• Time to go over our fall checklist for lawn and turf care.
• Time to winterize your lawn. Rainbow Gardens 18-6-12 is specially formulated for our region. 
• As leaves fall onto your lawn, rake or mulch them to keep them from shading your turf which still needs the sunlight. Save leaves in big trash bags for compost.
• Overseeding with annual ryegrass can begin this month. This is not a necessary task and can sometimes result in weakening of the turf come springtime, but some people choose to do it for their fall and winter landscape. (You’ll have to water and mow through winter. Extra chores!) If you overseed, hold off on mowing the lawn until ryegrass has sprouted, or else you will suck up the seeds into the mower. 
• Water lawns as needed if rain is absent for up to 2 weeks.
• Watch for Brown Patch in St. Augustine lawns. See our diagnosis and treatment guide. Stop watering at night which can contribute and exacerbate this problem.

• It’s a great time to plant container grown fruit trees. When planting container grown specimens, look for circling roots around and give them a snip if you find any before planting. The top of the rootball should then be planted at the soil line or just above it.
• Avoid pruning fruit trees now as it can stimulate new growth that spring frosts can damage; wait until late winter.
• Citrus is abundant in the nursery right now. While planting in spring is recommended, fall is when you can find the best selections. David Rodriguez recommends that citrus stay in containers for 3 years to develop bark, so buy now and protect your citrus in containers through the winters. Citrus planting and protection guide.
• Continue to plant delicious strawberries now so you will have a good harvest in spring. Strawberry Planting Guide
• As fruit trees defoliate this month and next, be sure to pick up fallen fruit and remove dried fruit (mummies) left on the tree. This helps to prevent disease. Additionally, remove weeds beneath the canopy of the tree and then apply a layer of mulch (do not pile mulch against the tree’s trunk).
• Many types of citrus, persimmons, and pecans are getting ready for their harvest season. Do not leave them on the trees past their prime or they lose quality. Pecans should be picked up pretty soon after they fall for the same reason.

Buy spring bulbs like Tulips and Daffodils now, but wait to plant them. They will need to be stored and chilled for at least 8 weeks. (When it is time to plant in December, you most likely will not be able to find them in the nursery, so buy when you see them available.

• You can dig up caladium bulbs this month to dry and store them for planting again in spring. 
  • • Brush off dirt from the bulbs and then store bulbs in paper bags or cardboard boxes in the garage
    • When caladiums look tired and some of the leaves are falling over, dig the whole thing up (foliage and all) and lay them out to dry. 
    • When foliage is papery-dry, gently pull it off the bulb.
  • Some gardeners choose to leave caladiums in well-draining and well mulched beds and find they come back reliably in our zone.

• No other bulbs should be fertilized this month.
• Calla Lily and Spider Lily as well as Louisiana Iris can be lightly fertilized with a 3:1:2 slow release fertilizer. 

• Take advantage of SAWS WaterSaver Landscape Coupons to save water and money. They have a great selection of Texas tough (but beautiful) perennials in their approved list.
• Pollinators are migrating this way this month! Boost your current perennials with some fertilizer to get their attention (water fertilizer in well). If you didn’t plant pollinator-attracting perennials last month, grab some that are currently in bloom so the pollinators can have nectar ready. Choose milkweed for the migrating monarch butterflies.
• Mums are available at the nurseries. Choose those with lots of buds that haven’t quite opened yet to extend the time you have them blooming in your containers and gardens. (If you need instant color and decoration, go for the full blooms.)
• Many perennials can be dug and transplanted, but hold off on any that are currently in bloom or set to bloom in fall.
• When planting new perennials make sure the top of the rootball is even with or slightly above the soil of your garden bed so that they do not rot.
• Water in newly planted perennials with a half strength water-soluble fertilizer. (You do not need to use slow release fertilizer on these fall planted perennials at this time.) Organic gardeners can use FoxFarm Grow Big, or Medina Hasta Gro, Synthetic growers can use Miracle Gro. October can still be dry, so pay close attention to the needs of newly planted, recently divided or recently transplanted perennials.
• Late season perennials that bloom beautifully through October and November are: Cigar plant, ruellia, salvias, butterfly weed, goldenrod, Texas fall aster.
• Plant seeds of echinacea (coneflower), bluebonnets, coreopsis, toadflax.
• Keep perennial beds mulched to help suppress the cool weather weeds that will be germinating soon. Pre-emergent can be used in garden beds, but just make sure to READ the label of your product carefully.
• This is a good time to take cuttings of your favorite tropical perennials. Root them in loose potting soil and make plans to protect them over winter.

Shrubs

• Plan for planting trees and shrubs this fall and call 811 to make sure there are no wires or cables buried under the soil where you plan to dig and plant! (Old blog/Public Service Announcement about calling 811: Digging in for Trees and Shrubs? Make sure you do this first)
• The start of fall shrub planting has begun! Shrubs and trees have the same planting requirements . These next few months are the best time of year to get shrubs in the ground so they can have the longest period of time to establish their roots over winter before the hot summer returns.
• Established shrubs (shrubs planted over a year or two ago) shouldn’t need water or fertilizer for the rest of the year. Newly planted shrubs (within the past year) should be watered only as needed through this month.
• Don’t prune shrubs this month.
• Need some beautiful, blooming shrubs in your landscape? Check out our list of great flowering shrub choices for San Antonio, listed by blooming season.
• Watch for lacebugs, especially on Azaela, they will be active this month through November. They feed on the underside of leaves and present with white dots on upperside of leaves and dark brown spots on the underside of leaves. Treat with a systemic insecticide that contains Imidacloprid as the actrive ingredient, or Sevin spray, as soon as you can. (Make sure to spray under the leaves.)

Trees (Ornamental/Shade) 

• Plan for planting trees and shrubs this fall and call 811 to make sure there are no wires or cables buried under the soil where you plan to dig and plant! (Old blog/Public Service Announcement about calling 811: Digging in for Trees and Shrubs? Make sure you do this first)
• The start of fall tree planting has begun! These next few months are the best time of year to get trees in the ground so they can have the longest period of time to establish their roots over winter before the hot summer returns.
• Hold off on transplanting and moving trees around in the landscape until around mid-December. You can root-prune them this month to get them prepared for their future move.
• Established trees (trees planted over a year or two ago) shouldn’t need water for the rest of the year. Newly planted trees (within the past year) should be watered only as needed through this month.
• These next few months are the best time ever to get shade trees (shade tree blog scheduled for October 16th) and ornamental trees in the ground so they can have the longest period of time to establish their roots over winter before the hot summer returns. 
• Take caution when pruning trees this month. You don’t want to stimulate late growth that could be damaged over winter, and you don’t want to prune off any buds that have probably formed by now for spring-blooming trees.
• When digging holes for trees, dig at least twice as wide as the rootball, but ONLY as deep as the height of the rootball. Planting trees too deep is the number one killer of newly planted trees! (When it comes to planting trees, don’t dig too deep!)