Landscape

Keep falling leaves from piling around trunks of trees, as the leaves trap moisture and can cause root rot.

Plant deciduous trees and conifers any time. Warmer soil in fall encourages root establishment.

Use hardware cloth or screening to protect trunks and stems of woody plants from rodent damage.

Watch for lacebug on azaleas and pyracantha, and scale on evergreens such as boxwood, euonymus and holly. Treat with horticulture oil while the pests are active.

Bulbs

Plant spring-flowering bulbs.

Plant bulbs in the amaryllis family, such as narcissus and daffodils, to foil squirrels and chipmunks. This group of bulbs are poisonous while tulips are slightly sweet and tasty to critters.

For success with tulips, dig a wide trench for a large group of bulbs and cover with chicken wire before filling in with soil.

Houseplants

Buy and plant amaryllis bulbs for blooms at holiday time.

Use the light meter on a camera to check available light for house plants. When bringing plants indoors try to place them in a location where the light is the same as the plant received while outdoors.

Vegetables

Remove vegetables that have finished producing. Work the bare areas of the garden and plant with crimson clover or Austrian winter peas.

Harvest tomatoes. Any fruit with a radiating star on the bottom will continue to ripen. Use the rest for relish, chutney or fried green tomatoes.

Flowers

Dig geraniums and store the roots in a paper bag.

Dig tubers of canna, dahlia, caladium and elephant ear as soon as frost burns the foliage. Store in cool place for replanting in spring.

Contact Civic Garden Center Hotline by phone: 221-8733; e-mail hotline@civicgardencenter.org.

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