Are you having trouble coming up with fresh ideas for content every month? You're not alone! In this post, which is part of our bi-monthly series Hottest Extension Topics, we'll give you some topics that have traditionally performed well in September and October!

If we look back at the last few years of web traffic (for all our sites), these were the posts that consistently drew the most traffic during September / October (or were written during those months) and became popular later. While some posts are no longer published, many still are and continue to thrive even years after being written.

Attention Shifts from Gardening to Landscaping

The overwhelming theme for Extension posts popular in September and October seems to be most folks shifting their attention away from home gardens and focusing on reviving their cool-season lawns and landscape after the usual hot North Carolina summer. People also don't seem quite ready to give up on their tomatoes just yet!

Lawns and Landscapes

• Time to Seed Tall Fescue
• When Is the Best Time to Use Weed and Feed Fertilizers?
• Does Your Lawn or Garden Need Lime?
• What Causes Tiny Mounds of Soil in My Lawn?
• How Do I Prune Crape Myrtle? no longer published
• Bradford Pear, A Mixed Blessing in the Landscape no longer published
• Can Too Much Mulch Kill Plants? no longer published

Tomatoes / Canning

• Where Are the Canning Jars? Is It 1975 All Over Again?
• What Is a Green Tomato? Unripe Red or Its Very Own Variety??
• What Causes Tomatoes to Crack?

Pests

• Beware of Those Itsy, Bitsy Spiders!
• Controlling Caterpillars on Trees and Shrubs no longer published