Word To The Wise

Do you wait around for the last minute to put your gardens to bed for the winter? That may not be the best thing to do this year. Winter seems to be fast approaching in many areas, and Ohio might get cold quickly. In 2013, the deep cold came with the Thanksgiving holiday, and in 2014 many gardeners are complaining that the temperatures are dropping earlier than usual.

What sort of delays did I rue in the past?

I especially regret leaving out a large pot all winter a couple years ago. It filled with water and froze. Made of resin, I was lulled into believing it would be immune to frost cracking. Not so. I will be putting all my large pots in a frost free garage environment in the next couple weeks.
Most years I forget until too late to strike starts from some of my tender pot plants. It is already late in the season, but hard frost hasn’t impacted the garden quite yet. I hope to preserve some of the geraniums in a sunny window this year. I might have some Swedish ivy, too.
Forgetting to collect some seed, thinking the plants would reseed themselves. They don’t always.
Picking up the leaves completely. Well. I don’t seem to be able to do that perfectly in this very large yard, but the better I do this job, the better I feel in January. That is the time when loose leaves are matted under snow, sometimes getting free and blowing about the yard, but mostly making problems around my plants.
Cutting back the Pyracantha. I like to keep the berries for the birds, but the branches have gotten out of hand from delaying the proper pruning. I need to remember that.

Those are some of the top five delays I am personally guilty of, but if you leave out hoses until they freeze to to ground, forget to put away outdoor furniture and cushions, or find frozen leftover bulbs on the back porch (I have done that one too!) you may want to compile your own list of fall chores.

Planting Bulbs

I haven’t planted any bulbs this year because I have been away so much. Some years I buy loads of them and then it seems I go into a frenzy of planting.

The fact that this job can be delayed until the ground freezes hard sometimes creates complacency. But when I think of the miserable weather that I have sometimes endured to accomodate my procrastination, I shudder. Shudder with memories of cold and wet.

Contrast that with thoughts of the crisp and sunny days of mid-October, when it is a delight to sit in the yard, leisurely putting the bulbs to bed for winter, awaiting a burst of spring bloom.

Now that is the way to plant bulbs!

So Much To Do

This year I need to ready my bird feeders, gather up the fallen apples, perhaps build a better compost area. I decided I want to store my tools the right way this winter: cleaned, sharpened, oiled, and hanging in their places.

A word to the wise is to get busy on all these things… because soon the cold will settle in to stay. And I do believe it will be early this year.