can) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First and most important, watering. In the fall you can begin to use less water on the garden, but in the dry weather of late summer, even if you only have a little time to spend on the garden, make sure that the watering is covered. This is something that is best done in the morning or evening rather than in the heat of the day, so it can be easily fitted in before or after your other activities.

If you are away on vacation, set up a timed sprinkler or ask neighbors to water for you. You could do the same for your neighbor another time, or consider hiring a local school or college student to do this, especially if you have containers or narrow raised beds, which dry out fast.

Second, if you have flowers such as roses or dahlias, keep on deadheading them by cutting off those that are past their prime. This will prolong their flowering season.

Harvest fruits and vegetables. This may seem so obvious that you don't even think about it, but sometimes we forget some plants until it is too late. If you have too much of something, freeze it, preserve it or give it away. Don't waste your summer's bounty!

You can also collect seeds from favorite plants and dry them, ready for planting later. Don't forget to label them!

This time of year is a good time to start thinking of next year too. It's not too early to feed the soil with green manures. In fact, this is a great time to do it, when the plants' demands on the soil are at their height.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the fall you can plant bulbs for spring flowers. You can also plant spring lettuce, cabbage and other early vegetable crops that may be able to winter over and produce a welcome early crop next spring. You can begin to cut back perennials that have finished flowering, including pruning flowering trees and climbing roses. You may want to divide some perennials to produce more flowers next year.

If you have a lawn, be sure to keep it free of leaves. Any covering of leaves reduces light to the grass. If the leaves are left too long, that will weaken and even kill the grass. Finally, if you have a pond in your garden, put a net over it now to catch the falling leaves - and you can use them in your compost.