Hi everybody!

Did you miss me? I miss you, so I hope all you guys are doing well. We bought my mom's house in Wayne, IL and have spent most of the summer in various stages of transition.

How are your plants doing? We should definitely be watering. Larry Acker, one of my weather guys, is calling for an early, dry autumn, and an early, dry winter. Larry said the first week of September could reach the 90's and it looks like he was a week off. After this hot spell, we are expecting a rapid cool down with an early frost for the Chicago area. The average first frost is Oct. 6th, but we could get it a week or two before that. Also, Larry told me to finish my gardening by Nov. 3rd because the temperatures are going down and will not come back. October looks gorgeous, although the moisture will continue to be very light.

I am using soaker hoses for my trees. I leave them under the trees for 48 to 72 hours at a time. We need that deep percolation and the trees are really soaking up the moisture at this time of year.

All the plants are in serious food storage mode right now. They are storing food in their roots getting ready for winter and they need water to make their food. This includes all plants; turf, trees, and perennials.

Continue feeding your annuals and vegetables, because they are eating enormous amounts of food at this time of year. A great fertilizer for these plants is household ammonia mixed with some powdered sugar (two ounces of each per gallon). I do this on the soil ONLY -- not on the leaves -- once or twice a week. I can't believe how much food my tomatoes and petunias go through!

Don't worry about weeds in the lawn at this time of year. Most of them will be killed by the frost. No weed and feeds either. Use them next spring if weeds are a problem. Crab grass especially hates cold weather. Dandelions will die in December.

That's it for now... I'll write more later this week. I have to go move my hoses!

Take care, everybody!