Fall color turns into a shower of leaves
Now it’s time to start picking them up and creating some mulch
It’s December, and it’s still about the trees.
Fall color has been spectacular this year, but now all those glorious deciduous trees are heavily showering lawns and gardens with their leaves. The perennial question: Do we leave them or rake and bag ’em for curbside pickup?
I say there’s no need to lose out on the benefits of the fallen foliage.
Rake leaves and pine needles and use as mulch in beds and beneath the canopy of trees. Don’t bank against the trunks. The leafy mulch will help conserve soil moisture, modify soil temperature, discourage weeds and add nutrients to the soil as it breaks down.
Add leaves to the compost pile. Place excess leaves in large trash bags, add a bit of water, tie, and set aside so that leaf mold will form. Once done, spread this in your beds.
Now that deciduous trees and shrubs are bare, study your landscape to determine areas that need improvement.
Plant more trees late fallspring so roots can establish before the blistering heat returns. Trees provide oxygen and
much needed shade that in turn lowers utility bills. If you want fall foliage color, plant one of those that were spectacular this fall, including sassafras, Shumard oak, pistache, red maple, sweet gum, Texas ash and crape myrtle.
Plant evergreen trees and shrubs for year-round garden structure and to screen unwanted views. Add flowering types for seasonal color.
Meanwhile, use freshclipped evergreens, including holly, ‘Carolina Sapphire’ cypress, pine, juniper, magnolia, boxwood and cryptomeria as well as cones and berries, in holiday decorations.
Check the water level on Christmas trees daily to keep the needles soft and green and so they won’t become a fire hazard.
Keep poinsettias, cyclamen and other holiday plants out of heating drafts.
Other December garden to do’s
Move existing azaleas and camellias, if needed.
Plant cool-season annuals, such as alyssum, cyclamen, English daisies, snap dragons, pansies and violas, petunias and primroses.
Check hollies, camellias and euonymus camellias for scale on both sides of the leaves. Treat with horticultural oil.
Plant pre-chilled tulips mid-December through mid-January, depending on the variety.
The first half of the month, sow sweet peas and wildflower seed.
Sow cool-season English, snow and sugar snap peas; lettuce and mustard greens.
Get a jump on warmseason tomatoes and peppers by sowing seed indoors later this month.
Prepare garden beds for broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards and kale transplants.
Be prepared to bring tender potted plants indoors. Check for insects; some may be hiding on leaf undersides.
Have frost cloth ready to protect more tender plants during a freeze. Wrap completely, to the soil. Anchor with bricks, rocks.
Water well before a freeze. Cover less-hardy plants with row cover or large nursery pots.
Provide food and water for birds.
Q: I have a beautifully shaped water oak close to 30 feet tall. One side of it is green, and the other side has yellow leaves. I have been told it needs iron, and I hope you will tell me if that is so. Please tell me what to do, how, and who can do it. Louise Clay, Houston
A: There are various causes. Pale/yellowing leaves are symptoms of too much or too little water, a possibility with the earlier excessive rains we’ve had. Make sure your soil drains well, and water deeply when we’re in a hot, dry stretch.
You might test the soil to determine if any deficiencies exist. The pale foliage could be the result of inadequate nitrogen, which you can improve by applying a brand-name organic nitrogen fertilizer or cottonseed meal.
If the leaf veins are green but surrounding areas are yellow, chlorosis is the problem. The lime is not absorbing enough magnesium or iron. Our typically alkaline soils can prevent plants from absorbing iron, and it’s not uncommon for plants to become chlorotic.
You can apply a specially formulated fertilizer during the growing season to help acidify the soil and discourage chlorosis. Many gardeners acidify the soil by applying powdered sulfur in spring and fall as needed.
A certified arborist can help diagnose and treat the problem. Perhaps a friend or neighbor could suggest an arborist or landscaping company that can adequately help trees.
Q: I have large bird of paradise on the east side of my house that bloomed profusely, but after two hard freezes last year and the year before, they froze, and I thought they were done. However, they came back and are now bigger than ever. They look great, but have not bloomed since. They used to be spectacular, howdoIgetthemto start blooming again? Carole McFarland, Houston
A: After this gardener emailed her question earlier this fall, her bird of paradises did bloom. These are the thoughts I emailed her before they flowered, and I share here for others whose plants are slow to bloom after a winter with freezing temps:
It’s not unusual for there to be few or no bird of paradise blooms following a hard freeze, and yours went through two.
Since your plants have put on strong growth, protect during the coming winter and, hopefully, flowers will appear the next flowering season. If we have a mild winter, blooms may show up sooner rather than later.
Bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae) is a tropical with blue-green foliage and exotic orange, blue and white flowers that resemble birds. Native to South Africa, it usually grows to about 5 feet tall in a well-draining, fertile soil.
It likes moisture during the growing season and drier conditions while it’s dormant. Give it sun to light shade.
Bird of paradise doesn’t bloom until it has formed a large clump, which may take three or more years. Flowering mostly occurs fall to spring. To encourage flowering on mature plants, apply a low nitrogen, high phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Dense, crowded plants bloom best, and container plants flower best if they’re root-bound. While S. reginae may survive a drop to the upper 20s, it’s best to protect it during freezing weather.
The plant can be slow to return from the roots after a hard freeze and then especially following a long, cool spring. Remove the stalks with damaged or dead foliage at the base of each bird of paradise plant. You may be able to pull stalks out of the clump.