As the weather cools in the fall, the last of the year's roses bloom. (Photo: Jeannette Warnert)

Tasks

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

Pruning

• Do not apply any treatments to pruning cuts or other wounds because these materials are ineffective (and often 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).
• Before planting winter vegetables, turn a generous amount of compost into the vegetable bed.
• Fruits and vegetables: garlic, onion sets, lettuce, parsley.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: Acacia baileyana, strawberry tree (Arbutus ‘Marina'), hawthorn (Crataegus), sago palm (Cycas), desert willow (Chilopsis linearis).

Enjoy now

• 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.