September Garden Checklist for California

Fall—more than weather—distinguishes California gardening. From Labor Day through Thanksgiving and beyond, you can accomplish an extraordinary amount: from planting a few pots for your deck to laying the foundation for your entire landscape. Here's your fall planting primer.

Plant Now for Blooms Fall Through Spring

A California privilege: plant early enough and many annuals bloom by Thanksgiving, continuing through winter into early spring. Iceland poppies, calendulas, pansies, snapdragons, stock, and violas all qualify. Target date for most California climates: September 20; wait a couple more weeks in hot inland areas. Postpone if a heat wave looms. Most need full sun—choose a spot that stays sunny as the sun's angle shifts. Provide temporary shade during early-fall heat spikes.

Save Water with a New Lawn

Fall is the best time to start a lawn. Consider newer less-thirsty types, including California native grasses. 'Native Mow Free' (shown) mixes several fescues tolerating shade and sun. Mow for a turf look or leave unmowed for a shaggy appearance—mow at least twice yearly. Works on slopes; not a play lawn. Whether seeding (cheaper, more weed control) or sodding (watering is trickier than it looks), thorough ground prep is the key, most arduous step.

Schedule Major Planting

Fall is ideal for major landscaping—shrubs, ground covers, trees, vines—everything except frost-tender types. While planning, scout for fall-color trees now performing. Consider how you use and view your garden: early or late color? With right selections, you can have color from October to Christmas.

Pistache and liquidambar turn early. Japanese maples turn early or midseason depending on variety, sun, and moisture. Persimmon tends to be late. Ginkgo (shown) colors so late you may be in holiday mode, but it's an outstanding tree. Green maidenhair-fern-like leaves turn buttery yellow all at once, dropping in a carpet after a couple weeks. Large, handsome, generally problem-free.

• Botanical name: Ginkgo biloba
• USDA zones: 3–8
• Water: Moderate; grows in lawn with well-drained soil
• Light: Full sun; partial shade often OK
• Mature size: 35–50+ feet high, 15–40 feet wide (varieties vary)
• Growing tips: Unnamed seed-grown trees may be female and produce messy, stinky fruit. Choose named varieties: 'Autumn Gold', 'Saratoga', 'Pendula'.

Stage a Late Show with Perennials

Great time to plant perennials for next spring/summer: campanula, columbine, coreopsis, gaillardia, penstemon, salvia, yarrow. Don't overlook Japanese anemone—uncommon claims to fame: fall blooms, shade tolerance, easy care. Stunning glistening white, pink, or rose flowers. Rangy growth—best at back of bed or against fence/wall where floppiness won't matter.

• Common name: Japanese anemone
• Botanical name: Anemone hupehensis (A. hybrida)
• USDA zones: 4–9
• Water: Moist but well-drained soil
• Light: Full sun to partial shade
• Mature size: 1–5 feet high
• Growing tips: Stake tall plants. Clumps spread widely; divide roots in fall or spring.

Natives Are Waiting

California natives sync with our upside-down seasons. Fall-planted, they grow major roots with winter rains, perform in spring, shut down in summer drought. One unsung native: bush poppy (shown), a bright yellow evergreen shrub sharing attributes of manzanita and ceanothus. No water when established, few pests/diseases, long bloom (mainly spring, stretching into summer). Can look wild but accepts pruning for neatness.

• Common name: Bush poppy
• Botanical name: Dendromecon rigida
• USDA zones: 8–10
• Water: Light; no irrigation after establishment
• Light: Full sun
• Mature size: 4–8 feet tall, 4–6 feet wide
• Growing tips: Plant on dry slopes with other natives. Ensure good drainage. Unlike many natives, it can be pruned—cut to 4 feet after bloom.

Start Slowly with Wildflowers

California myth: scatter wildflower seeds, get a blue-and-gold spring meadow. They're wonders but not miracle workers. Right species, prep, timing, and weather cooperation yield treasure. Start small and slow with an easy combo: pink farewell-to-spring (Clarkia) and California poppies.

Best to sow in November or later when rains near. Choose full sun. Prep by tilling or rough raking. Cover seeds with soil/mulch to retain moisture. Water gently, keep moist until rains come. Larner Seeds offers great advice and seeds.

Grow Some Soup and More

Kale salad never did it for me—now I get it. Kale shines in classic Italian soups like minestrone and ribollita. For authenticity, try 'Lacinato' (dinosaur kale) with rough-skinned leaves. Plant kale and other leafy greens (lettuce, spinach) from seed or seedlings in early fall. Also cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts (good luck unless you're coastal and expert).

For cool-season veggies, choose full winter sun. Direct-sow now: beets, carrots, peas, radish, spinach, Swiss chard. Transplant: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower. In hot inland areas, wait for cooler weather. Early kale seedlings can yield a fall crop.

Make Your Bulb Plans Soon

Old favorites: crocuses, daffodils, freesias, hyacinths, tulips. Choose and buy now; fattest bulbs are most productive. No rush to plant—wait until October or November, especially in hot climates. Chill tulip and hyacinth bulbs 6 weeks in refrigerator (paper bag). Growing bulbs in mild California is different.

What Else to Do in September

• Keep veggies coming: Harvest tomatoes, squash, beans promptly—unless trophy zucchini is the goal.
• Stretch summer flowers: Deadhead marigolds, zinnias. Keep watered. Feed monthly or biweekly.
• Continue watering: Critical even for established shrubs/trees in dry years. Check soil moisture with trowel. Established natives and drought-resistant plants should be fine.
• Encourage roses: After early fall bloom, cut old flowers, water thoroughly, fertilize for more blooms.
• Revive lawn: Irrigate thoroughly (1+ inch/week for bluegrass; less for drought-resistant types). Fertilize with complete lawn food.
• Divide crowded perennials: Improves spring performance, multiplies agapanthus, penstemon, Shasta daisy, candytuft. Dig, cut into sections, replant in compost-amended beds.
• Prepare planting beds: Add 2–3 inches organic matter, work in 1 foot deep.
• Dig planting holes: For shrubs/trees, moisten area 1–2 days ahead. Dig wide hole, fill with water several times, let soak 2 days, dig to full depth at planting.

See what to do in your U.S. region this month