2024 Yard and Garden To-Do List Late-Summer Check-in - September 2024

Last year, I did an early September review of my seasonal to-do list as a way of inventory'ing what I had accomplished and force myself to focus on what is still left untouched.  At that time, I marked 13 as 'complete' and 12 as 'incomplete'.   This year, I set up the very same 25 item list that I have each of the past few seasons, but before I even write this post, it sure feels like I'm behind my normal pace in the yard and garden.

So...without further delay, let's do a Late-Summer Check-in on my 2024 to-do list.  

Let's run through the list - some of these items have more 'weight' than others, but for now...lets figure out which of the 25 are 'complete'.  

1. Build the pizza oven.  In-process.  Building the dome.  I wanted to be done by Labor Day, but for a couple of reasons, I'm not done.  But, this is a BIG, BIG project.  

2. Push through the discomfort around flowers.  Complete.  Dahlia tubers.  Zinnias from seed.  Really enjoying the cut flower season. 

3. Groundcover everywhere.  In-process.  Divided some Angelina Sedum near the patio.  I also divided a bunch of Chocolate Chip Ajuga and transplanted in my garden edits.  

4. Conifers should come first.  Incomplete.  I didn't plant any conifers this year.  But, I also didn't plant a lot of trees this year, either.  Just some 'interesting' ones - a Korean Maple, a dwarf Spring Grove Ginkgo and a third Bloodgood Japanese Maple.  I'm planning (at least) one conifer this Fall.  

5. Hosta Replacement Theory. And Ostrich Fern Replacement Theory.  Complete. I did a 'garden edit' on the Nook area and moved the All Gold Hakonechloa Grasses after digging out a border of hostas.  

6. Lighting and water feature plus-ups.  Complete.  I added some enhancements to my barrel pond/water feature - but I don't seem to have posted about it.

7. Do better containers. Complete. Kind-of. The front porch one that Nat did was better. Backyard were more standard.

8. Bedding Annuals. Complete.  I planted dwarf French Marigolds in front. Some orange zinnias as bedding plants IB2DWS. And, a trio of Inferno Coleus in the new island bed.

9. Expand the bed and plant (shrubs) around the back patio and grill landing. Incomplete. I've done none of this. There's still #FallPlanting, tho.

10. Trees. In-process. I've laid off big box trees. Planted a few unique ones. And, still hoping for a conifer this Fall.

11. Focus on Fall planting. Incomplete. But, it isn't Fall, yet.  If there's one big thing I learned over the past 12 months it is that #FallPlanting of trees and shrubs is a winner.  

12. Keep going on seasonal tasks.  In-process.  Fed roses and treated trees. Tried nursery.  Didn't do any biosolids.  More to do this Fall.  

13. Nursery and Plantsman. Incomplete. Failed on some past ones. Succeeding on hydrangeas. But, mostly neglected.

14. Keep going on compost.  Incomplete.  While I've continued to fill the bins, I didn't turn the piles this year.  Will there be room for fall leaves?  

15. Don't stop weeding.  Incomplete.  I've weeded, yes.  But have I done it enough?  No.  

16. Keep improving IB2DWs. In-process.  I've planted some annuals and dahlias.  But...no groundcover.  No mulching.  I cleaned up the edges, tho.  

17. Do more/different/better arrangements. In-process. Dahlias and zinnias have changed things for the better.

18. Projects. In-process. I put together the shed 85% of the way. Didn't build an orangerie box, but my gosh...the pizza oven *is* a project, right?

19. Vegetable gardening. Complete. Three kinds of tomatoes. That alone is an improvement.

20. Keep working the lawn. Maybe a little less. In-process. Can get there will Fall feeding, though.

21. Southside entrance. Incomplete.

22. Garden Personality. Incomplete.

23. Begin the Parkway transformation. Incomplete.

24. Leaf mulch. Incomplete. Never ordered it.

25. Figure out the area behind our South Oak or the understory behind the Nootka Cypress. In-process. Did the Nook, not the South Oak.

Out of the 25, I have:

6 marked complete.

9 marked in-process.

10 marked incomplete.  

15 of 25 either complete or in-process.  Not bad.  That includes the biggest item - the pizza oven.  I also did three big garden edits and added a front-yard island bed.  Those feel significant.

For the 10 incomplete items, there are three that are no-gos.  Leaf mulch.  Southside entrance.  Nurseryman.  A few of them feel like they're do-able:  Parkway, Fall Planting, Patio planting and Conifers.  

Of the 9 in-process items, most of them will flip over to green - like lawn, oven, trees, ib2dws. 

September and October are going to be critical months - especially with #FallPlanting.