Oak galls, which come in a wide variety of shapes and colors, don't harm people or trees. (Photo: UC IPM)

Tasks

• Cut warm-season grasses short and over-seed with cool season grasses – annual or perennial rye or fine fescue. Better yet – let them go dormant to save water and mowing
• Check and improve drainage around plants in low areas
• Add fallen leaves, chipped trimmings, and garden debris to compost
• Remember that plants in containers or beds under covered areas may not receive adequate water from rainfall and may require supplemental irrigation in fall and winter
• Use organic mulch around permanent plants and add organic matter to the soil to prepare beds for spring planting

Pruning

• Dispose of diseased wood by discarding in the trash

Plant peas from seeds in the fall. (Photo: Nancy Devaurs)

Fertilizing

• Feed cool-weather plants and vegetables
• Add bulb fertilizer to planting holes before planting bulbs

Planting

• Tulip and hyacinth bulbs that have been chilled for six weeks may be planted now
• Sow wildflowers or grasses on hillsides to prevent erosion in heavy rains
• Perennials: coral bells (Heuchera)
• Bulbs, corms, tubers: Hyacinthus orientalis
• Fruits and vegetables: cabbage, peas, spinach, plant from seed
• Annuals: toadflax (Linaria maroccana), stock (Matthiola incana)
• Trees, shrubs, vines: Indian hawthorne (Rhaphiolepsis)

Enjoy now

• Annuals and perennials: stock (Matthiola) African daisy (Osteospermum)
• Fruit and vegetables: Asian pears, chard, nectarines, peas, peppers
• Trees, shrubs, vines: holly (Ilex), Chinese fringe flower (Loropetalum), Nandina
• Fall color: crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), sweet gum (Liquidambar)

Things to ponder

• Do not use lime sulfur spray on apricots or walnuts

September plantings of Swiss chard, a healthy and delicious leafy green, are ready for harvest now. (Photo: Nancy Devaurs)

Coreopsis can be planted now. (Photo: Nancy Devaurs)

Tasks

• 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 day

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

Do not replace vinca with pansies. A soil-borne fungal root rot affects these plants. (Photo: Nancy Devaurs)

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 two to three 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

Pick a bouquet of herbs in the early morning to retain flavor. Keep them in a vase and use them all week.

Hand pick snails the early morning. (All photos: Nancy Devaurs)

• Monitor soil moisture after rain and water if needed, especially for trees and shrubs.
• Renovate cool-season lawns – remove thatch and aerate.
• Hand pick snails and slugs in the early morning or use bait. Avoid baits that contain metaldehyde as they are toxic to all vertebrates.
• Monitor drainage after watering container plants to be sure plant roots are not standing
  in water.

Pruning

• Sharpen your pruning tools in preparation for fall pruning.
  
  

Fertilizing

• Do not feed citrus and other frost-tender plants.
  
  

Planting

Fall planting continues

• Annuals: stock (Matthiola incan), forget-me-not (Myosotis), Iceland poppy (Papaver nudicaule), pansy, violet.
• Fruits and vegetable: Swiss chard, turnips, snow peas, plant from seed
• Perennials: Lupine (Lupinus), plant from seed.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: sago palm (Cycas), Ceanothus maritimus ‘Valley Violet', magnolia,
  myrtle (Myrtus), flowering cherry (Prunus), oak (Quercus).
  
  

Mexican bush sage is a member of the salvia family.

• Annuals and perennials: dianthus, aster (fall-blooming), Mexican blue sage (Salvia
  leucantha), pansy (Viola).
• Bulbs, corms, tubers: spider lily (Lycoris), Sternbergia lutea.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: Texas ranger (Leucophyllum), sweet orange (Osmanthus), cape plumbago, snowberry (Symphoricarpos).
• Fruits and vegetables: apples, bok choy, cantaloupe, persimmon, snap peas, tomatoes.
• Fall color: goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria).

Things to ponder

• Use organic mulch around permanent plants, and add organic matter into soil to prepare beds for spring planting.
• Spray hedges and shrubs with water to clean and keep them free of dust to discourage spider mites.

Snowberries are native to the Pacific Northwest.

Enjoy the last flush of blooming roses along with the bounty of the fall harvest.

Tasks:

• Adjust watering systems as weather cools.
• Remove and dispose of any fruit and nuts that cling to the tree.
• Spray hedges and shrubs with water to clean and keep them free of dust to discourage spider mites.
• Water citrus being careful not to over water. Continuously wet soil risks root rot.

Pruning roses encourages bloom. (Photo: Nancy Devaurs)

• Do not apply any treatments to pruning cuts or other wounds because these materials are ineffective and often are detrimental.
• Deadhead and shape rosebushes to promote a final fall bloom.

Fertilizing:

• Wait two weeks after planting new flowers and vegetables before feeding with organic or complete fertilizer.
• Add bulb fertilizer to planting hole before planting bulbs.

Planting:

This is the best time to plant shrubs and groundcovers.

• Groundcovers: Carpet bugle (Ajuga), Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys ‘Nanum').
• Perennials: Cyclamen, French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), cranesbill (Geranium).
• Fruits and vegetables: garlic, onion sets, lettuce, parsley. Before planting winter vegetables, turn a generous amount of compost into the vegetable bed.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: Acacia baileyana, strawberry tree (Arbutus ‘Marina'), hawthorn (Crataegus), sago palm (Cycas), desert willow (Chilopsis linearis).

Enjoy persimmons now. (Photo: Nancy Devaurs)

• Annuals and perennials: vinca (Catharanthus), chrysanthemum, dianthus, coneflower (Echinacea), globe amaranth (Gomphrena).
• Bulbs, corms, tubers: dahlia.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: pineapple guava (Feijoa), morning glory (Ipomoea), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia).
• Fruits and vegetables: almonds, lettuce, melon, nectarines, persimmon.
• Fall color: goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua).

Things to ponder:

• Do not replace vinca with pansies in the same bed due to a soil borne fungal root rot that affects these plants.

Source: Adapted from A Gardener's Companion for the Central San Joaquin Valley, 3rd edition, currently available from Fresno County Master Gardeners for $30. These can be purchased at our demonstration garden - Garden of the Sun (1750 N. Winery (McKinley/Winery), open Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 am to Noon and via email at mgfresno@ucdavis.edu. Gardening questions answered as well at mgfresno@ucdavis.edu. 

Parsley may be planted in the fall.