Hello Friends, Neighbors, Fellow Gardeners,

Fall is here and it’s time to enjoy the fall colors and fall crops!  Here are some gardening tips, educational opportunities, and events for October. Events include the Harvest Festival at the Agricultural History Farm Park, Winter Wonders – Winter Squash cooking demo class at Brookside Gardens, our MCT Garden Club meeting on Tuesday, October 25th, with Master Gardener, Stan Fisher, who will provide tips on Planting for Birds, Urban Gardening workshop,  2016 Trees Matters Symposium, and more!

Planning:

• Harvest most fruits before frost. Check the link to the calendar below for the first Fall frost dates (starting around mid-October).
  • Fall Frost/Freeze Dates in Maryland | University of Maryland Extension
• As beds empty, make changes to shape and size of beds.
• Gather seeds and carefully label them. Store in a dry location.
• Collect plant seeds for next year’s planting and for trading.
• Clean, sharpen, and store your garden tools.
• Attend a local garden club meeting.
• Visit the National Arboretum’s website to learn more about fall plants. The National Arboretum has a Fall Colors gallery, with pictures of numerous species, a plant list, and a summary of the science of fall color.
• Visit the U.S. Botanical Garden! It’s autumn and Halloween season! Check out these fun pumpkin-on-a-stick (Solanum aethiopicum). Come find these Ethiopian eggplants brightening up the Garden Court!
• Go on a local house or garden tour to see what plants are thriving in other’s area home gardens: http://www.visitmaryland.org/list/gardens-maryland

Flowers and Groundcovers:

• From mid-October through November, plant hardy bulbs for spring flowering.
• Pull out spent summer annuals.
• Plant hardy mums and fall season annuals.
  • 10 Native Perennial Plants for Your Garden – Mid-Atlantic Gardener
    Mid-Atlantic Gardener | Add native perennials plants to your garden this fall. Perhaps one of these!
  • When you buy a potted chrysanthemum, it may already be root-bound. Check, and if it is root-bound, loosen the roots and repot in a larger container. (HT| Southern Living)
• Divide and move perennials.
• Start planting spring blooming bulbs.
• Cut foliage of irises to 2″.
• After hard frost, sow seeds of spring-blooming hardy annuals and perennials and then mark beds!
• Collect dried flowers for an indoor vase.
• Dig up bulbs from your Gladioli, cut off foliage, dry for a week, and then store for the winter.
• Leave seedheads on Black-eyed Susans, Echinacea, Goldenrod, Sunflowers, and Thistles for birds to enjoy over the winter.
• Sow wildflower seeds, such as California Poppies, for next spring.
• Look out for any Poison Ivy vines, which will turn crimson in the fall and be easy to distinguish between other vines.
• Pests to watch for: Aphids, spidermites, whiteflies
• Diseases to watch for:  powdery mildew, fungal leaf spot
• See UMD’s HGIC’s October Flower tips for more details.

Trees and Shrubs:

• Transplant trees and shrubs.
• Transplant trees when the leaves begin to color.
• Plant evergreens for winter interest.
• Water evergreens and new plantings to keep them hydrated this winter.
• Water slowly and deeply if weather is very dry.
• Continue removing diseased leaves.
• Check for bagworms, pick off, bag, and dispose of them.
• Pests to watch for: Voles.
• Diseases to watch for: Powdery mildew.
• See HGIC’s October Trees and Shrubs Tips for more details.

Lawns:

• Have soil tested (every 3 years minimum).  Apply lime as needed to adjust pH.
• Fertilize tall and fine fescues and bluegrass with 1 lb. Nitrogen per 1000 square feet.
• Put diseased leaves, pesticide-laden grass clippings and weed seeds out for recycling rather than the compost pile. Check your recycling guidelines.
• Mulch or compost healthy leaves.
• Turn your compost pile weekly and don’t let it dry out. Work compost into your planting beds.
• Diseases to watch for: dollar spot, brown patch and red thread
• Pests to watch for: Grubs
• See HGIC’s October Lawn Tips for more details.

Indoors/Houseplants:

• For readying Christmas cactus and poinsettia for holiday blooming, see HGIC’s Christmas Cacti Guide and Poinsettia Care Guide.
• Bring in tender plants before night temperatures dip to 60 degrees.
• Bring Paper Whites and Amaryllis indoors for holiday blooming.
• Take cuttings of plants you want to overwinter inside and place in water.
• Monitor for insect problems.
• Pests to watch for: Spidermites, mealybug, scale, aphids,  whitefly
• See HGIC’s October Houseplants Tips for more tips.
  

Indoor/Outdoor Insect and Wildlife Tips:

• Start feeding birds to get them in the habit for this winter.
• USDA Blog » As the Weather Cools, Your Firewood Choices Matter
  blogs.usda.gov | October is Firewood Awareness Month.
• Apply deer deterrent spray.
• Deer may cause damage by antler rubbing during the fall breeding season. “Tree protectors, such as plastic tree wrap, tubes, or 4′ woven wire cylinders, provide a physical barrier to prevent damage. Repellents are not an effective control against antler rubbing.” See HGIC’s Tips on Deer Management.
• See HGIC’s October Insect Tips for more details.
• Watch for: rabbits, groundhogs, deer, moles, snakes, squirrels, and voles.
• For more information on wildlife management and attracting wildlife see HGIC’s October Wildlife tips.

Source: University of Maryland’s Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC) and the Washington Gardener.

October

See below for upcoming local events in October.

 

Urban Gardening

Saturday, Oct. 15th

10:30AM-2:30PM at the Silver Spring Library. Learn all about microgreens, and about keeping houseplants healthy.

 

 

 2016 Trees Matter Symposium

Wednesday, October 19, 7:30am-4:00pm
Silver Spring Civic Center, Silver Spring, MD

Take advantage of our early bird registration from July 18th until September 17th only $75 (regular rate $90).

Montgomery Parks, a leader in urban arboriculture and landscaping hosts its 5th Annual Trees Matter Symposium. Learn from respected industry professionals about the most recent and innovative trends in urban and suburban landscaping while connecting with colleagues.

The fifth annual Trees Matter Symposium focuses on the health and welfare of trees in our increasingly developed landscapes. Learn from some of the country’s leading experts about innovative efforts to plant, protect and preserve trees in urban and suburban settings.

Trees provide many benefits: they cleanse and cool our air, stabilize our soils, provide wildlife habitat and beautify our urban and suburban areas. We encourage all arborists, landscape industry and environmental/green industry professionals, engineers, designers, housing developers and interested citizens to take advantage of this opportunity to learn new techniques and concepts on what can be done to ensure the survival of trees in our built environment.

Halloween Trains – Cabin John’s “Eye Spy” Train & Wheaton’s Haunted Train and Creepy Carousel

 

Weekends in October beginning Saturday, October 8
Fridays in October beginning Friday, October 14
Cabin John Regional Park, Hours: 1p to 6p on Fridays, 11am-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays
Wheaton Regional Park Hours: 6pm-9:30pm

The Cabin John “Eye Spy” Halloween Train was designed to delight younger kids (8 years and under) — it’s all about fun, not fright! While the Wheaton Haunted Train and Creepy Carousel each feature very frightening sights, sounds and creatures and aims to fright! (This event is not suitable for children younger than 8 years old! Costumes highly encouraged at both sites!

Tickets go on sale via ActiveMONTGOMERY.org on October 1.

More Info

MCT Garden Club October Meeting Topic: Planting for Birds