- Prepared by: Terry Lewis
Tasks
- Monitor rainfall and adjust water accordingly to keep soil moist for new plantings.
- Put organic mulch around permanent plants to conserve water and prevent weeds.
- Trees need to be deeply watered as they enter dormancy.
- Mushrooms often appear in the lawn in the fall as growing conditions are favorable. If you do not like them, rake or pull them out and discard.
Pruning
- Prune shrubs and trees to shape. Pruning junipers during cool weather prevents sunburn.
- Deadhead and shape rose bushes to promote final fall bloom.
Fertilizing
- Feed cool-season lawns with time-release granular fertilizer.
- Fertilize flowering annuals and perennials to promote fall growth.
Planting
- Continue staggered planting of cool-weather vegetables such as chard and spinach.
- Perennials: agave, dianthus.
- Bulbs, corms, tubers: brodiaea, crocus, freesia.
- Fruits and vegetables: onions, parsley, radish.
- Annuals: larkspur (Consolida), flowering kale, Primrose (Primula).
- Trees, shrubs, vines: Goldenchain tree (Laburnum), pomegranate (Punica).
Enjoy now
- Annuals and perennials: dianthus, alyssum (Lobularia).
- Fruits and vegetables: artichokes, cauliflower, figs, grapes, kale, limes.
- Trees, shrubs, vines: crape myrtle, bayberry (Berberis), beautyberry (Callicarpa).
- Fall color: maidenhair (Ginkgo biloba), goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria).
Things to ponder
- Store unused fertilizers and pesticides in a dry, warm place. Pesticides should be stored in a separate, locked cabinet or container.
Drought tip
- Postpone unnecessary fall planting until rainfall replenishes soil moisture and supplemental watering is no longer needed.
- Author: Jeannette Warnert
October and November are ideal months to plant new trees in Fresno County landscapes. The soil is still warm and the weather cools, perfect conditions for pushing root growth that will give the new tree a running start in the spring.
Planting a new tree does require thoughtful planning. When deciding what to plant, consider your goals for adding trees to your yard. Are you looking for fruit production, shade, privacy, fall color, spring blossoms, a focal point for the garden or wildlife habitat? Planting the wrong tree – such as one that will grow too tall, develop roots that harm irrigation lines or hardscapes, or drop leaves, fruit or petals in areas where they are unwanted – could lead to a costly removal process in the future.
The UC Master Gardener program in Fresno County has information that will help gardeners select a tree that meets their current and future needs. The program has created a lengthy list of trees that do well in Fresno County, and provides details about the trees' shape, size, growth rate, water needs and potential problems. For additional reference, cities often publish recommended tree lists for their locales, including the City of Clovis and the City of Fresno.
Proper planting and maintenance are also important to enjoy the long-term benefits of trees. In a Sacramento tree giveaway program, 25 percent of the trees died within the first 5 to 9 years, likely in part due to improper planting procedures. You can turn to the UC Master Gardener program for guidance on science-based landscape tree planting, which is sometimes contrary to conventional wisdom. For example, it is detrimental to amend the soil in the hole where the tree will be planted. It will do better growing in the native soil surrounding the tree. Some gardeners believe the planting hole should be dug deeper than the potted or bare root tree they've picked out at the nursery. However, to prevent settling that could later result in a tree trunk disease, don't dig any deeper than the root ball so it can sit on firm native soil when planted.
Learn more:
UC Master Gardeners, Fresno County, tree selection and planting guidance
UC Master Gardeners, Fresno County, tree list
Planting landscape trees, Gary Hickman and Pavel Svihra, UC Cooperative Extension horticulture advisors
- Prepared by: Terry Lewis
- Top dress warm-season lawns with well-composted manure.
- Sharpen and clean tools for fall pruning.
- Adjust watering schedules to reflect cooler temperatures and shorter days.
Pruning
- Leaf-fall is the time to start pruning - except for apricots and olives, which should have been done in August.
Fertilizing
- Feed cool-weather plants and vegetables to promote fall growth.
Planting
- This is a good time to plant landscape trees and shrubs.
- Continue to plant cool-weather annuals and those that use less water such as classic Coreopsis or hybrids such as ‘Rum Punch'.
- Perennials: Lantana, Penstemon ‘Margarita BOP'.
- Bulbs, corms, tubers: allium, anemone, Babiana.
- Fruits and vegetables: carrots, garlic, lettuce, plant from seed.
- Annuals: Michaelmas Daisy (Aster novi-belgii), snapdragon (Antirrhinum), calendula, chrysanthemum paludosum.
- Trees, shrubs, vines: Cotoneaster.
Enjoy now
- Harvest almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and pecans when the outer hulls split open and nuts fall to the ground. Pick up nuts daily or shorten the task by shaking branches or knocking nuts down with a pole. Before shelling, dry nuts in the sun for 2 to 3 days; properly dried nutmeats should snap in two rather than bend. Use shelled nuts right away, or store in the freezer to prevent oxidation (rancidity), mold, and infestation by ants or small worms.
- Fruits and vegetables: jicama, pumpkins, olives.
Things to ponder
- Overnight temperatures in late October occasionally drop below freezing. Frost protection will be needed for houseplants, citrus, avocados and other cold-sensitive plants.
- Do not replace vinca with pansies in the same bed - a soil-borne fungal root rot affects these plants.
Drought tip
- Use drip or soaker hoses for cool-season vegetable gardens, rather than less efficient overhead or furrow irrigation.
- Author: Rosie D
Well, we normally start to cool off somewhat in October, but Mother Nature seems to have other ideas in mind for the first few days of this month. So, when the weather is cooler, you can fertilize your roses with a good organic fertilizer and compost. This will result in wonderful blooms for the holidays. Again, watch for those insects that are pests, such as aphids and spider mites.
You might also see some wonderful semi-circles on your rose leaves that look like they have been cut with a hole punch. Those cut outs have been made by leafcutter bees.
Leafcutter bees are great pollinators, and a specific variety of leaf cutter bees are used commercially to pollinate crops, such as alfalfa and blueberries. According to the farmers that use them, they are more effective in pollinating their crops than honeybees. They are wonderful and adorable little critters and are very welcome in my yard.
It is time to make sure that your irrigation system is up to snuff. October will be the last month in 2024 when we can water three days a week. We go to the one day per week starting Nov. 1. So, check your sprinklers and/or drip that the emitters and sprinkler heads are working properly. As the days get shorter and (hopefully soon) cooler, I notice that my plants don't need as much water. I will be cutting back on the number of timed watering cycles. I also am putting down fresh mulch in any spot that might need it to maintain that moisture and keep weeds at bay.
Fall is when a lot of nurseries have plants on sale, and it is still a good time to plant new roses in your garden. So go and enjoy a walk through a nursery and see if there is a wonderful plant that catches your eye. Next month, the new roses for 2025 will start being advertised. I just received an email from David Austin roses that Dannahue is one of their new roses for 2025. It is a tannish apricot color that has a fruity fragrance. It was named after the English gardening celebrity Danny Clarke. Yes, in Great Britain, gardening is a big deal. British gardening has its celebrities, and they have weekly television shows.
Star roses have several new roses coming out for 2025. Loves Me, Loves Me Not is a deep pink rose with over 200 petals. The blooms are enormous, and this rose has a sweet fragrance. Sunbelt Garden Flame is another new one. Note: any of the Star roses with the word Sunbelt in its name means they can take the heat and full sun during summer and still look beautiful. This rose was bred by Kordes in Europe. They are known for breeding exceptional roses. This rose has a multicolor effect that starts out deep yellow and transitions to orange and then to deep red. Tiamo is another new rose that is a deep red double petal bloom that has high disease resistance. This one is gorgeous! A new compact rose, Winning Streak, has cherry red and fuchsia petals with yellow stripes. If you check out their websites online, you can see pictures and read more about these new roses.
Until next time . . . "If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I'd be picking roses for a lifetime." ~ Swedish Proverb
- Author: Elinor Teague
Nurseries and garden centers also wait until temperatures are cooler before risking bringing in their fall stock. Our fall planting season usually ends in mid-November. We may well have just four weeks or fewer to plant seeds and transplants of cool-season vegetables and spring-blooming annuals instead of the used-to-be-normal six weeks of fall planting time that encouraged stronger growth and root development before cold winter temperatures arrived.
‘Hardening off' allows nursery transplants to adjust to the differences in light conditions and temperatures in the garden by spending several days in a sheltered spot outdoors in their nursery containers or cell-packs before planting. That period of adjustment will be a critical step this year.
Amending garden soil two weeks before planting by adding copious amounts of humus and compost will improve the soil's water retention and drainage. Regularly amending the soil is another critical step in helping seedlings and transplants develop healthy, extensive root systems that aid in surviving higher fall temperatures and heat spikes.
Many large landscape trees are looking pretty shabby at the end of this September. Some have already dropped most of their leaves and many branches look to be dead or dying. This summer's brutal heat clearly stressed them to their limits.
Trees planted in parks, lawns or parking strips which received shallow sprinkler irrigation rather than regular, slow and deep irrigation will show more signs of early senescence or untimely decline. Give all landscape trees, young and old, a really deep soaking (or two or three depending on temperatures and the tree's condition) this month. Deep irrigation allows root systems to take up enough water to sustain trees as they enter winter dormancy before the winter rains arrive and also promotes full dormancy and more vigorous growth in spring.
This summer really tested the capacities of heat and drought-tolerant plants to survive extremely high temperatures. The high temperatures also negatively affected bee, butterfly, bird and beneficial insect populations. If replacing plants that died or that are so damaged that it will take months to recover, consider replanting with flowering perennials and annuals that provide food, pollen, habitats and shelter for a variety of beneficial species. California native plants should be among the first choices.
Nursery and garden center labels may not indicate which flowers attract which beneficials but many seed companies now provide that information online and on seed packets. Try to plant all of the three flower types (umbrella, tubular, open) as well as bushes that produce edible berries. Add a fountain to your landscape to provide clear, trickling water for bees and baths for birds and keep the bird feeders cleaned and filled this winter.