DENVER — If the leaves on your trees have turned brown, that's not fall coming--that's drought stress. To save them, use a deep-root watering device to pump moisture into the tree. If they go into winter under severe drought stress, you could well lose them. Water at the drip line. That's the furthest extent of the branches where the feeder roots are.
Meanwhile in the garden, keep vegetables well-watered too. Warm days may persuade stubborn tomatoes to ripen. Withholding water just leads to dead plants and dry, tasteless fruit.
Water strawberries adequately as well. How you treat them now influences how they'll perform next year. If you grow strawberries in pots, plan to dig a hole this fall to sink the pots into. Then cover them with straw. This layer of straw is traditional, protecting the plants throughout the year. In spring the leaves emerge through and above the straw. A benefit is that the fruit rests on the straw, not on the ground.
Spruce up your patio or porch pots. If they've gotten scraggly, remove and replace. Sometimes you may just need to pull the least attractive plants such as petunias and leave the rest in place. Add pansies, ornamental peppers, lettuce, chard, lobelia, mums and other seasonal plants.
Try Euphorbia cotinifolia. It's a beautiful foliage shrub with bronze leaves. It's not hardy, so it will need to spend the winter in a sunny window. My 10-year-old plant is about 10 feet tall, although it can be pruned to keep it much smaller. If you plant one now, you can enjoy it not just this fall but for many seasons to come, indoors and out.
