Abundant sunshine. High 81F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph..

Mainly clear early, then a few clouds later on. Low 48F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Seems like only last week that we started the month of September and now we are at the closing days. The Autumnal Equinox was a few days ago and now Autumn is officially here. The gardening season is winding down, which is bittersweet to me. I am ready for a break from gardening but there are some chores left to do before I can really relax.

There are a few plants still blooming. The hardy fuchsia is one and the hummingbirds are glad to have that nectar. On sunny, warm days, the bees are buzzing around the heather that is still blooming. Won’t be long before those flowers have faded and I can get the shears out and give it a haircut. Mostly I just take the browned blooms and don’t cut into the wood. I don’t want to spur on new growth as pruning can often do. But I also don’t want to see brown flowers all winter, either. No worries. The heather blooms on next year’s growth, so cutting back the flowers will have no effect on blooming next August.

I also prune back the roses, but I will wait a couple of weeks to do that, waiting until they go dormant. Again, don’t want to spur on new growth in October. However, our climate is so mild that the roses don’t go into a true dormancy. They just stop growing and blooming. When I do prune, I will do so in such a way to keep the stems from whipping around in the winter winds. I prune out the weak growth, especially in the center of the bushes, and take the remaining stems to about knee height. Anything smaller than a pencil is removed as close to the trunk as I can. The roses will be pruned again in late February and that is when I do want to encourage new growth.

Climbing roses are a little different and I don’t want to take too much of these plants off. For the climbers, I just prune weak stems and tie together any stems that might whip in the wind, tying them to a trellis or support if need be. Think about the stems of roses: they sometimes have some pretty wicked thorns, thus the reason for keeping the stems and their thorns from hurting other stems.

You may think this is not really necessary, but one Fall, when the rains came early, I did not prune the roses. After the harsh winds of winter, the stems on all the plants looked as if they had been through a shredder. So now, rain or not, I protect the roses from themselves.

I have started to cut back the hosta already, doing so before they die back and turn into a slimy mess. I can report that the used and cooled coffee grounds I have been spreading around my best hosta to keep the slugs at bay has worked pretty well. But in mid-September, the slugs were desperate and the coffee smell no longer worked as well.

Slug control should actually begin in the Fall, before the little devils are getting ready to lay eggs. Science says put out baits and traps after the first rain of the Autumn season. This is when the slugs and snails start to move again toward the soil surface from their Summer hiding places. Poisons like Metaldehyde work the best but they are also very toxic to humans, pets, and wildlife. They also need to be replaced after a couple of days. Better to use is the iron phosphate pellets that will last a couple of weeks, even during rains. Place the pellets under a board to draw the slugs to a cool dark place. Or you can lure them to their deaths with beer traps. I generally pour a couple of inches of leftover (or cheap) beer in an open plastic container (yogurt, cottage cheese, dog food) and bury it so the rim is at soil level. Slugs will be drawn to the yeast in the beer, climb in and drown when they can’t climb back out. But check these traps daily in case some other creature has gone in for the slugs. Place the bait stations in the cool of the evening when the slugs and snails are more likely to be active.

I remember reading quite a few years ago that a British gardening magazine did a survey about what made gardeners most upset in their gardens. Turns out it was slugs and snails. And the magazine even commented they were surprised at how calm and gentle gardeners turn into angry and vindictive people when dealing with these pests.

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