1. Stop pruning and fertilizing trees and shrubs (oaks may be pruned at this point to avoid the beetle in spring).
2. Start bringing in house plants and check for insects. Hose off foliage with a fine spray and insert pot into water so insects can float to surface. Remove and destroy.
3. Cut and destroy any diseased plants. Remove dark spotted leaves on roses and peonies.
4. Perennials that are done flowering may be divided and moved (not delphiniums).
5. Pick herbs for freezing and drying.
6. Leave some annuals to self-seed.
7. Save seeds for the Centre Wellington Seed Exchange in March 2017.
8. Cut back iris to six inches and check rhizomes for borers. Plants may be divided now.
9. Now is a good time to fertilize your lawn. It will help with winter hardiness and promote early spring growth.
10. Keep evergreens and shrubs watered.
11. Daffodils can be planted after the first frost. Wait for a hard freeze before planting tulips to avoid having them sprout before winter.
12. Tender bulbs and tubers such as glads, dahlias, begonias may be dug up and stored after the first frost.
13 Harvest tomatoes when frost is predicted. Wrap in Newspaper and store at 15 to 20 degrees Celsius.
14. If skunks are digging up your lawn, you have grubs. Either remove and later reseed your lawn or identify them and purchase nematodes either from garden centers or Natural Insect Control (NIC).
15. Keep rain barrels and ponds clear of mosquito larvae as a head start for next spring.
Julia Kron is a member of the Fergus and District Horticultural Society and a Guelph-Wellington County Master Gardener.
