Around the Garden – Falling into Autumn
 
– By Chris Cohan –

What a wild ride we’ve had. The gardening season began cool and stayed that way into late June. Between a few BBQ’s, fireworks and the All-American favorite, July 14, Bastille Day, summer finally came around. We did get regular rain until August when we were visited by many dry sunny days. That dry weather took a toll on the ever- eager plant community. Tomato leaves became crinkly and brown, cosmos dry and spindly, impatiens punky, and powdery mildew ran rampant across lilacs and phlox.
 Finally, September brought a solid rainstorm that brought much needed relief to our gardens. The grateful plants absorbed the rain looking full and plump in the sunshine.
 However, back inside, many basements were wet, including ours. On a Sunday morning, when all I wanted was a strong cup of coffee and time to myself to enjoy The New York Times, I foolishly decided to check on the basement and noticed a spot on the carpet. I figured one of my sons had spilled something and never cleaned it up. On closer inspection, it was merely the tip of the iceberg. Stormwater had soaked the carpet and pad. 
 The wall-to-wall carpet had been installed years ago and, since then, an amazing amount of stuff has taken over the basement. All of that stuff made it impossible to easily roll up the carpet. With a razor knife I cut and removed sections. I moved furniture, bookcases, a massive digital TV, sewing machine, Legos and more Legos, and continued to cut carpet until I had it all.
 Maybe this was a good time to throw some stuff out. I started leafing through books I had not looked at since college. How could I throw them out? We shared so much together. They are a link to my past. Somehow they make me feel smarter.
 Staring at the overstuffed basement I made a gutsy call: throw stuff out. Yes, a few books have been jettisoned. Others I moved to my office. Really who can let go of “Rules for Radicals” and “Main Street”? Or “The Art of War”, “The Last Hurrah”, “The Grapes of Wrath”, “You Know Me Al”, and the prescient, “Oil”.
 As a gardener, I realized I was avoiding the garden. I should be deep in the dirt, not deep in the basement. 
The days are shorter and there is far too little time to dawdle. The garden needs you now. Prune all summer-flowering shrubs. Get the dead and weak branches out. Check the roses and remove all of the fallen leaves, yellowing or otherwise blemished.
 Don’t be timid; prune the roses way down. Using clean and sharp clippers cut the roses low to 1⁄4 inch above an out-facing leaflet of five. Remove many of the interior spindly branches and several large older ones. The plant may look thin but will repay you many times over with a bounty of blooms.
 Remove all weeds, including roots, whenever possible. On your hands and knees get under the privet hedge and pull all of those pernicious Norway maple seedlings. They are small but have strong roots. Rose-of-Sharon is full of seedpods. Trim them back now, before their thousands of viable seeds go everywhere.
 Remember to order bulbs. You will be happy you did when they pop up to brighten the raw grey of early spring. Prune all perennials’ faded flowers. If you have renovated or patched your lawn, observe weak spots and reseed. Follow with a fall fertilizing. Keep watering all plants and lawns.
 The vegetable garden may be looking sad but continues to bear fruit. You can plant more lettuce, Swiss chard and beets.
 Fall is a good time to divide and transplant perennials, relocate shrubs or remove problem plants. Stop day-dreaming about college days or thinking about new carpeting for the basement. Fall is here and now is the time for action in the garden.