It’s time to step away from the summer garden

How did it get to be September already? We’ll soon enough be moving into winter gardening where life moves a bit more slowly, but until then, we have some transitional chores to do.

• Adjust your irrigation. The evapotranspiration rate has plummeted in spite of hot days, meaning your plants and landscape need less water. Reduce your watering time by 25 percent from a month ago.

• Pick pears, late season apples and late peaches. Pick up all fallen fruit and compost it, if possible.

• Your citrus will need one last feeding of fertilizer for the year.

• Harvest tomatoes, squash, beans, eggplant and peppers, and start winter vegetable seeds including bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, kale and cauliflower.

• You can direct seed beets, carrots, chard, garlic, leeks, onions, peas, radishes, spinach, and sugar and snap peas, but the soil might still be too warm for lettuces. You can try mixing the seed with moist potting soil, covering and putting in the refrigerator for a few days. Plant in a shady, cool spot.

• Fertilize cool season lawns such as bent, bluegrass, fescue and rye. Water lawns deeply at least once week, if not raining.

• This is a good time to shop for Lagerstroemia spp. (crepe myrtle) trees. They still are in bloom, so you can choose your flower color. Wait to plant until October for the best rooting results.

• Fertilize roses for the last time this year. Use a liquid fertilizer and make sure it is well watered in.

• Dig up and divide overgrown Agapanthus, daylilies, primulas, Shasta daisies, Penstemon, Iberis sempervirens, and buy your bulbs for fall planting. Joan Morris’ Garden Tips column runs the second and fourth Sunday of each month. Contra Costa Master Gardeners contributed to this report. Contact Joan Morris at jmorris@ bayareanewsgroup.com or 925-977-8479.