WINTERIZING GARDEN AND “THINKING GREEN”
Chilly mornings, falling leaves and the first
blast of arctic air from Canada reminds us winter is right around the
corner. While some gardeners just
finished planting trees and mums, others are starting to winterize the garden.
“Think Green” as you develop your chore list:
protect those annual plants from frost; putting perennial gardens to bed for
winter; and preparing trees and shrubs for the cold.
“GREEN TIPS”
Instead of raking and bagging the
leaves to cart off to the landfill, shred leaves with a mower to create a 1 to
2 inch thick layer of chopped leaves on top of the grass. The earthworms in the
lawn will love the food, and the leaves will eventually break down, adding
nutrients to the soil.
While your perennials are preparing for winter,
your annuals are not. Remove them,
roots and all. Lay them in
windrows at the garden’s edge and grind them with a rotary lawn mower. Move the
mower back and forth over the vegetation in a way that will blow the chopped
material back into the garden.
Mix this chopped material into the garden; it
will decompose long before the soil freezes. Don’t however, chop and mix weeds. Their seeds will over-winter in the soil only to sprout up
at the first sign of spring. Some
weed roots propagate themselves, and will make a healthy – if unwanted –
comeback next year.
For leaves you do collect, compost them with
other organic matter, such as fresh grass clippings, spent vegetable and flower
plants, and kitchen scraps.
Whether it is store-bought or homemade, compost
contains everything plants need to grow, including organic matter and
nutrients. When incorporated into
the soil, compost can eliminate the need for some commercial fertilizers. Simply apply compost around the
plant base as mulch or work it into the soil. You can also enrich your lawn by spreading a light layer of
compost over the grass.
WINTER PROTECTION
Most perennials are preparing for winter by
“hardening off”, a process of gradual adjustment to cold weather. You can help them make it through the
winter by mulching beneath shrubs and around tree trunks.
The goal is to keep the plants dormant, rather
than to keep them warm. If plants
are kept too warm, they may break bud and the subsequent tender growth will be
killed by winter conditions. On
the other hand, winter mulch does provide some insulation against severe low
temperatures.
Timing is critical when applying winter
mulch. Applying it too early can
smother the plant and encourage disease development. Once the plants are completely dormant and temperatures are
consistently below freezing, then the winter mulch can be applied.
DON’T FORGET THE GARDEN TOOLS
A little preventative maintenance now can
prevent frustration and expensive repair in the future. Proper maintenance also extends the
life of tools and equipment and makes working with them easier and more
efficient.
Clean your tools with a wire brush, scraper, or
a strong stream of water. Sharpen
hoes, spades, pruners, loppers or saws.
Check all tools for loose screws or nuts and tighten. Spray all bare metal parts with
penetrating oil such as WD40 to prevent rust.
TOM’S TIMELY TIPS FOR
NOVEMBER
• Clean those rose beds. Be sure all diseased leaves are raked
up and disposed of.
• Inspect trees and shrubs
for bagworm capsules. Remove and
destroy them to reduce next year’s pest population.
• Bring the garden hose
indoors during winter. Once cold,
plastic hoses are easily cracked or broken when coiled. Don’t coil them outdoors; rather, bring
them inside and allow them to warm to room temperature before coiling.
• Don’t cut off tops of
perennials until they have dried (usually late winter).
• Water trees, shrubs and foundation
plantings thoroughly before ground freezes.
• To protect young trees from
rodents, use sleeves made from wire mesh or plastic tubing securely fastened
around the trunk.
