Now is the time...

I get lots of questions at this time of year as to what can and cannot be done at this time of the year.

Here are some answers to some of the many questions.

Don’t fertilize anything right now other than your lawn in October. Use a lawn winterizer fertilizer on your lawn in October.

Spray for dandelions now.

Wait until after the first light frost to spray for Creeping Charlie. If you have both dandelions and Creeping Charlie wait for the right time to spray the Creeping Charlie.

Don’t prune anything right now. Pruning stimulates growth and new growth at this time of year may not survive the winter, leading to die back.

If you need to seed your lawn do it soon. It should be seeded by September 20 so as to give it time to grow.

Sod can be laid well into October.

Many perennials can be divided at this time of year. A little bit of online research will tell you if your specific variety can be.

Trees, shrubs, evergreens and perennials can all be planted right now. Evergreens and perennials can be planted until early October. Trees and shrubs can be planted almost until the end of October.

Water, water, water. Trees, shrubs and evergreens should all be watered until the ground freezes. This is even more important for those plants that were planted this year.

Buy your tulips, daffodils and crocus now while the selection is good, but wait until October to plant them. It is too early to plant them right now.

Now is the time to aerate your lawn, but most residential yards don’t need aeration.