11 tasks to complete now that cold weather is moving in

Well, we knew it would happen, sooner or later! Cooler temperatures are on the way and frost or freezes will be happening in the next week or so. It’s time after all, it is November.

When that freezing temperatures arrive, here are 11 things to do now before, dare I say it, the snow flies.

1) Now’s the time to plant spring blooming bulbs in the landscape. Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and more are a welcome surprise when warm weather begins to arrive in the spring. A handful of bone meal added to the soil when planting bulbs will give them a burst of food to enhance the flowering next spring.

2) Clean leaves up in and around roses to remove any possibility of diseased leaves staying over winter and causing black spot next year. If you were the unfortunate benefactor of having tar spots on your maple tree leaves, these leaves need to be disposed of as well. DO NOT COMPOST THEM!

3) Yellowing herbaceous perennials should be trimmed back now. As leaves deteriorate, the removal is important to maintaining overall vigor of the plant. A light coating of compost on the top of the exposed crowns of the perennials will be beneficial as well to help with the freeze, thaw cycle over the winter. This added insulation helps keep your plants from dying.

4) As cold weather arrives, be sure to keep your bird feeders full of seed. Local birds will appreciate a free meal. Keep in mind, birds love berries from holly, winter berries, crab apples, beauty berry and many other shrubs. You may want to snip some now for winter decorations and keep in a sheltered area before they disappear.

5) Now’s the time to plant autumn garlic. Add some compost or cow manure to the bed before planting. Break apart cloves and plant each clove 3” deep and 3” apart. Garlic is fun to grow and fresh garlic for cooking is the best!!

6) Trim fruit trees now through mid March when temperatures are above freezing. Tidy up strawberries by removing dead leaves and cutting back runners. Thin raspberries by removing 1/3 of the old canes.

7)If you have not aerated your lawn, do so now. Aerating your lawn pulls plugs out of the ground and allows water, fertilizer and insecticides to reach roots easily. If you dig out a plug of your lawn and find you have an inch of dead matter between the roots and blades of grass, you should aerate your lawn. As cold arrives start to reduce the height of your lawn mower and shorten your grass in preparation for winter.

8) Continue to rake and discard leaves as they fall. If you have the ability to shred them or mow them and bag them, do so before adding them to your compost bin. If they are diseased, get rid of them!

9) Install pond netting over your garden ponds to stop leaves from floating and eventually sinking to the bottom of the pond causing problems down the road. If you have fish 5- 6” long, be sure you add a water aerator which pumps bubbles into your pond for the winter. Fish this size and larger need constant oxygen when pumps are shut down for winter.

10) If you need to move a shrub or tree, now through March is the safest time to do so.. cold weather shuts down plants and puts them into a dormant state. Digging and moving them to new locations when dormancy sets in offers a greater success rate.

11) When a hard killing freeze has occurs, spray your broadleaf evergreens such as rhododendrons and azaleas with wilt pruf or wilt stop. This spray coats the leaves with an invisible coating which helps to prevent transpiration of leaves from cold dry winter winds causing leaf burn. An ounce of prevention now will pay huge dividends in spring from a possible horrific winter.