Things to do to make garden fall into place

With the cool temperatures of early fall, most gardeners begin to be excited about working outside again.

As soon as we start to get constant cooler temperatures in mid- to late September, you can begin to plant coolseason annuals like pansies and ornamental cabbage or kale. The garden centers will have great selections available.

If you have never planted pansies, maybe this is the year you try them, even if

just in a pot by the front door. Pansies are winter hardy (just don't forget to water them if it is a dry winter) and bring so much beauty and color to the fall, winter and spring landscape. For me, they are an annual very much worth the small investment every year.

I suggest choosing your spring flowering bulbs as soon as available. You could order them from catalogs or online, but if you want to shop locally at your favorite garden center, shop early in the season to ensure you find the selection you want.

Fall also is an excellent time to plant most trees and shrubs. It is recommended to plant azaleas and peonies in the fall for best results. But spring is best for planting bare-root plants and broadleaf evergreens, such as holly and Southern magnolia, so wait to plant these. Although the selection of landscape plants is more extensive in the spring, local nurseries will have good selections of landscape plants, often at a bargain, in the fall.

Irises bloom in spring or early summer and then go dormant until fall. The best time to divide irises is in late summer, when they are dormant.

Daylilies also need to be divided every three to four years to maintain their vigor. Although division may be done in early spring, it is more commonly completed during late summer.

If you are a vegetable gardener, remember that cool-season vegetables like spinach, leaf lettuce, mustard and radishes can be planted all month. Plant rutabagas, Swiss chard and turnips by the middle of September.

September or early October is garlic planting time! Look for bulbs now to plant in mid-September and enjoy an early summer harvest next year.

Large numbers of small branches of elms, pecans, persimmons and others uniformly girdled around the limb and on the ground below the tree indicate twig girdler insects. Gather and dispose of the fallen branches; they contain the twig girdler eggs for next year.

The Oklahoma County Extension office is offering a special class to cover tips for all fall garden activities. The “Do it All in the Fall” workshop is a basic workshop designed to teach you how to plant spring bulbs, establish wildflower plots, grow fall vegetables, select plants for fall color, establish and maintain cool-season lawns for winter color, compost fall leaves and much more. There will also be a seasonal cooking demonstration with recipes.

The workshop is Thursday, September 12 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Oklahoma County Extension Center, 2500 NE 63. The cost is $5 per person and you can pre-register or pay at the door that day. For more information, call 7131125 or go to oces.okstate. edu/oklahoma.