Gardening by the Moon Weekend To-Do

An idea as old as agriculture, based both folklore and superstition but there are scientific ideas to back it up.

• Lunar Phase: Waxing Half begins on Saturday, August 30,   Labor Day,  Monday, September 1

• • Labor Day signals the start of the fall gardening season. It's time to refresh your color scheme, plant winter vegetables alongside spring-blooming bulbs, rejuvenate your lawn, and add trees and shrubs. Fall is the season for planting, but unlike spring, it's short, so don't procrastinate.
  • The fall and winter vegetables are arriving at your favorite garden center. Cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, peas, and many others will be available for planting. Do not overlook combining vegetables with annual color for stunning container displays.

Later in the Week

• With your fall planting of flowers and vegetables, don’t forget that snails and slugs are still present and continue to be problematic, just like in the spring. Snail bait is essential with all new plantings. 
• Tomatoes become very crowded in their cages by this time of year. So, it isn't a bad idea to thin out some of the shoots to open things up and improve air circulation.

Other Things To-do

• It is natural for dieback to develop in the center of lemons, limes, oranges, and other citrus. Now is an excellent time to remove dead twigs, stems, and branches. Repeat as necessary.
•  Do not pull or tear the peppers when harvesting them from the plant.  They are easily uprooted because of their shallow roots.  Immature peppers become sweeter and or hotter as they mature.