As we enter September just like the trees around us, we start to change with the change of the season. Pumpkin-Spice is everywhere from the bakery to the coffee shop. Schools are back in session, the leaves will start to change, the nights are already getting colder, and the fall rains have set in. The daylight is getting shorter and soon we will have our Autumnal equinox on September twenty-second.

Soon after, the harvest moon arrives on September twenty-sixth when the moon is the fullest and we could have our first frost that night. Another summer has come and gone, and I wonder where it went. Being retired, I lose track of days sometimes as one day is very much like the rest, unless I am off galivanting to some exotic destination around the world. But for now, it is getting the yard ready for winter. My wood pellets have been delivered, and they are stacked neatly in the garage. The days of cutting and splitting firewood to heat the house all winter are over. Now we cut and split just enough wood to fire up our outdoor fireplace for cooking maple syrup in February/March.

Pruning and shaping trees and shrubs is something to think about soon. As the leaves start to fall, it signals the beginning of pruning season. While most trees and shrubs prefer pruning in the fall, there are some things that shouldn't be pruned in the fall. Most of our early spring flowering shrubs like forsythia, quince, lilac and rhododendrons actually should be pruned in late spring to early summer just after they are done blooming. Because these shrubs start forming their flower buds in fall for the following spring, if you prune in the fall, you will be cutting down on the amount of blooms for the following year. Shaping trees and bushes with selective pruning will help you achieve greater yields and blooms for years to come.

Fruit trees fruit heavier on horizontal branches, so prune off verticals that are not needed. The apical stem of a fruit tree is the tallest center most stem of the tree. For proper growth, leave that stem at least one inch above all others when you are done pruning. This way your tree will continue its proper form, but you can prune back all the branches as long as that apical stem is still the tallest. It is a lot easier picking apples when you don't have to get on a ladder to do it.

There are loads of videos on YouTube that can show you multiple ways of pruning as there is not just one way to do it. Watch many videos and make sure they have real people in the videos not just an AI representation. I have seen a lot of AI videos pop up usually on how to grow things that are just a little unrealistic, like growing orchids from stem or leaf cuttings. I have tried nine ways to Sunday and haven't been able to do that one yet. Growing celery or pineapples from the cutting at the top or the base does work. My celery was growing this summer until a vole ate it. It has grown back but I'm not sure there is enough growing season left for me to get a harvest of celery this year.

Growing pineapple is fun but in the north, we do not have enough heat or sunlight for them to fruit, so if you just want a houseplant they are cool and a good conversation piece, but don't think you are going to grow pineapple in your garden if you start some in the kitchen in March. Pruning back berry bushes will help with improved yields as well. I need to thin the branches of my blueberry bushes, cutting any branches that crisscross each other and also shortening the bushes. This will cut down on next year’s crop a little as like forsythia, blueberries will start to form their flower buds in the fall, but in the long run it will be worth it.

Raspberries and blackberries need pruning too. Most brambles will only fruit on second year canes, meaning that the young cane that came up this year will produce the fruit next year. The cane that fruited this season can be cut down as they will not produce again next season or if they do, they will produce very lightly.

So as the seasons change, we do too, going from growing in spring and summer to pruning things back in fall to prepare them for winter.