Grass clippings can stay on lawn
Question: As we near winter, is it still beneficial to leave grass cuttings on the lawn? Do the diminishing temperatures prevent the clippings from decomposing?
Great question. No problem leaving the clippings on the lawn as long as they are short. The cooler temperatures may slow but do not prevent the short clippings from decomposing.
If you are shredding your fall leaves with the mower and leaving them on the lawn, the combination of the high-nitrogen grass clippings and carbon-rich leaf clippings is perfect for decomposition.
Q: Do I cut the stems of my mandevilla back when keeping it over winter?
Many people do cut back their mandevilla when they move it indoors and have had success. I prefer to leave the stems intact. When I bring them out of storage from a cool, dark location, I cut the stems back to 4 to 6 inches to move them into a warm sunny spot to begin growing in spring.
Mandevilla that are grown as a houseplant in a sunny window, I do minimal pruning on. The yellow leaves these plants drop during the transition indoors are usually replaced by new leaves. The more leaves on the plant, the more energy the plant produces for healthier growth.
Q: This summer I tried growing Chicago hardy figs for the first time. They did well and grew quite a bit and got to about 14 to 16 inches tall, but they produced no figs. In our climate what do you recommend for protecting them over the winter?
In our area, these figs will die down to the ground over the winter. They will sprout from the roots and produce one crop of figs.
I have successfully grown Chicago and Brown Turkey figs here in southeast Wisconsin. I never covered the plants when I was gardening in a protected spot in the city. Now that I garden farther from the lake in a much more open area, I do provide protection. Mulching will provide additional insulation and certainly can’t hurt.
Wait until the ground freezes to cover the soil, and plant with evergreen boughs or straw. I often place a tomato cage around the plant wrapped in burlap or a similar fabric. Once the ground freezes I add the mulch. This adds a bit more protection and marks the fig's location to avoid accidental digging in the spring.
Q: Over the summer my son received a pine tree sapling for Arbor Day. We currently live in an apartment but plan on moving into a house next spring. I planted the tree in a 5-gallon bucket and had it outside. So far it is doing great. Is it OK to leave it outside in the winter? Should I put it in the garage in front of the window?
You can leave the plant outside for the winter as long as you insulate the roots. Surround the pot with woodchips or bagged leaves, or set the 5-gallon pot inside a much larger container with drainage holes and filled with soil or mulch to protect the roots from below-freezing temperatures. Or, sink the pot in the soil in a vacant space in the garden.
If you move it to an unheated garage near a window, be sure to water whenever the soil is thawed and dry.
Email questions to Melinda Myers through melindamyers.com, or write her at P.O. Box 798, Mukwonago, WI 53149. http://melindamyers.com/
GARDEN CAPSULE
The challenge: You’d like to save seeds for next year from some of the annuals in your garden.
The solution: On a dry day, gather dry pods, capsules and flower heads from a variety of annuals such as castor bean, Mexican sunflower, love-in-a-mist, cosmos, melampodium, globe amaranth, calendula, Dahlberg daisy, cypress vine, cleome, kiss-me-over-thegarden-gate and hyacinth bean.
Spread the seeds out on newspapers for a few days to continue drying or, better yet, put them on a suspended screen. Once you’re sure your seeds are thoroughly dry, tuck each kind into an envelope, labeled with the plant’s name and the year collected.
Store the envelopes in an airtight plastic, metal or glass container. Add a packet of silica gel to the container. Or take advantage of the extraordinary ability of dry milk powder to absorb moisture: Wrap in tissues a half-cup of powder from a freshly opened package of dry milk, then secure the packet with a rubber band before dropping it in with your seeds.
Store seeds in a cool place, such as the refrigerator or unheated basement.
Pluses: Saving seeds from your garden saves money and allows you to share seeds with friends. Many gardeners find the subtle differences in seed-grown plants to be charming.
Minuses: Seeds of some plants may fail to mature before the end of the growing season. The seeds from any hybrid plants will not faithfully produce identical plants. Some flowering plants will not produce any seeds at all. If the seeds you want to save are packaged in fleshy fruits, preparing them for storing requires a bit more work.
Sources: You can find particulars in a new book by Julie Thompson-Adolf: “Starting & Saving Seeds: Grow the Perfect Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs and Flowers for Your Garden” (Cool Spring Press, 2018).
Castor bean’s prickly seed pods turn brown and split open when they are mature.