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- September in the Maine Garden: The Month That Sets Up Everything Else<\/a><\/li>\n
- Ask the Expert: How do I get rid of this pesky weed cloth in my perennial garden?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Seasonal Sightings for September<\/a><\/li>\n
- Featured Resource: Growing Fruit Trees in Maine<\/a><\/li>\n
- Save Money and Beautify Your Garden by Overwintering Container Plants<\/a><\/li>\n
- Maine Weather and Climate Overview<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n<\/a>September in the Maine Garden: The Month That Sets Up Everything Else<\/h3>\n
By Sandra Mitchell, Penobscot County Master Gardener Volunteer, Maine Master Naturalist<\/em><\/p>\n
There’s a particular quality to a Maine garden in September that’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t experienced it. The light is different\u2014lower, golden, arriving at a slant that makes even ordinary beds look beautiful. The air has that first-cool-morning smell. And underneath the still-generous harvests, you can feel the season beginning to turn.<\/p>\n
For most gardeners, September is one of the most satisfying months to work, partly because the frantic energy of spring and midsummer has passed, the temperatures have cooled, the blackflies and mosquitoes have simmered, and partly because what you do now has long consequences. The choices you make in September\u2014what you clean up, what you leave alone, what you plant, what you add to the soil\u2014will quietly shape how next spring unfolds.<\/p>\n
It’s a month worth taking seriously.<\/p>\n
Harvest with a Different Eye<\/h4>\n
September harvests can feel almost embarrassingly generous. Tomatoes and zucchini are still coming (and coming, and coming), winter squash is sizing up, and the cool nights have reinvigorated the greens. September is definitely when I realize that I didn\u2019t NEED a 6-pack each of 8 different tomato varieties, especially the cherry tomatoes which don\u2019t easily can. And it IS the time I realize I need to stock up on more jars to store the tomato sauce, tomato juice, stewed tomatoes, raw pack tomatoes, hot pack tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, salsa, and yes\u2014even the \u201ctomato bits\u201d (a real label from last season when I was overrun with tomatoes!). But this is also the month to shift your thinking from production to closure.<\/p>\n
![\"Top](\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/cherry-tomatoes-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Kate")
<\/p>\nPick tomatoes before cool, wet nights accelerate pathogens\u2014don’t necessarily wait for every last one to ripen on the vine. Most will finish ripening nicely indoors in a warm spot stored in a paper bag. Harvest winter squash when the rind resists your fingernail and the vines are starting to die back naturally. Dig potatoes before soil temperatures drop. Keep cutting kale, chard, and mustard, but start thinking about your wind-down timing.<\/p>\n
The September rule is simple: good enough and preserved beats perfect and lost. But also remember the master food preservers rule that only the best should be canned! Use your less-than-perfect harvest for immediate consumption to avoid wasting it, don\u2019t cut the spots off and throw it in the canner.<\/p>\n
Clean Up \u2014 But Not Too Much<\/h4>\n
The urge to reset beds completely at the end of the season is understandable but resist stripping everything to bare soil. Pull spent annuals, remove diseased tomato foliage promptly (it doesn’t belong in the compost), and clear out anything that’s genuinely done. But leave the stems. Leave some of the seed heads. Leave the leaf litter at the edges.
\nMany of the beneficial insects you spent all summer encouraging\u2014native bees, predatory wasps, ground beetles\u2014overwinter in hollow stems, leaf litter, and undisturbed soil. A garden that looks slightly untidy through the fall and winter months is often an ecologically healthier garden than one that’s been raked to perfection. I leave almost all of my plants in the soil over the winter and pull them in the spring when I wake up the garden, partly because I\u2019m overwhelmed with canning all those tomatoes, and partly because I\u2019m lazy. But I tell everyone that my garden looks like a disaster all winter long to benefit the pollinators!<\/p>\nSeptember Is a Planting Month<\/h4>\n
This surprises some newer gardeners, but September may be the most underused planting window in Maine.
\nGarlic gets planted in October\u2014soil is still warm, moisture is reliable, and it will establish roots before freeze-up. Buying your bulbs in September from your farmers market, mail order, or at the Common Ground Fair leaves you in a perfect timing window to get them in before winter really hits. Perennial herbs like thyme, oregano, and chives planted now will have a head start on next spring. Hardy perennials can be divided and transplanted with much less stress than in summer heat. And if you have empty beds, this is the moment to seed a cover crop\u2014clover, winter rye, or hairy vetch will protect and feed your soil through the cold months. A word of caution on the vetch though \u2013 be sure you pull it out before it goes to seed or you will find it popping up everywhere for years. Trust me on that one. My laziness on weeding comes back to bite me with a generous vetch crop annually. Few things you do in September will pay off more visibly next May than a well-seeded, well-tended cover crop.<\/p>\nFeed the Soil<\/h4>\n
By September, the soil deserves your attention more than the plants do. Spread compost over empty beds. Use shredded leaves as mulch\u2014they’re one of the best soil amendments available in Maine, and most of us have more than we know what to do with. I often don\u2019t even shred mine in the fall, just layer them into the garden to be mixed in come spring when they have already started to break down. Avoid heavy tilling this time of year, which disrupts the fungal networks that are actively forming in fall soil. If you haven’t done a soil test recently, send one in now so you have results in hand before spring planting.<\/p>\n
Think of September soil work as next year’s garden already beginning.<\/p>\n
Pests Don’t Quit in September<\/h4>\n
Late summer pest pressure has a way of catching gardeners off guard. Aphids surge on fall brassicas. Imported cabbageworm can do real damage to kale and broccoli right through September. Slugs come back with a vengeance in the cool, damp nights. And as wild food sources shift, rodent activity near the garden tends to increase. Those cute chipmunks? Not so cute in September. And don\u2019t even ask me about the amount of damage a single porcupine can wreck on squashes, and even tomatoes. Why do they like the small, tender zucchini and not the baseball bats?
\nRow cover on fall brassicas is worth the effort. Remove hiding places near vulnerable crops, and harvest promptly\u2014a neglected pile of ripe squash is an open invitation.<\/p>\nMove Things While You Still Remember<\/h4>\n
September is the gardener’s editorial month. You still have a clear memory of what worked and what didn’t\u2014which perennials got too big, which were in the wrong spot, which plant never looked right where you put it. Act on that knowledge now while it’s fresh. Divide overcrowded daylilies, hostas, and irises. Remember your gardening friends who would love getting your extras! Move plants that struggled in summer heat or shade. The combination of warm soil, increasing moisture, and your own still-vivid seasonal memory makes this the best possible time for those adjustments. Even planting things like fruit trees works amazingly well in September: they have enough time to establish before going dormant and will wake up happy in the spring.<\/p>\n
![\"Early](\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/frosted-garden-300x300.jpg\" "\\"Christina")
Photo credit: Christina Lannan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n If you don\u2019t do it now, by February, you’ll have forgotten half of it.<\/p>\n
Know Your Frost, But Don’t Fear It<\/h4>\n
In most of Maine, first frost can arrive anytime from late September onward. Keep frost cloth or old bedsheets accessible rather than buried in the barn. Covering tender plants for one or two cold nights can sometimes extend the season for weeks. Take note of your garden’s microclimates\u2014the low spots that frost first, the south-facing wall that buys you an extra week. And remember that a light frost is not a catastrophe: kale, carrots, parsley, and Brussels sprouts actually improve in flavor after a touch of cold. Some crops are just getting good when the first frost hits. Know who is tender and will appreciate a blanket on those cold nights. When in doubt, put it out.<\/p>\n
Just Walk Around<\/h4>\n
If there’s one thing worth building into your September routine, it’s this: spend time in the garden without a task in hand. Walk it in the morning when the light is good. Notice where water pooled, where the soil stayed dry, where the wind came through and flattened things. Pay attention to what thrived in spots you didn’t expect and what quietly failed despite your best efforts. These aren’t idle observations. They’re the foundation of next year’s decisions\u2014and they’re only available to you right now, while the evidence is still in front of you.<\/p>\n
A September Thought<\/h4>\n
The garden in September is still very much alive, but its energy is moving differently\u2014 downward into roots, into soil structure, into the quiet preparation that winter requires, and into the canning jars and freezers! The gardening you do this month is less visible than spring planting or summer harvesting, but it’s just as consequential. Don\u2019t forget to expand your mental database this month as well\u2014attend one or more of Maine\u2019s wonderful agricultural fairs and see what others accomplished. No matter how much we know, someone else always knows more, has a different perspective, and has advice that is useable in your beds.<\/p>\n
Gardeners who learn to take September seriously tend to have noticeably better springs. That’s not a coincidence.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Ask the Expert:\u00a0 How do I get rid of this pesky weed cloth in my perennial garden?<\/h3>\n
- Ask the Expert: How do I get rid of this pesky weed cloth in my perennial garden?<\/a><\/li>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/landscape-fabric-300x225.jpg\")
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