We may remember 2009 as the year Kansas Citians never had to water their lawns.
That wasn’t an absolute rule, of course. Rain gauge readings can and do vary widely across the area.
Besides, some people will even maintain an irrigation schedule during a downpour. Perhaps they see that as making the most of their investment in an automatic sprinkler system, not as wasting our water supplies.
Nonetheless, 2009 has mostly been lush for all of us. That’s meant weed pressure, too, and an amazing crop of chiggers. But, just seeing your own landscape through a window or from a porch or deck has been a season-long pleasure … a season to treasure.
Head Off Fall’s Invasions
If you want to treasure the upcoming fall, however, you’d better get started now on bug- and mouse-proofing your home once again. Cooler temperatures inspire a whole range of “critters” to start their annual and rather single-minded quest for winter shelter.
An attractive target for this group will be the sun-warmed walls of your house. Once there, some will find any 24-hour heat, escaping through home structural cracks, crevices and gaps. Then – surprise, surprise -- they may enter your house via those same openings, giving you such uninvited visitors as rodents, crickets, boxelder bugs and millipedes.
To head off an actual in-home invasion, you need to remove as many temptations as you can. Plus, seal all building access points -- which also will reduce your heating bills.
The easiest part of this may be to quit leaving your garage door open as you garden or fertilize your fescue or bluegrass (perhaps also aerating the soil, breaking up the lawn’s thatch, hand-weeding, and/or overseeding). For mice and an array of insects, a garage door that is open and unattended is a gate to pest heaven, with a flashing neon “Welcome” sign.
Other ways to remove temptation fit right in with fall cleanup chores. You simply do what you can to remove potential hiding places near your home.
Whether rodent or insect, “critters” view weeds, untrimmed shrubs, dead leaves and other garden debris as protective cover. Their hiding places near your home can also include loose bricks, piles of stones, boards, firewood and hoses.
If your cleanup doesn’t seem like enough to make shelter seekers feel exposed – unsafe – you can try what some experts suggest: Remove any crushed stone, wood chip mulch and/or weed control fabric next to your foundation. Or, if you prefer, apply a barrier insecticide spray on your foundation and the nearby soil (or stone or mulch or the like).
You’ll still need to inspect for entry points – no matter how small – from ground to roof. Include the foundation, the air conditioner’s connection to the house, utility entries, outdoor faucets, doorways, windows, siding, soffits, roof vents and chimney flashing.
After all, boxelder bugs can fly. Adept as climbers and high-wire artists, mice are able to squeeze through a pencil-width (one-fourth inch) opening. Millipedes may have lots of legs, but they can crawl through even more openings because they’re so skinny.
To exclude unwanted insect visitors, you can simply seal up openings with caulk, weather stripping and screening. To exclude mice, however, you have to remember they can gnaw through latex, plastic, rubber, wood and such. So, you have to use concrete or metal (including steel wool and metal screening) to plug potential rodent entries.
It’s Planting Season Again!
Yes, your local nursery is telling the truth. Early fall is a wonderful time to add almost any kind of healthy tree or shrub transplant to your landscape.
Just be wary about what you buy. Keep your checkbook in your pocket if a plant’s roots seem too tight for on-going good health or if the ornamental seems a bit too large or tall for its size of container.
Before selecting among the bargains that big box stores may have brought in for fall sales, though, take three more steps: (1) View the offerings and write down the scientific names of plants you find interesting. (2) At home or the library, find out everything you can – good and bad – about those particular varieties. (3) Go back to the store and buy the bargains that truly are suitable for your needs.
Why is that important when the plants come with descriptive tags? Well, consider the fast-growing, admittedly beautiful Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana) trees that began showing up at discount stores just before Labor Day.
Homeowners have planted that variety throughout North America for far more than its good looks. Pyrus calleryana is remarkably resistant to diseases. It’s tolerant of a range of soil types, pH levels and drainage conditions. In fact, the symmetrical Chinese native has adapted so well that it’s become an invasive species in parts of the United States.
What plant tags won’t tell you, though, is that Bradford pears have a fatal flaw, which typically emerges after they’ve achieved enough size to show how truly lovely they can be. That’s when their fast growth, weak wood and poor branching emerge as a killer. The trees may take a few years to fall apart, but just one storm with high winds can spell doom.
On a happier note: With average weather, the days from now into late September are also a safe time to divide perennials with thick, fleshy roots – e.g., bleeding hearts, tough daylilies, hostas, peonies. And, September is a great time to dig up and relieve crowded bulb beds – especially the often-forgotten surprise lily plantings. You can even select the fall-planted, spring-flowering tulips, daffodils, crocuses and anemones you plan to plant.
Fall is when you can get caught up. Get ahead. Prepare for spring.
Or, it can be when you get no sleep and thus no yard work done because you didn’t protect your home from invaders. And, now you have a lone cricket in the basement.
Even though you may never locate it, you’ll know it’s a he because she-crickets don’t chirp. You’ll also know he’s lovelorn because all night, every night, he calls and calls and calls and calls for a mate … evidently, just any mate … with the frequency of a dripping faucet and the charm of a referee’s whistle.
That’s when you’ll have to wonder as many of us have, generation after generation. How can that sound seem so musical, rouse such nostalgic feelings by simply originating outdoors?
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