By Claudette Sims, Halton Master Gardener
Perennials
Divide or transplant spring and summer flowering perennials, e.g., iris, peony, phlox, wood poppy, Canada anemone, as the weather cools. Water the new divisions well. Other perennials can be transplanted or divided if needed when flowers fade. This is a great time to add plants to fill in any gaps. Consider native grasses to give your garden texture.
Veggies
Harvest green tomatoes and ripen indoors, freeze or use in recipes. Sow cool weather seeds, e.g., lettuce, spinach, arugula, and radishes.
Houseplants
Prune back woody tropicals such as hibiscus. Spray plants with commercial insecticidal soap as needed as they are moved indoors. Orchids need a drop in temperature of 5 degrees (17/18 °C at night and 23 °C in the day) for two to four weeks to trigger reblooming. Continue to fertilize orchids to encourage healthy foliage.
Amaryllis
Remove dead, dying foliage and do a general clean up of the pot and/or bulb if leaving bare. Transition pots/bulbs to a cool dark place ideally, 10–13 °C (50–60 °F) for about eight weeks. Allow the pots/bulbs to dry out, but do not allow them to freeze.
Collect seeds from your veggies and native plants. Cut herbs for drying in your microwave, e.g., parsley, thyme, mint, rosemary.
Trees
Plant new trees and shrubs now to allow them at least six weeks before frost to form roots. Water transplanted trees until freeze up.
Think spring!
Consider adding some of our native spring flowers such as hepatica, prairie smoke, Virginia bluebells, bloodroot, red columbine or trilliums! Plant spring-flowering bulbs such as crocus, tulip, and hyacinth now, until before freeze up of the soil. Water bulbs after planting. Do not plant or share scilla as it is highly invasive.
Lawn and weeds
Choose a rainy day to overseed the lawn, then cover seeds with a top dressing of fine compost or manure. Half the height of the blades of grass should still be visible. Fall feeding with a slow release mineral or organic fertilizer will increase root growth for an early spring green up. Fall is a good time to aerate lawns (sandy soils do not need to be aerated). Pull, rake or cut off weeds at ground level. More lawn care suggestions from Landscape Ontario.
Leaves
Attach a grass catcher bag to the mower and collect a ready supply of chopped leaves to layer into the compost pile or use as mulch on your veggie or flower garden.
