• We need to put all the plants happily to sleep for the winter with an ample food supply, which provides for a better spring green up. Fertilize with a 3-1-2 formulation.
• Problems with watering hot spots in your lawn? A ½ inch layer of top-dressing compost feathered lightly and watered in will suffice. This will help minimize watering and help with nutrient take up for your turfgrass.
• One of the best ways to minimize and control weeds in your turf grass is through proper lawn maintenance. You will be surprised that the mower is a great tool in weed control. But, only if it used and used often.
• Avoid drastic pruning of woody plants this late in the growing season. However, dead or diseased wood in trees and shrubs can be readily pruned on an "as needed" basis.
• Continue to fertilize hibiscus, bougainvillea, allamanda, mandevilla, plumeria and other tropical plants that have been spending the summer on your patio, porch or deck. Use a water-soluble type of product. The over abundance of spring and summer rainfall with the lack of sunny days should encourage many of these plants to bloom fabulous throughout this fall.
  
  

David Rodriguez is County Extension Agent-Horticulture with Texas Cooperative Extension in Bexar County. For more information, call the Master Gardener "Hotline" (210) 467-6575 or visit our County Extension website at http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu.

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