By Tamara Galbraith

As your fall garden clean-up gets underway, don't sabotage your efforts by using dirty tools.

One of the best ways to prevent the spread of fungus and other plant diseases is to prune out infected parts. However, seemingly healthy wood can also be infected, so disinfecting your pruning tools between cuts becomes very important as you trim.

In 1992, scientists at Kearney Agricultural Center in California's Central Valley tested various readily available and commonly recommended disinfectants. The disinfectants tested were chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide, Listerine, Lysol concentrated disinfectant, Pine-Sol, and rubbing alcohol.

The scientists found that soaking or spraying pruning blades for a minute or longer in either full-strength or 1-to-5 solution of chlorine bleach, Lysol, or Pine-Sol brought the most consistent protection. Interestingly, just dipping the blade quickly often did not disinfect properly. Chlorine bleach generally did a better job for quick dips, although none of the disinfectants proved completely effective.

Although chlorine bleach is the least expensive and generally most effective disinfectant, bleach corrodes tools quickly and--as many of us know from clumsy experience--can splash up and ruin clothes. Lysol caused the least damage to clothes and tools; keeping a small can of Lysol and an old rag in your gardening bucket is a good idea as you work your way through fall pruning.

Autumn is a good time to prepare your lawn for the year ahead, and the best time to tackle any long-term improvements. Tasks such as raking out lawn debris, eradicating moss, feeding and aerating will improve the quality of your lawn greatly if carried out on a yearly basis.

Over the years, grass clippings and debris form a "thatch" on the surface of your lawn. This affects growth of the grass and should be removed with a lawn rake. Raking also removes moss.

If grass growth is poor, aerate the lawn. You can do this by pushing the prongs of a fork about 15 cm (6 in) into the ground. Brush a soil improver into the holes made by the fork. Use sand or a mixture of fine soil and sand if the ground is poorly drained. Alternatively, use peat, a peat-substitute or very fine, well-rotted compost if the ground is sandy.

If your lawn is in poor condition and needs reviving, apply an autumn lawn feed, such as Dr. Earth Super Natural Lawn Food. It is essential that you use one formulated for autumn use, as spring and summer feeds will contain too much nitrogen. If the grass contains a lot of moss, apply a moss killer. Use one recommended for autumn use - the mixture known as lawn sand, sometimes used to kill moss, contains too much nitrogen.

You can tidy an uneven edge at any time, but doing it in autumn will relieve the pressure at busier times of the year. Hold a half-moon edger against a board held in position with your feet. This is not an annual job.

By Tamara Galbraith

Box elder bugs - orange and black and about one inch long - live in box elder trees in the summer, but start looking to relocate in the fall. As this pesky bug's name suggests, (female) box elder trees are the preferred winter domain, but they will also infest and feed on maple, plum, cherry, peach, pear and ash trees and fruit.

There are two types of box elder bugs: the Western species, considered less of a nuisance, is found west of Nevada, while the other, more persistent type is found in the East.

Long dry summers favor box elder bugs, and because much of the U.S. saw just those type of conditions in 2006, the box elders could be a real problem this fall.

Adults swarm on the sunny sides of buildings, particularly white or light colored surfaces and a southern exposure. They also like to cluster around the lower portion of tree trunks before making a stealthy trek into your house. Other hibernating places are under loose bark, in bark crevices, under loose siding on buildings, and in gaps under sills.

Creating physical barriers is the best long-term solution for keeping box elders from entering houses and other buildings. Seal up cracks with a good silicone caulking material, repair window screens, make sure all exterior doors fit tightly, etc. If the bugs do get in the house, use a vacuum to suck them up.

Outside the house, sprays are a temporary secondary solution. It's important to act quickly when an invasion begins because the bugs can be almost impossible to kill or remove once they've snuggled in for the winter. Hot soapy water or insecticidal soap spray, like Bonide Insecticidal Soap, directed at bugs found massing on exterior walls will kill them, and is the least toxic method next to just locking them out.

Actually, that's not true; it's been reported that some types of ducks love to eat box elder bugs...so if you have a duck or can borrow one, let 'em go to town and chow down.

Many homeowners purchase a beautiful Japanese maple in spring only to bring in burnt and damaged leaves in summer, worried that their investment is about to part ways with their yard. The tree isn't dying - it's just suffering from heat stress. A common misconception is that Japanese maples can't tolerate a full sun location. But this is not true. All Japanese maples can adapt to a full sun location and, in fact, tend to color up better when they are in one. What most people experience is summer heat stress due to infrequent (or lack of) water when the tree needs it, especially during a heat wave.

Most Japanese maples will burn a little on the leaf tips in the first year while acclimating to a sunny location. But after that, they should not experience more stress. The reason maple leaves turn brown on the edges in summer is that the tree is unable to replenish the moisture the foliage loses through natural transpiration. As moisture leaves a plant, the tree draws moisture up from the ground to keep the cells in the leaves healthy and robust. If the tree has no moisture to draw from, the cells burst and die, which leads to the burning one sees on the leaf edges.

This condition can also be caused by salt burn from the use or overuse of strong chemical fertilizers containing high amounts of nitrogen, especially ammoniacal nitrogen. Even if the soil is moist around the trees, the tree can burn because the moist soil actually activates the fertilizer and the tree cannot control the amount of fertilizer it draws up.

What Japanese maples do need is a consistently moist, well-drained environment and, preferably, the use of an organic fertilizer. The term "well-drained" is key because regular watering in a poorly drained area will lead to root-rot and, ultimately, death. So never plant a Japanese maple in a low spot or next to a downspout or gutter. The amount of watering it takes to maintain a consistently moist condition will vary with soil type and location but on average Japanese maples should be checked for watering every 2-3 days. Organic fertilizers such as Dr. Earth Organic 4 are preferable because they are not activated by moisture but rather soil temperature and contain soil microbes and other beneficial organisms.