Garden Blog

Putting the Garden to Bed

I spent Sunday afternoon planting over 150 bulbs. As long as the ground is not frozen, you can still get your bulbs planted. Make sure you get them watered in so they produce some roots this fall.

I’ve been cleaning up in the perennial garden. I don’t cut every plant down for the winter – I leave the ornamental grasses, purple coneflowers and a few other plants up for the winter. They provide some winter interest and seed for the birds. I also think they help hold the snow cover on the garden over the winter. I’ll cut back those plants in the spring.

And speaking of bringing the birds in, I’ve cleaned all the feeders, filled them with fresh food, and have a good supply of bird seed in the garage for the winter. I already am seeing the chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers around the feeders. I am contemplating buying a heated bird bath to provide fresh water all winter long.

These beautiful Indian summer days are perfect for getting out and raking the leaves off the lawn. I let the fallen leaves stay in the perennial gardens, but I do get them off my lawn. Depending on the type of trees you have, you have already done a raking or two, but keep at it this month and make sure they are all raked up.

We’ve had some ample rains this fall, and it is about time to put your hoses away, although you may want to keep one handy in case it gets dry and you want to water in some newly planted trees and shrubs. You should make sure that, until the ground freezes up late in November, your plants don’t get thirsty.

I have some bales of straw ready to go, but won’t do any covering of garden plants until the ground freezes. This is typically around Thanksgiving time, and is a good chore for that long weekend. Straw/hay is a great insulator, and you are putting it down to actually KEEP the ground frozen, especially in the spring when we get those weird thaws early in the season.

by Debbie Lonnee