Summer is starting to give way to fall this month, and soon we'll be winding up our gardens for the year. Enjoy these last days of Summer, the weather is perfect!

GARDEN MAINTENANCE

September is a great time to plant any new trees and shrubs. The heat of summer is letting up, and there is still a month or so before the freeze, so they can root well. If you need to plant grass seed, this is a great time as well. Perennial flowers in the garden can be divided and replanted early in the month. Bring in compost and top up your garden soil. Taper down the watering of your grass and veggies as the weather cools down.

BRING IN TENDER PLANTS

If you had herbs out in the garden this year, you can pot them up and bring them indoors to a sunny window to enjoy all winter. If you had any houseplants outside enjoying the heat, you will want to clean the pots from any spiders and other pests, and then move them back indoors to keep them from freezing and getting damaged if there's an early frost or cold snaps.

HARVEST & PROTECT CROPS

Right now, late summer flowers should be blooming like crazy, and your summer veggies and melons should be finishing their harvests. Winter Squashes should be almost ready, and your beefsteak tomatoes will likely be on the menu every night for dinner. Watch for frost forecasts, it's still a little early but they can happen. Tomatoes that have slowed ripening due to the shortening days and colder nights can be picked green and ripened on a windowsill inside. You can also put them in a paper bag with a ripe banana. Gather and save any flower and vegetable seeds from your summer harvests for next year. Make sure before you package them away, that you let them dry out so they don't rot while in storage, and don't forget to label them!

Gardening season is coming to an end soon, but I can't forget how much I love the flowers that bloom all season long. Brighten up your screen as summer comes to a close with these free desktop wallpapers.

Happy Downloading!


To download wallpaper to your desktop:

+ Click the image to open a larger version (depending on your browser, you may need to click again to make it go full-sized)
+ Save the image to your desktop
+ Select 'System Preferences' and then Desktop/Screensaver.
+ Or right click image and set as wallpaper