Evenings are cooler, and the wait for a beautiful sunset is surprisingly short.

Darkness seems to be constant, and being an early riser, I’m grateful for the dusk-to-dawn lighting that guides the sun up each morning, and the moon to it’s resting place each evening.

Lighting is used to enhance your home, flower beds, garden, security and of course, recreation areas.

There are simple systems that can be installed by homeowners such as the mushroom, and floodlights.

Anything more complicated, your best bet would be to hire a professional.

If you have a problem with deer, dogs and other loveable but pesky critters in your garden, there is the light trick that is supposed to frighten them away from the area.

A set up with a motion sensor light that is activated as animals or others approach could be beneficial, and although my garden has deer prints now and then, dogs do more damage.

It might be questionable as to the systems effectiveness in regards to dogs.

There is still time to plant garlic, onions, turnips, various greens and since there is a bit of a chill in the air, let’s gesome of those bulbs in.

If you have extra space left, enhance the soil for the coming season with a planting of buckwheat, red clover or rye.

In my garden, the red clover that I planted just a few days ago is showing and was grateful for the shower it received early in the day.

Water is very important to all living things, and since we have had unusually mild weather, with a change about to occur, take this time to throughly soak shrubs, flowers and garden areas.

After the soaking, you would be well-advised to roll up the hoses and secure them in a storage shed or garage.

This advice works well with any items that could possibly freeze, crack or discolor, such as planters and pots.

What a grand time to reflect and plan for the coming season, and if you haven’t started a garden journal, just do it.

Gwen holt is a master gardener from Isle of Wight. Her e-mail address is garden@tidewaternews.com. Virginia Master Gardeners are volunteer educators who work within their communities to encourage and promote environmentally sound horticulture practices through sustainable landscape management education and training. As an educational program of Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Master Gardeners bring the resources of Virginia’s land-grant universities, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, to the people of the commonwealth.