As the days get shorter and the nights cool down, you
realize winter is just around the corner.
It’s time to relax and wait for spring to arrive….WRONG !!!
There are still
many chores to accomplish – even after the first frost. So whether you’re a novice or a savvy
gardener, dig in and get busy with the fall chores. Performing a few of these end of the season tasks will keep
your garden looking it’s best for the rest of the season and pay off with
beautiful blooms and a thicker lawn for spring and summer.
Mowing,
fertilizing, cleaning, planting and watering continue to beckon. Lawns need
mowing as long as the grass continues to grow, some years continuing through
most of the fall.
October is he ideal month for an application of a fall
or winter lawn fertilizer. If the
lawn needs to be aerated, do this first.
Included in lawn
care is, of course, the annual raking of fall leaves. A good means of dealing with this seemingly constant chore
in October is a little bit often.
Raking your entire yard in a weekend will often lead to disappointment
when the next day you are looking at yet another blanket of leaves.
Fallen leaves
should be recycled, either where they fall or transferred to another spot. Dry leaves can be mowed to bits,
gathered for use as winter mulch or raked to the compost pile. Small leaves, such as honey locust may
be left as is, but larger leaves such as oak and maple, should be shredded to
speed decomposition and prevent smothering.
Annual plants
with brown and shriveled foliage should be completely removed from the
garden. Removing spent foliage is
an excellent way to reduce the chance of fungi and insect pests to over-winter.
Fall is a great
time to plant perennials, bulbs, trees and shrubs. The chrysanthemum, also called a mum is considered the queen
of fall color. There are many
beautiful mums on the market now but also consider asters, pansies and the
flowering cabbage and kale for instant fall color. Not only are the cabbage and kale great for outstanding
color, but the leaves can serve as a garnish or edible underling on salad
platters. The colder the weather
gets, the sharper the color on cabbage and kale.
What could your
landscape use now? Look at areas
of the garden that need screening, could use a shade tree, or just need the
boost of an intriguing new shrub.
Nurseries and garden centers have good supplies of plants this month,
and large price discounts.
Newly planted
flowers, trees and shrubs should be watered thoroughly every week or so right
up until the ground freezes, especially if rain fall is lacking. Perennials, trees and shrubs all
continue to lose water through the winter, so you want them to go into dormancy
with plenty of moisture. Dry soil
through the fall is one of the major contributing factors in plants not
over-wintering well. Be diligent about places where your soil may dry more
quickly, such as under evergreen plants and near the house.
