September Garden Guide

After wonderful monsoon weather and a nearly dead garden, I am so excited to get the beds ready for Fall planting. Here is my September Garden Guide for zone 9b. The only problem lately is the influx of mosquitos resulting from all the rain. And those nasty little fellas just love biting me. But I am determined to start gardening again! It is also time to see what my gardening buddies are up to this month too!

Good Soil Structure

One of the foundations of a good garden is have equally good soil. It’s important to know your soil type. There are three soil types~ clay, loam, and sandy. Loam is the most desirable as it is a balanced mix of all three. How do you determine your soil type?

The best way to tell what type of soil you have is by touching it and rolling it in your hands.

1. Sandy soil has a gritty element – you can feel sand grains within it, and it falls through your fingers.
2. Clay soil has a smearing quality, and is sticky when wet.
3. Pure silt soils are rare, especially in gardens.

Or you can purchase a soil analysis test (see one here) which will include the pH and mineral content. I just ordered mine as the last time a soil test was done on my garden was in 2012. The results take 6-8 days online so I will be sending my test kit in today!

Getting the Beds Ready

Most of the beds are laying fallow over the last month and require a new burst of good soil. Since we do compost nearly everything we can, I have a large quantity of this amazing nutritious dirt.

These compost tumblers make composting easy and I cannot recommend them enough. For a good selection of compost items, click here. Composting is feeding your soil for free! Plus it is a great way to get rid of 30% of your waste.

The compost is placed on the top of the existing soil. I do not turn the soil much but I allow it to sit for a week or two before I start planting. To see my tutorial on composting, click here.

Check your Watering system

Last season, we had a drainage problem in one of the raised beds. What resulted was stagnant, stinky soil and poor vegetable growth and harvest. Now is a good time to make sure all systems are working properly. Too much or too little water can ruin a crop.

Our beds are equipped with an automatic watering system and the flower bed has a drip soaker hose with a timer. But sometimes these fail so it’s important to make sure they are in the best condition at the beginning of a planting season.

Shade Cloth?

In May, I did add shade cloth to protect the plants in the garden from the blistering summer sun. Since September is one of those months where it may still get really hot or we may see a shift to cooler temperatures, I will leave the shade cloth up for a while.

It is very easy to remove and during the winter months I replace the shade cloth with frost cloth on those few days we see below freezing temperatures.

Since the Valley of the Sun has different microclimates, it will be interesting to see how September pans out, weather-wise.

My planting guide for September

Starting early in the month, here is a list of items I hope to plant:

• Beets
• Broccoli
• Brussel Sprouts
• Cauliflower
• Tomato transplants

Closer to September 15th, I will add:

• Kale
• Lettuces
• Carrots
• Radishes
• Garlic

Since our weather has been a bit out of the ordinary (heavy rains, cooler temps), I will adjust what I plant and when. When the night temperatures fall in the 70s, the bulk of the planting will take place.

Here is a list of annuals and perennials to sow. I actually have seeds (carnation, larkspur, sweet pea, and stock) that I ordered from Floret Farm back in the Spring, but the planting for these seed groups takes place in the fall here.

• African Daisies
• Alyssum
• Aster
• Bachelor Buttons
• Bells of Ireland
• Calendula
• California Poppy
• Carnation
• Delphinium
• Forget-Me-Not
• Hollyhocks
• Larkspur
• Lupines
• Nasturtium
• Pansy
• Petunia
• Phlox
• Shasta Daisy
• Snapdragon
• Stocks
• Sweet Pea
• Sweet William
• Verbena
• Viola

The white picket fence around the garden is looking a bit tired. It’s an ambitious project but I hope to paint it when it cools off a bit.

As many gardeners around the country are winding down their gardens, here in Phoenix we are just starting a big planting season. I cannot wait!

Thanks for joining me today. And now off to the Garden Blog hop.

Garden Blog Hop

Chas from Chas Crazy Creations tells us The Actual Truth and Reality of Growing My Seasonal Garden.

If you have seen Kim’s garden, it’s hard to believe she makes any mistakes. However, today she is sharing 8 Mistakes Made in My Flower Garden and you can see it here.

Stacy from Bricks ‘n Blooms has a lovely garden in New Jersey. This month she shares How My Garden NJ Is Changing to Fall. See it here.

Thanks for joining me today! I hope everyone had a relaxing the Labor Day weekend.

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