Time to get roses, lawns ready for fall

Here's how to make your roses and lawn more appealing:

Fall rose care: Groom roses for larger fall blooms. To do this, remove fading flowers, dead and/or diseased wood and one-third of the top growth, clean out any twiggy stuff and remove crisscrossing canes. Make all cuts flush to another cane with the last cut above an outside-facing leaf. In six weeks, your roses will be in full bloom and continue until frost.

Fall feeding roses: Feed now for larger blooms. Here's a recipe furnished by the Las Vegas Valley Rose Society for each bush: Irrigate plants first; add a prescribed amount of an all-purpose rose food; a 3/4 cup of bone meal; a cup of soil sulfur; a 1/3 cup of magnesium sulfate or Epsom salts and fish meal. Scratch nutrients into the soil under each rose and deep irrigate. Stop feeding roses after Halloween.

Take a lot of work out of feeding roses. Both Star and Plant World Nurseries sell rose potions. It includes the above ingredients in one package, making it easier to apply.

Fall feeding lawn: Fertilize your lawn to rebuild its nutrient reserves and for a greener lawn this winter. Fall feedings thicken turf, initiate more root growth, increase drought resistance, and decrease spring mowing and summer weed problems. Nurseries sell lawn fertilizers specific for your lawn. Make the last feeding around Thanksgiving to really build up nutrients for next year.

Aerate lawn: Be like golf course superintendents by aerating your lawn now and again next spring. Nurseries sell aerators, or you can rent a coring machine. It removes plugs of soil a half-inch wide and four inches deep from your turf. These openings improve water penetration and control water runoff. Forget about the corings, your mower will spread them for you. For better results, irrigate the day before to soften the soil.

CACTUS AND SUCCULENT SHOW

For the first time, the Cactus & Succulent Society of Southern Nevada is taking part in the Las Vegas Home and Outdoor Show, Friday, Saturday and Sept. 20 at Cashman Center, 850 Las Vegas Blvd. North. The "Cactus Club" is selling spectacular plants, including desert-rescued plants, on site. Also available are beautiful pottery, gourdwork, necessary soil, pumice and decorative rock. You'll learn more about cactuses and succulents from club members, including the environmentally sustainable and functional qualities of desert dwellers. Take these water-smart beauties to your home, inside and out, and mix them with your other landscape plants. For more information and how to obtain discount tickets, call 656-1786.

WATER SMART LANDSCAPING

More than ever, savvy homeowners are realizing that desert landscaping is not only more water-efficient but more beautiful, textural and ever-changing than water-guzzling grass. This class provides participants with the step-by-step process for converting grass to a Water Smart Landscape -- including how to earn a rebate. This free class is Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd. Preregister by calling 822-7786.

BUY LOCALLY GROWN FOOD

Every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Molto Vegas Farmers Market is open with produce fresh from local growers. The market is at 7485 S. Dean Martin Drive, Suite 106. For more information, go to dtaylor@moltovegas.com.

GARDENING WORKSHOP

Las Vegas is a great place to grow veggies all year. Come to the "Slam Dunk Easy Desert Gardening" workshop at the College of Southern Nevada at 6221 W. Charleston Blvd., Saturday at noon. Learn from Leslie Doyle how to pick tasty and safe food from your garden all year. Veggie plants, seeds, organic fertilizer and a mini seed-starting greenhouse will be available.

The College of Southern Nevada is having a bare-root fruit tree sale through Oct. 17. Workshop attendees will receive discounts on fruit trees purchased and free soil. For more information and to reserve your seat at the workshop, call 651-5052.

FALL PLANT SALE

The Springs Preserve will host its first fall Mojave Desert native plant sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 26 at 333 S. Valley View Blvd. Admission is free; however, regular admission prices will apply for access to museums and galleries.

Unique and hard-to-find "desert dandies" such as wood's rose and Las Vegas buckwheat, along with many species of penstemon and fragrant purple sage, and many more native and drought-tolerant plant species will be available. I'll see you there.

Linn Mills writes a garden column each Sunday. You can reach him at linn.mills@springspreserve.org or call him at 822-7754.