All Around Pennsauken

By Kathleen Harvey, AAP Columnist

Temperatures are cooling, the mosquito invasion of this summer is finally in decline, and the angle of the sun is lowering as days shorten. If you recently purchased your first home, or are a beginner with gardening, now is the perfect time to try your hand in the garden. Autumn is a good time for planting, transplanting, and pruning your landscape.

The first step is to put on long pants, shirts with long sleeves, and a wide brimmed hat to protect your skin from the sun. Even though temperatures are in decline, the sun is still strong enough to cause skin damage. Now that you are dressed appropriately, grab a tablet – electronic or old fashioned paper – and evaluate your current space.

Step back and look at your home and garden from the street. What do you see in the big picture? What’s your curb appeal? Does the vignette make you happy? Do you have a large tree or shrub acting as a focal point to draw the eye across your space?

On the other hand, are the trees and shrubs so overgrown that your home can hardly be seen from the street? Does your grass grow green, or is it overrun with weeds and bare patches? Did some plants become diseased from all the rain we had this summer?

Do any of the trees, shrubs, or perennials have a fuzzy white substance on them? This could be a sign of powdery mildew, or worse, scale insects, which if left unchecked, can kill your plants.

Take notes as you walk your property, whether it has palatial acreage, or is a small space bounded by cement.

Once these questions have been answered and your evaluation is complete, don’t become overwhelmed with all the work that needs to be done to turn your home into a showplace. Develop a list of everything that could to be done in a perfect world. Then, prioritize the list based on your desires, your time, and your budget.

A good place to start is pruning. If your landscape has become very overgrown, you don’t necessarily need to rip everything out and start over. Judicious pruning can open up the space, while retaining the homey look of a mature landscape. There are a few important things to keep in mind while pruning large plants, like trees and shrubs. First, if trees or shrubs are dead, diseased, or dying, remove them as soon as possible, especially if they are very tall. Our area has been experiencing thunderstorms accompanied by high winds, which can rip out dead or dying trees, possibly landing on cars or homes. The next step is pruning overgrown trees and shrubs. Don’t prune more than 20 percent of a plant in a single growing season. Pruning more can weaken the plant significantly, even kill it. Also, don’t feed trees or shrubs until spring. Feeding now can encourage a new flush of growth that won’t have time to mature and harden before frost kills it, again weakening the plant.

Once pruning has been finished for this season, step back and reevaluate your property, as the look of your growing space will have changed. More sun will be able to reach areas that may have been in complete shade before. If large spaces have been opened up by tree and shrub removal, is there now space for new things? Determine how much sun is available in those new spaces, research what plants can grow there, and take your list to neighborhood nurseries to shop for replacements. Take advantage of late season clearance sales to add new garden accents that will grow and improve your space next spring.

Landscape design isn’t that scary if you take it a step at a time, working on your list as time permits. Have fun, and most of all, plant what makes you happy!