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Week 1 |
Week 2 |
- All vegetable crops should be in the ground by now.
- Remove yellowed foliage of spring-flowering bulbs.
- Protect ripening strawberries from birds.
- Apply mulches around woody plants, including roses.
- Remove spent blossoms from roses and perennials.
- Hill soil up against potato plants when they are 8 to 12 inches tall.
- Suppress weeds in lawns by mowing at a height of 2 to 3 inches.
- Thin apples, pears and peaches for larger fruit.
- Weed the garden regularly.
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- Thin fruit on fruit trees to get larger fruit.
- Deadhead perennials as the flowers fade.
- Sow more carrots and beets for continuous harvest.
- Remove blossoms from newly established strawberry plants.
- Fertilize perennial flowers using a 5-10-10 formulation.
- Water lawns and gardens during the morning if possible.
- Sidedress asparagus and rhubarb with compost or a 10-10-10 fertilizer.
- Shave off weeds in the garden using a sharp hoe.
- Share your vegetable harvest with a hunger center.
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Week 3 |
Week 4 |
- Fertilize perennial flowers with a 5-10-10 fertilizer.
- Prune older canes from climbing roses after roses have bloomed.
- Remove radish, spinach, and lettuce plants when they send up seed stalks.
- Store unused seeds in a cold, dry location.
- Fertilize hybrid tea, floribunda, and grandiflora roses as the blossoms fade.
- Never leave pesticides sitting unattended for even a few minutes.
- Replace the spark plug in your lawn mower.
- Take softwood cuttings of shrubs.
- Pull weeds before they go to seed.
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- Loosely tie grape vines to the trellis using soft twine or plastic ties.
- Protect ripening fruit from animals.
- Plant buckwheat in vacant areas of the garden to supress weeds.
- Fertilize roses after their initial flush of flowers fade.
- Prune hedges so that the bottom is wider than the top.
- Divide and replant iris.
- Bt will control cabbage worms if the larvae are small.
- Share your harvest with a hunger center.
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Week 1 |
Week 2 |
- Remove spent annual blossoms daily for continued blooming.
- You can still sow beets, beans and carrots.
- Hanging plants often need daily watering.
- Water deeply when needed. Avoid light sprinkling.
- Lightly fertilize onions, tomatoes, peppers and other long-season plants.
- Remove faded flowers and over-ripe fruit that attract Japanese beetles.
- Prop branches of heavily loaded fruit trees.
- Stir mulch to improve aeration and water movement.
- Enjoy a safe Independence Day.
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- Keep weeds out of the garden.
- Renovate overcrowded strawberry beds.
- Plant late-season cabbage transplants in the garden.
- Sow another row of bush snap beans.
- Put a net over blueberry plants to keep birds from beating you to the harvest.
- Cut lavender for drying just as the flowers begin to open.
- Never apply pesticides to stressed plants.
- Pinch mums for the final time of the season.
- Share your garden's bounty with a hunger center.
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Week 3 |
Week 4 |
- Enjoy fresh vegetables from your garden and farmers' markets.
- Plant rutabagas for harvest in early autumn.
- Cut back vigorous shoots of wisteria to check their growth.
- Sharpen mower blades if lawn appears brown after mowing.
- Examine trees after severe thunderstorms for damaged limbs.
- Sow parsley, dill and basil in pots for use indoors during winter.
- Allow broccoli to develop side shoots after central head has been harvested.
- Pinch mint, oregano, and savory to promote bushy growth.
- Share your harvest with a hunger center.
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- Keep annuals blooming by removing spent blossoms.
- Prune suckers and water sprouts from apple trees.
- Enjoy local peaches.
- Plant Chinese cabbage, endive, snap beans, kohlrabi, lettuce and radish for fall harvest.
- Cut back mints, oregano, and savory to promote bushy growth.
- Harvest summer squash when they are young and tender.
- Blanch celery a week before harvesting by wrapping stalks with paper.
- Change your mowing pattern weekly.
- Inspect your garden daily.
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Week |
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- Enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables from your garden and local farm markets.
- Apply supplemental water to the garden if there has not been an inch of rain in the previous week.
- Plants in hanging baskets dry out faster than plants in the ground.
- Fertilize roses for the last time this year.
- Sow seeds of biennials, such as Canterbury bells and foxglove.
- Cut down raspberry canes that produced fruit earlier this summer.
- Allow a few green peppers to turn red before harvesting.
- Ripen tomatoes on the vine, not the windowsill.
- Share the bounty of your garden with those in need of food.
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Week 1 |
Week 2 |
- Take cuttings of begonias, coleus, and impatiens for winter houseplants.
- Cut gladioli spikes with as few leaves as possible.
- White flowers shine in the moonlight.
- Handpick Japanese beetles and drop them into a jar of detergent and water.
- Dig, divide, and move daylilies after they have completed their bloom.
- Harvest tomatoes when their color is fully developed.
- Plant collards, kale, and turnips for the fall garden.
- Control weeds before they go to seed.
- Share the bounty of your garden.
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- Control weeds before they produce seeds.
- Kill weedy perennial grasses in the lawn so you can reseed early in September.
- Begin soil preparation for seeding a new lawn.
- Do a soil test before seeding a lawn or planting a new garden.
- Sow seeds of leaf lettuce, radish, turnip (for greens), and spinach for fall harvest.
- Dig potatoes after vines have died.
- Do not cut your grass too short during hot weather.
- Harvest the vegetable garden every few days and share your harvest with those in need.
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Week 3 |
Week 4 |
- Enjoy locally-grown fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Dig and divide garden lilies when the foliage yellows.
- Watch for wasps when working near rock piles, old tree stumps and stone walls.
- Harvest cantaloupe when the stem separates from the fruit with gentle prodding.
- Cut down stems of hollyhocks if rust-colored spots appear on the underside of leaves.
- Plant a cover crop of winter rye in spaces vacated by harvested vegetable crops.
- Weed the garden before weeds go to seed.
- Don't bruise tree trunks with lawn mower or string trimmers.
- Donate extra produce from your garden to a hunger center.
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- September is the ideal time to seed a new lawn.
- Plant trees, shrubs and perennials now.
- Plant garden mums for fall color.
- Continue to cultivate around vegetables and flowers to discourage weeds.
- Deadhead annuals and perennials.
- Do not fertilize woody plants until they go dormant.
- Sow spinach for fall harvest.
- If you have too many zucchini or tomatoes, reduce the number of those plants you put in the garden next year.
- Donate extra produce to a food bank or hunger center.
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September
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Week 1 |
Week 2 |
- Plant trees, shrubs, and ground covers this month.
- Establish a small grain cover crop on empty vegetable garden space.
- Begin moving houseplants indoors.
- Compost non-diseased garden debris.
- Potatoes are ready for harvest when their tops begin to turn brown.
- Order spring-flowering bulbs now.
- Have your soil tested before applying lawn fertilizer.
- Test grapes for ripeness by tasting.
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- Purchase spring-flowering bulbs.
- Allow gourds to remain on the vine as long as possible without exposing them to frost.
- Water evergreens when the soil dries.
- Ripen green tomatoes away from the sun.
- Harvest seeds of dill, coriander and caraway by hanging stems with the seed heads enclosed inside a paper bag.
- Aerate the lawn where soil is compacted.
- Cure pumpkins for two weeks at 75 to 80 degrees F before storing them.
- Broken and diseased branches may be removed; delay other pruning until early next spring.
- Record gardening successes and failures now for reference next growing season.
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Weeks 3 & 4 |
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- Harvest green tomatoes before a killing frost.
- Ripen green tomatoes in a warm place away from direct sunlight.
- Purchase spring-flowering bulbs while supplies are in-stock.
- Dig and bring in gladioli.
- Note where fall color would add to the landscape.
- Harvest Brussels sprouts, carrots, and parsnips after they have been exposed to frost.
- Continue to weed.
- Share your harvest with those in need.
- Provide food, water, and habitat for wildlife.
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Week 1 |
Week 2 |
- Enjoy local apples fresh from the orchard.
- Transplant roses if necessary.
- Watch weather forecasts for possible killing frosts.
- Harvest frost-sensitive produce (squash, pumpkins, and gourds) when frost is forecasted.
- Plant tulip, daffodil, hyacinth bulbs and crocus corms.
- Dig dahlias after the foliage is killed by a frost.
- A clean garden will have fewer diseases next spring.
- Eat imperfect fruits; store perfect ones.
- Place chicken wire on the ground over newly planted bulbs to deter animals from digging.
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- Plant snow drop, hyacinth, and star of Bethlehem bulbs.
- Enjoy locally grown apples.
- It is not too late to plant trees and shrubs.
- Pot and force bulbs for winter enjoyment.
- Repair garden fences and tools.
- Dig and pot up chives and parsley for winter use.
- Prune everbearing raspberries.
- Watch weather forecasts for frost warnings.
- Leave seed heads on asters, sunflowers, and cosmos for birds to eat.
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Week 3 |
Week 4 |
- Plant tulip, daffodil, hyacinth bulbs and crocus corms.
- Dig gladiolus corms when leaves turn yellow. Store corms in peat moss, sawdust or sand in a cool part of the basement.
- Keep leaves from accumulating and smothering the lawn.
- Shred fallen leaves for faster composting.
- Clean and store tomato stakes, cages and garden hoses before winter.
- Call an arborist for serious tree troubles.
- Store leftover seeds in a cool, dry place for next year.
- Remove weeds and debris from the garden.
- Edge garden borders if you haven't already.
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- Rake and compost fallen leaves.
- Make a jack-‘o-lantern for Halloween.
- Continue to plant trees and shrubs.
- Do not prune spring flowering shrubs.
- Destroy slug egg masses found under garden debris and mulch.
- Cut perennials to the ground.
- Plant garlic and horseradish.
- Start your “want” list for next year.
- Provide food and water to attract wildlife.
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November
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Week 1 |
Week 2 |
- Clean the garden and compost plant debris.
- Order fruit trees for next year.
- Apply trunk wrap to trees likely to be damaged by rubbing deer.
- Bring garden hoses in soon.
- Get your spring-blooming bulbs planted soon.
- Wash dust from your houseplants.
- Don't over-water your houseplants.
- Reduce or stop fertilizing houseplants for the winter.
- Provide food and water for wildlife.
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- Make sure your snow blower is ready for winter service.
- Winterize the lawnmower, rototiller, and other summer tools.
- Bring in garden hoses.
- Remove fallen leaves from the lawn.
- Store outdoor furniture.
- Clean and store garden tools.
- Order flowers for Thanksgiving.
- Drain outdoor faucets.
- Share your bounty with those in need.
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Weeks 3 & 4 |
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- Purchase a live holiday tree and have it delivered just before Christmas.
- Prepare planting hole for a live tree now.
- Store pesticides in a safe place.
- Decorate window boxes before the soil freezes.
- Tune up the snowblower.
- Wash garden gloves.
- Check houseplants for pests.
- Turn houseplants regularly for even growth.
- Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day!
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December
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Weeks 1 - 4 |
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- Shredded materials decompose faster in the compost pile.
- Winter squash can be stored 3 to 4 months.
- Keep off the lawn when the soil is frozen.
- Inventory left over seeds.
- Look for exciting new cultivars of poinsettia.
- Prune evergreen shrubs for holiday decorations.
- Choose a cut Christmas tree while the selection is good.
- Make a holiday wreath.
- Provide food and water for wildlife.
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