I’ve always wanted to be that person who spends a great chunk of the weekend gardening.  You know those people (and maybe I’m describing you)—they wear a cute little sun visor, they have one of those mushy cushions for their knees and they use a modest towel to wipe their brow after working so hard…  I can totally picture me doing that!  The only problem is I’ve still not gotten past the “I can totally picture it” stage!

Anyway, last weekend we purchased a bunch of shrubs for our house and my husband, Bill, planted them around the perimeter of our home.  If you noticed, I did not include my name as one of the planters.  That’s because it was over 90 degrees outside and who wants to begin their planting career in that type of heat?!  I was, however, very useful in the “That one should go there,” and “Put that one over here,” department.

While giving orders, I noticed that a shrub we (Bill) had planted last year had not been pruned after it had flowered this past spring.  Oops!  I think I meant to get excited about gardening around that time and I had volunteered to do that job.  Was it too late now?  Why did I recall something about only pruning during certain times of the year?

I decided this was a great time to call Mary Bouska, Master Gardener and President of the Buffalo Grove Garden Club.  Of course, when I called Mary, she was outside gardening so she had to call me back.  And when she did, she not only helped me with my question, she gave me excellent fall-gardening advice to share with all of you.  

“While Labor Day heralds the end of summer, fall is planting season,” says Mary.  “Whether you’re thinking of bulbs for spring, grass for your lawn or new trees or shrubs, this is the time!”

“Fall is definitely time to fertilize your lawn to give it enough energy during winter and to be its best for the spring,” says Bouska.  “Now is also a great time to patch lawns or over-seed.  Over-seeding is when you put seed on top of an existing lawn that has thinned out and you want to rejuvenate it.”

“This is an ideal time to seed because the soil is warm, which will encourage quick seed germination,” adds Mary.  “You should seed now because time is short and you need a few months before the ground freezes so that the grass can be strong enough to survive.  The two most important things to remember when seeding are good seed-to-soil contact and not allowing your grass seed to dry out.  This means you want to place a layer of topsoil over a newly seeded area and water frequently enough to avoid the dirt drying out.  Good grasses for the Midwest are Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass and Fine Fescue.”

“Furthermore, now is also a great time for planting or transplanting perennials,” says Mary.  “You’re doing it when everything is approaching dormant season.  Because it’s cooler out you’re not going to be stressing the plant as much as in the middle of summer from the high heat of the dry summer months.  Unlike your lawn, it is not necessary to fertilize perennials.  You want to allow them to become dormant so that they can tolerate the winter.  The Purple Coneflower is one of my favorites because it attracts birds—they enjoy the seed-heads this time of year.”

Next, I tried to impress Mary by saying that I actually knew we should plant bulb-things in fall.  “Yes, this is the time to plant spring-flowering bulbs,” replied Bouska.  “I like to call them ‘buried treasures’ because you don’t get to enjoy them when you plant them and you have to wait for spring.  You usually forget where you planted and what you planted but in the spring you end up enjoying a beautiful flourish of growth.  You’ll notice that bulbs are beginning to appear in gardening centers throughout the area.  In the places where your annuals are starting to fade, now is the time to dig them up, plant bulbs and add some mums for wonderful fall color.  Additionally, it’s a great time to plant evergreen trees.  This would add winter interest to your garden because evergreens stay green all winter.”

And now, for my own question:  Was it too late to prune my poor little shrub?  Was all hope lost?  “Now is NOT the time to prune spring flowering shrubs,” advises Mary.  “Limit pruning to removing dead branches.  Late pruning could stimulate soft growth that will not be able survive the winter.  Just leave it for now and prune it after it flowers in the spring.” 

Well, I will definitely try to follow Mary Bouska’s advice.  Maybe someday I’ll even be a Master Gardener, like Mary (Master Gardener is actually an official title!) or join the Buffalo Grove Garden Club. 

Lastly, in case you were wondering about the garden club, the Buffalo Grove Garden Club was established in 1969—41 years ago—and is still going strong.  In fact, there are currently over 60 members and new members are always welcome to join. The Garden Club’s mission is “community beautification and raising money for scholarships through its annual plant sale and other community projects.”

For more information on scholarships or becoming a member of the Buffalo Grove Garden Club, please contact Membership Chairman, Liz Kirkpatrick at bggardenclub@comcast,net.   To contact me about future columns email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .