Summer is almost over, and for most gardeners and those who love to work in the yard, it is time to tidy things up to prepare for cooler weather. It’s the best time to prepare for next year, even though the next planting season is months away.  Get to work for a head start on Spring.  

Vegetable Garden 

• If you still have tomatoes or peppers ripening, either take up the plants and hang in a cool place to let them ripen on the vine, or protect them from frost with burlap or row covering over their stakes. 
• If you have cool weather plants, make sure they’re getting plenty of water, and leaving them to grow until after frost makes them taste better!  
• Clean up all dead or dying plant debris, because it can cause diseases and help insects that like to overwinter in the rotting vegetation.  If you don’t have a compost pile, now is a good time to start one with healthy debris. If it looks diseased, discard it or burn it. 
• Adding lime to the garden soil is best done in the Fall.  Take a soil sample to your local extension office for a free soil test so you’ll know how much you need to add. 
• Cut back perennial herbs, and freeze or dry them for winter cooking. 
• Think about adding a cover crop.  Cover crops add nutrients to the soil, and prevent soil erosion.  Find a list for your region at https://www.almanac.com/content/cover-crops-us 
• Before storing garden tools, remove all dirt and debris, then spray with a 10:1 mix of water and bleach.  After they dry, oil tools that have moving parts, make any repairs that may be needed, and hang them out of traffic areas in your shed or garage. 

Landscaping 

• Plant trees and shrubs in the Fall.  The cooler temps and onset of dormancy gives them the perfect opportunity to establish their root systems. They still need plenty of water, so make sure you keep them hydrated.  
• Apply fertilizer to your lawn, and aerate it as well. Walking behind the fertilizer spreader in spike-soled shoes is a great way to do these two important things at once.   
• The last time you mow, keep the level at 1¼”.  This will keep leaves from settling on your lawn, as well prevent disease and insect over-wintering. 
• Cut back your perennials in the flower beds, mulch them well, and divide tuberous plants like daylilies and irises.  Hostas also benefit from a Fall division.   
• If you have any young plants or trees, mulch well around them to protect them from freezing once the thermometer drops. 
• Update container plantings with chrysanthemums, ornamental cabbages, pansies and interesting grasses.  These should take you through the Winter and provide interest and color for the drab days ahead. 
• Plant flower bulbs for a beautiful, maintenance-free Spring flowerbed.  Daffodils, tulips, hyacinth, and crocuses will provide color for weeks. 

Getting your garden and yard ready for Winter not only makes things look better, but it will certainly help once Spring gets here. The weather can be unpredictable come March and April, so take advantage of the cool, long days of Fall to prepare for next year’s growing season. 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

Photo credit: Town ‘N Country Garden Center

Summer is waning, and very likely, your vegetable garden is yielding less, if it hasn’t stopped already. You may think that it’s time to put the soil to rest until Spring, but there is plenty that you can plant now that can be harvested through late fall!  Don’t hang up the shovel–get inspired to keep things growing with these Fall planting tips: 

• Greens love the cooler temps, so plant all that you love, and try something new!  Kale, lettuces, and spinach are easy to grow, as well as swiss chard.  Check out this article from Mother Earth News about growing greens and how to take care of them. 
• Beans of all kinds thrive despite the shortening days, and reportedly taste better when grown in Autumn.  Planting bush varieties are best, as they only take about 45 days until harvest.   
• Any veggie in the brassica family–cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi grow very well this time of year.  These are best grown from young plants, and if possible, start them in your garden on a cloudy day. 

• What’s a dinner in Winter without some delicious roasted root vegetables?  If you’re dreaming about yummy parsnips, turnips or carrots, find a planting guide for each of these and more from Territorial Seed. 
• If you’re busy with the kids’ extracurricular activities, and general activities this time of year, consider planting a cover crop.  Cover crops can organic matter and nitrogen to the soil for the next year’s planting.  Learn more about them and what to plant at eartheasy.com. 
• Plant onions and garlic now.  They will likely go dormant when the weather cools, but they’ll establish their root system and reward you come early Spring. 
• Leave it to the tried-and-true advice from Farmer’s Almanac to set up a handy Fall planting schedule!   

The temperatures can still soar in September, so have some light row covering available for hot days to provide some shade in the heat of the day.  Just like in the Summer months, keep a watch for pests, provide plenty of water and mulch, and don’t fertilize too much.  It won’t be long before you’ll be harvesting and storing plenty for your Winter dinnertime! 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Photo credit: Harvest to Table

When it comes to gardening, going organic can be difficult, especially when there are so many manufactured products to keep weeds and insects at bay. It’s not uncommon knowledge that the fewer chemicals we use in our lawns and gardens, the better it is for everyone.  Follow these tried-and-true tips to get you started on a more natural approach to a healthy garden. 

• Make sure your garden soil is enriched with natural compost, and one way to do that is with grass clippings!  According to Mother Earth News, a mulch of 1”-2” of cut grass can feed your garden for the season.   
• Another way to get free compost is saving vegetable scraps from your kitchen. When you’re prepping for dinner, keep the parts you would normally throw away in a small bucket or jar with a lid nearby, and throw it in your compost pile or worm bed. 
• Speaking of earthworms:  vermicomposting is one very beneficial thing you can do to improve your soil.  Learn how to have your own worm beds from gardeningknowhow.com.  Kids love this project! 

• The little tags in the cell packs of plants aren’t there for nothing.  They have important and necessary planting information on them.  Put your plants in the right place, in the right amount of sun, and it will reward you with good growth. 
• When and how you water your garden plays an important part in keeping diseases and pests at bay.  A morning shower with a water hose can rid your plants of nasty aphids.  Watering your plants in the evenings can cause fungi and mildew to grow, and neither is easy to get rid of once they set in. 
• Learn the difference between detrimental and beneficial insects.  We don’t want to be bitten, but many stinging insects are taking care of the bad ones that are eating up our vegetables.  The Sod God offers some excellent information as well as infographics to help you distinguish between the good and the bad. 
• Row covers are a great and chemical-free way to keep not only insects away, but veggie-loving birds as well.  As long as they cover your plants completely as they grow, they will provide a barrier between your plants and the bad guys. 
• If your plants are being taken over by soft-bodied insects like aphids and whiteflies, make your own insecticidal soap–it’s easy with these instructions from Horticulture magazine. 

Whether you’re interested in going completely organic in your gardening, or just trying to cut back on man-made chemical use, it takes knowledge and a little extra work.  Growing a Greener World is an excellent television source for all things natural, and there are many books and magazines on the subject.  Look for sources that have been certified as an organic entity or is written or produced by someone who has been gardening the natural way and has lots of experience.  Reap the rewards of not only a great vegetable harvest, but the rewards of keeping chemicals out of the ground, and our water sources. 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Photo credit: Mother Earth News

February 9, 2018 – February 11, 2018

Orange County Convention Center
9800 International Dr.
Orlando, FL 32819

Friday – 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Saturday – 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Sunday – 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Come out to the biggest home and garden event of the season and the place to get your home projects solved. This year the Orlando Home & Garden Show returns with builders, gardeners and DIY’ers that will showcase the latest exhibits and seminars. This is a family-friendly event that provides fun activities for kids as you meet with experts on everything home and garden.

Event Website

Purchase Tickets Here

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Photo credit: visitorlando.com

Many of us select plants for the garden at our Orlando FL home based on their visual effect—color, height, size of blooms, etc. And so we should, as the sight of our plantings should be pleasing to our sense of sight. As we plan our garden, however, we should also be aware of the other four senses—and include plants which appeal to each of them.

SMELL: Aromatherapy is a powerful practice. With nothing more than a simple scent, the brain can be triggered to remember long forgotten memories, emotions, and feelings. With that being said, it is important to carefully select the flowers you want in the garden of your Orlando FL home. With a few simple choices, you can create your own “memory lane’ or relaxing oasis. In terms of fragrance, it’s hard to beat roses or lavender. Wisteria and jasmine are scented climbers which can really enhance the sensory pleasure of a garden, and amaryllis belladonna and spirea both add pleasant scents.

SOUND: Few of us associate the sense of sound with our garden, but the rustling of long grasses and the chirping of birds add a much-appreciated dimension. To attract songbirds, use fruit-bearing understory trees like dogwoods and service berries and shrubs such as viburnums and hollies and introduce low growing perennials and dwarf shrubs like creeping juniper and cotoneaster. You can also plant vines, ground covers, and sunflowers to increase chirping and tweeting.

TOUCH: Texture in garden design refers to the surface quality of the plant. Plant textures range from delicate and fine to coarse and bold. The feel of the foliage in your Orlando FL home’s garden is not the only element of texture, however, as the texture can change with the play of light and shadow and even with viewing distance. Plants with thread-like leaves call out to be touched, so consider adding cosmos, baby’s breath, asters, and grasses. In addition, iris and lamb’s ear will each provide softer tactile experiences.

TASTE: The world of herbs is nearly without limits. Think about basil, chives, rosemary, chamomile, cilantro, mint, and parsley, to name just a few tasty garden additions. Consider, too low bush blueberries or ligonberries. Lesser known, but equally valuable as salad additions are the flowers of the hibiscus shrub, columbine, and daylilies.

Some of the plants you have selected for your garden will serve more than one purpose and will appeal to more than one sense, so be sure to sniff, feel, taste, listen to, and view each of them!

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Spring brings with it exciting times for gardeners who anticipate floral beauty and healthy plants for the grounds of their Orlando real estate. To fulfill your gardening hopes, however, you need to prioritize your time in order to tend to all the tasks necessary for blooms and blossoms.

• Prune

For early blooming shrubs such as forsythia and viburnum, prune them as soon as blooms have passed. Early spring is also an ideal time to prune your roses.

• Deadhead

Remove spent flowers from bulbs, but leave the rest of the plant as is for the time being.

• Weed

Pull weeds from your beds and borders before they have a chance to take hold and spread.

• Compost

Tend to your compost if it has been neglected over the winter. If you do not have a compost bin, spring is a great time to start one.

• Prepare tools

Spring is a good time to prepare your tools for the oncoming gardening season and to make any necessary repairs or new purchases. You will be happy you have done so when summer sets in.

• Plant

Spring is a great time to add new plants to your garden. Be sure, however, that all threat of frost has past. Plant such things as trees, shrubs, hardy annuals, and summer blooming bulbs.

• Fertilize & Mulch

Fertilize and mulch beds and borders. Spring is also a good time to fertilize fruit trees. If you applied heavy winter mulch for protection from the cold, you will need to clear it away.

• Stake

Stake plants that may be prone to wind damage during the unpredictable spring weather.

One type of gardening which appeals to many environmentalists is organic gardening, the incorporation of the entire landscape design and environment to improve the soil and maximize plant production without using synthetic materials.

Another gardening philosophy which is gaining in popularity is “no till” planting. Proponents of this system insist that not tilling the soil of your Orlando real estate improves the quality of the dirt by not disturbing it and thus not bringing buried weeds, bacteria, and carbon to the surface. Layers of mulch and other organic materials not only “feed” the soil, but also control weed growth.

Whatever method you select, may your gardening days be happy and your blooms rewarding!

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

Get Orlando Daily News delivered to your inbox! Subscribe here!