THINGS TO DO

The gardening season isn't over yet! Here are some of the things we expect to be getting into in the coming days:

- Spring flowering bulbs. One bulb Mark is particularly excited about this year, is the Liberation 75 tulip, which is part of a campaign to plant 1.1 million tulips across the country to honour the 1.1 million Canadians who served during WWII. $1 from every bag goes to support the Royal Canadian Legion and the balance of funds goes towards supporting the Canadian Tulip Festival. There are still bulbs available - get yours at https://liberation75.ca/product/liberation75-tulip-bulbs/

- Backfilling holes with asters, mums, rudbeckia, butterfly bush. If you haven't been to the garden center since May 24 weekend, give them another visit! Not only are the fall colours beautiful, leftover perennials are likely on sale and happy to be popped into your garden at this time of year.

- Thickening the lawn. Grass is a cool season crop, so this is the perfect time of year to cover patches and improve your lawn's competitiveness against weeds. CIL Iron+ Lawn Recovery contains the seed, soil and fertilizer all in one bag to ensure that this job is done right.

- Top-dress with compost. Remember, 'digging in' compost is a thing of the past - all that disruption is just bad for the soil. Simply apply the compost to the surface of the soil and let the worms do the hard work of pulling it into the root zone.

- Fallen leaves: mulch & rake. That is, mulch them with the lawn mower and rake them into the garden. Per above, the earthworms are more than happy to feast on these and turn them into beneficial organic matter.

- Harvest. Any time now, frost is going to finish off your veggie garden, so start collecting those pumpkins and squash. By now, your pumpkins will be pretty maxed out for size, so take a minute to appreciate what you've accomplished. If you're especially proud, see if there's time to enter your local veggie growing competition. We always get a kick out of pumpkins and squash at the fall fair.

- Apply Iron Plus Fall Lawn Food. The most important application that you will make all year. And later is better. 

Fall Lawn Fertilizer is formulated to build up the natural sugars at the root zone of grass plants. You will get a faster green up come spring, less snow mold and a stronger, healthier lawn.  The later that you apply this in fall, the better. So, the timing of application varies from region to region. Wait for a few 'killing frosts' which will slow down the metabolism of grass plants, creating the perfect conditions for application.

Available at Home Hardware #5024-137

Mark and Ben Cullen

Merchants of Beauty

www.markcullen.com