Gardening
Tips
Fall Tips
Watering:
One important job in the
early fall garden is to continue to water your plants,
especially your evergreens, trees and shrubs if it is not
raining enough (unlikely for this year). Going into the
winter well hydrated will help keep your plants thriving.
Create a new, easy no-dig
flower bed:
Try this method if you want
to plant in the following spring:
- Cut existing grass at
your mower's lowest setting.
- To kill grass, spread a
layer of newspaper about 12 sheets thick.
- Spread 12 inches of
organic matter (well-fermented manure, compost, or
triple mix) over the layers of newspaper. Rake and
mound.
- If doing this job in
fall, let mound settle until spring. Worms and soil
micro-organisms will mix and enrich the soil.
Make notes about garden
changes or plants that you might want to move in the spring.
Lawn care:
- Aerate your lawn. The
holes allow oxygen, fertilizers and water better access
to roots. Aeration will reduce water run off and soil
compaction and will improve root growth.
- Reseed any dead or thin
spots. This is the best time of the year to lay sod,
overseed or start a lawn from seed because temperatures
are cooler and rain tends to be more plentiful than in
the hot summer months.
Container plantings:
Once they're past their prime, empty containers of annuals
and store frost-sensitive containers in the basement or the
garage.
Perennials:
Don't be in a great rush to cut back all your perennials
early. Seed heads and foliage that's coloring up can be
beautiful, and the seeds are food for migrating birds. Cut
back plants that are diseased and allow healthy plants to
self-seed freely.
If you have too little color
in the garden now, visit your local garden center for some
ideas on late-season flowers to add, and take an advantage
of end of season sales.
Divide overgrown
perennials—this is the ideal time to divide and transplant
peonies, day lilies, and irises.
Annuals:
Pull or dig out summer annuals that are past their prime,
and plant mums and colorful kale for fall interest.
Dig up summer bulbs:
After the first frost, dig up dahlias, cannas, gladioli, and
similar non-hardy summer bulbs for winter storage. Dig bulbs
or tubers up after frost has blackened foliage. Carefully
remove as much soil as you can off the bulbs. Leave bulbs or
tubers exposed to air in a frost-free place for a couple of
weeks. Store in dry peat in paper bags or cardboard boxes in
a cool, frost free place at 40 to 50°F (5-10°C).
Spring bulbs:
Buy spring-flowering bulbs while they're in plentiful
supply, but don't plant them too early. You can plant bulbs
up to the time the ground freezes. If you plan carefully,
the show of bulbs can last from late winter until June. The
beauty of spring-flowering bulbs is their incredible
variety, in size and shape, color and bloom time.
In fall when the garden is
still full of foliage from summer's perennials, it's hard to
recall how the beds can look in early spring. So try to
plant abundantly so your spring show has a bigger impact.
The big three for spring are
tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. There are many lovely,
easy-to-grow, lesser-known bulbs such crocus, muscari,
ornamental onions or alliums and fritillaria.
[top]
Sustainable Gardening
A sustainable garden works in harmony with
nature. The main techniques that can improve the health of your garden and
minimize any negative impact on the environment include:
Organic Gardening
Growing food without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and inorganic
fertilizers that pollute our soil and water. It relies on the use of beneficial
insects, diversity of plants, and the use of compost to feed the soil instead of
plants.
Native Plants and Trees
By matching plant species to your particular area you will have plants and trees
that take less care and energy and will be healthier than exotic species.
Another benefit is that native birds, insects, and other wildlife have evolved
with native plant species and are able to use the fruits, nectars and habitat
that these plants and trees provide. In addition; native plants are more
adaptable to the soil of the same area.
Double Digging and Compost
Double digging helps the soil hold more water, improves aeration and places
organic material at a depth that enables plant roots to adequately extend.
Double digging and adding compost will build humus and soil fertility.
Composting is a method of returning organic waste back into a nutrient rich soil
amendment. Ultimately, compost improves plant health by supplying nutrients to
the soil. All you need to start is a shallow composter located in a sunny spot
to speed up the process.
Drip Irrigation
By delivering water directly to the plant’s root, little is lost to evaporation
or runoff so this technique is very water efficient. Soil moisture remains
constant, and air is always available.
Mulch
Mulch protects the soil by helping it retain moisture, suppresses weeds and
insulates plants from extreme temperatures. It is highly recommended to use
compost as mulch. Turning compost to the soil next season will supply it with
nutrients.
[top]
Dividing Perennial Plants
Many perennial plants grow in a clump. After
several seasons of growing, these perennial plants will begin to die out in the
center and look more like a ring than a clump. To keep the plants vigorous and
blooming, a technique known as 'Division' is performed. Dividing perennial
plants gives you healthier, longer lived plants and the bonus of more plants.
Keep an eye out for clumps that have grown 2-3
times their size within 2-5 years. Any over grown clump or any clump that has
simply exceeded the space allotted is a candidate for division.
Spring is usually the best time for division, since the plants are actively
growing and their leaves are not so developed that the root system can't take a
little disturbance and still feed the top of the plant. However, some plants
like peonies, prefer to be divided in the early fall.
In most cases, it is easiest to divide a perennial plant by digging and lifting
the entire plant. Use a shovel or flat edged spade and slice completely around
the outer perimeter of the plant, a few inches away from the foliage. The idea
is to dig as much of the root ball as possible. If you have an extremely large
plant, you may have to divide it several times before you have new plants of an
appropriate size.
Some plants, like geraniums and Jacob's ladder, are simply quick spreaders and
their root systems are quite easy to dig a separate. In this case you do not
need to lift the entire plant.
Tip for dividing your perennials:
- Treat them like new seedlings
- Avoid dividing during the hottest part of
the day
- Roots will quickly dry if exposed to hot sun
or breeze for long time
- Keep them well watered until new growth
appears
- Provide some shade if they appear to be
wilting during the afternoon
[top]
Lawn Mowing
For Ontario, the cool season grasses like Kentucky
Blue Grass, Fescue, and Rye should be mowed as high as possible. The best is
around 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 cm) and no higher. If you cut any taller than
that, the grass can flop over, and if you cut it too short, the grass is more
susceptible to weeds, it dries out faster, and overall does poorly.
Mowing at this height:
- Encourages a dense, thriving turf that
naturally blocks weeds
- Increases leaf area to sustain
photosynthesis rates necessary to maintain good plant vigor
- Develops deeper, stronger root systems
The lawn should be mowed frequently enough so
that no more than 1/3 of the leaf blade length is removed during any one mowing.
Proper mowing frequency is a key to successful implementation of the "Don't Bag
It" clipping return program.
Turfgrass should be mowed when it is dry. Wet grass is more difficult to cut and
has a tendency to clog under rotary mowers.
Contrary to popular belief, turfgrass clippings do not contribute to thatch
accumulation if proper mowing practices are followed. Turfgrass clippings
contain measurable amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that reduce
fertilizers required to maintain healthy lawn.
Tip:
Having the mower serviced prior to the heavy
spring mowing period will help ensure routine, maintenance-free mowing. Mower
blades should be sharpened each spring and as needed during the season. A dull
mower blade frays the ends of blades and results in brown tips which are
unsightly and indicate damaged turfgrass.
[top]
Spring Gardening Tips
Start spring cleanup of the lawn when the
grass is no longer sopping wet and planting beds stop being a sea of mud. Cut
back the previous season's dead plant material. Clean up old perennial foliage
from last season (trimmings can go into the compost). Cut back ornamental
grasses. Remove winter protection of mounded earth from roses.
Remove tree guards or burlap winter
protection from any young trees or shrubs. Try not to leave tree guards in place
over the summer. They keep rabbits and mice from nibbling on tender bark over
the winter, but trees don't need them in summer. They don't allow enough air
movement around the base of the trunk and that can promote rot of the bark.
Transplant any existing shrubs you want to
move before they begin to leaf out. Replant any perennials that the frost has
heaved out of the ground as soon as you can. Plant new trees and shrubs.
Apply dormant oil spray to fruit trees,
magnolias, crabapples and shrubs such as euonymus to control scale insects and
other overwintering pests. Use this organic pest control method when the buds
are swelling but the leaves haven't opened yet. Apply when temperatures are
above 40 degrees F (4 degrees C).
Maintain edges. Grass growth is vigorous
in the early spring garden, so edge your flower beds with a sharp trench between
them and the grass to keep it in bounds. Repeat this job a couple of times
through the season or installing permanent edging goes a long way towards having
a lower maintenance flower garden.
Prune woody plants, including evergreens
or deciduous hedges. Spring-flowering should be pruned right after their
blossoms fade. Prune rose bushes before they start to leaf out. To encourage
thick, compact growth on pines and other needled evergreens, pinch the new
candles (the new growth on evergreens). Remove half of the new growth.
Start lawn care in spring by keeping up
with the mowing. Set your mower to a height of about three inches, and try not
to remove more than one-third of the blades at one cutting. Sharp blades cut
better and leave your lawn grass healthier. Aerate your lawn, top dress it,
re-seed and fertilize.
Water newly planted trees and shrubs,
ground cover plants and perennials if there isn't enough rain. Most plants need
an inch of moisture per week.
Mulch your flowerbeds and under shrubs to
retain moisture and keep weeds down.
Keep on top of the weeds. Getting on top
of the weeding now means a lot less work later before they set seeds. Weeds
start growing vigorously early, so when you spot them, go to it because they are
easier to pull out while their roots are still shallow in early spring.
Maintain your perennial garden by
continuing to plant and transplant perennials. Divide perennials and ornamental
grasses that need it.
Note any mid-spring garden gaps that could
be filled with spring bulbs for next year and buy new plants to fill any holes
now. Plant frost-tender annuals and dahlias and summer-flowering bulbs such as
gladioli after the last frost date.
Label any new plants so you'll remember
what they are or draw a map of your garden.
Stake perennials such as delphiniums and
peonies before they've grown too tall (bamboo sticks and string do a better job
than most commercial supports).
Apply fertilizer if needed. Consider
organic fertilizers. When it's dry enough, you can start to dig beds and add
compost or manure in preparation for planting.
[top]
|
