By Jim Sollecito

So when does the fall planting season technically start, and why is it touted as a great time to put your shovel in the ground once again?

Once the day lengths begin to shorten, and the soil temperature is still nice and warm while we start receiving the anticipated gentle rains that begin sometime in August, it’s time to begin the fall planting season.

Weed seed germination has really declined, which gives whatever we plant, including lawns, a fighting chance to become well established. The cooler evenings mean I can see what I am doing, as the sweat from my brow usually makes peering through my glasses to inspect my labor a chore during the heat and humidity of summer.

Basically, it’s a lot more fun to do something outside in the landscape at this time of year. It’s fun to be alive and working with the soil; it gives pleasure while burning calories.

You can improve your green outlook with little effort and small budget by fertilizing things that look a bit long in the tooth, and my favorite material right now is the organic Neptune’s Harvest Fish and Seaweed Tonic.

The Iroquois were here for thousands of years planting the “3 Sisters” (corn, beans, and squash) and they recognized the value that fish can add to the soil. It’s not too late to try to bring around stressed plants or even a section of turf with this product, used every two weeks right through the end of October.

I also like to take this opportunity to attract as many butterflies to my yard as possible. Knowing that butterflies need water, I like to take a group of old wine bottles and stick them in the ground upside down. My wife and I empty them one at a time, enjoying the contents while helping our landscape.

The raised area in the bottom of the bottle, called the “punt” and used to collect sediment as wine ages, is a perfect place to fill with water once the bottle is inverted. The edges of the bottle are a nice landing strip for butterflies to light upon as they gain a sip, and then these flying flowers are off again to collect nectar as their fluttering wings make the garden come alive.

It always works best if you have perennial plants to attract butterflies as well as these used bottles for a drinking station.

Hint: The more colorful plants that you have in your landscape, and the larger the colors and sizes of your wine bottles, the greater variety of butterflies you will attract. Plus your place looks interesting, and that alone is well worth the price of the products.

Until next time, keep planting until you are planted.

Jim Sollecito is the first lifetime senior certified landscape professional in NYS. He operates Sollecito Landscaping Nursery in Syracuse. Contact him at 468-1142 or by e-mail at jim@sollecito.com.