September garden tips

1. Create fall porch displays with potted mums and crotons.

2. Plant these vegetables in September, says LSU AgCenter: beets, broccoli (transplants or seeds through September), Brus­sels sprouts (transplants or seeds), cabbage (transplants or seeds), Chinese cabbage (transplants or seeds), cauliflower (transplants or seeds), collards (transplants or seeds), endive, carrots, English peas, snow peas, garlic (late September), kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, onions (seeds, late September), parsley, snap beans (early September), radishes, rutabaga, shallots, spinach, Swiss chard, turnips and kale.

3. If you didn’t prune your everblooming roses by about one-third in late August, do it right away. Then add fertilizer -- we recommend Rose-tone or Fertilome Rose and Flower Food – and keep the bushes well watered for a beautiful fall bloom.

4. Continue a spray program to prevent blackspot and powdery mildew. We recommend Fertilome Systemic Fungicide II, or Rose Shield.

5. Dig and divide Louisiana irises now through early October, replanting as soon as possible. Don’t let them dry out.

6. Get your soil tested. You can pick up LSU AgCenter kits here at the nursery.

7. Begin planting cool-season annuals, such as pansies, dianthus, alyssum and snapdragons, late in the month. Refresh your beds first with Vital Earth compost and Fertilome Bedding Plant Food.

8. Purchase spring bulbs late in the month for best selection but delay planting until October/November.

9. Build a compost bin or set aside an area for a compost pile. You’ll have plenty of fall leaves soon to fill it.

10. Watch for chinch bug damage in lawns. Symptoms are irregular patches of dead grass surrounded by yellowing grass. Treat with Hi-Yield Bug Blaster lawn granules or Hield Yield 38.

11. Cut back perennials that have finished blooming for a tidy appearance.

12. Keep annual flowers deadheaded to prolong bloom. Cut off yellowing foliage and flowers that form on caladium plants. Apply a fertilizer to encourage fall blooms.

13. Apply Natural Guard Slug and Snail Bait if damage from snails and slugs occurs.

14. Spray trees affected by scale insects with Hi-Yield Systemic Insect Spray.

15. Watch the lawn for signs of brown patch, which often shows up during cool, wet weather. If it occurs, treat with Fertilome F-Stop.

16. Control powdery mildew on ornamentals with Fertilome Systemic Fungicide, or revitalize for organic gardeners.