End-of-year gardening work — do it now!
Mulching too early in the fall, say in October, allows the soil to stay warmer and the plant to continue growing.
Now. It’s time. Do it this weekend if you have the time. If not, do it as soon as possible and probably weather permitting.
What is IT you might ask? Start preparing the garden for winter and finish up your fall gardening chores.
I suspect that many of you might be telling me that you are finished, and the garden is all ready for winter. It’s just a little too early for me to be finished and for some of the outdoor chores.
If you were fortunate enough to get perennials at the end of the season on clearance, good for you! I love a good end-ofseason sale.
However, anything recently planted, say between mid-september and now, may not make it through the winter due to cold damage.
This is not cold damage simply because of cold temperatures. This type of cold damage occurs when the roots are out of the soil and exposed to drying, cold air. And more due to drying air than cold air.
Winter freezing and thawing of soil leads to heaving, a common problem with plants that don’t have established root systems. This can be just about anything that you planted this fall, other than maybe a heavy ball and burlapped tree.
Each time the soil freezes, it pushes the root system upward, until eventually roots are exposed to the drying air.
To prevent this, cover perennials with mulch (covering the entire plant won’t hurt it) piled approximately six to eight inches in height. Just be sure to move this in the spring when new growth begins.
By waiting until the ground starts to freeze, or until now, the mulch will maintain the temperatures more evenly and helps to prevent heaving.
Mulching too early in the fall, say in October, allows the soil to stay warmer and the plant to continue growing. I realize that you might be finished in the garden, but if you planted new perennials, cover them now.
It’s also time to get those spring-blooming bulbs in the ground as well. Soil conditions are getting a bit better (drier), and these bulbs need to be in the ground sooner rather than later.
I have some daffodils, crocus and hyacinths that I need to get planted this weekend.
After that, I need to bring in all my hoses that are still in the perennial beds. I leave these out because if it’s dry, which it was in September and October, I might need to water any new plants.
And of course, the last thing to do before you are finished with gardening for the year is to clean and sharpen your tools. By doing it now, you won’t have to worry about them in March when it comes time to start pruning. You also extend the life of some tools by cleaning them before putting them away.
Happy end-of-the-year gardening!