Home and Garden :: Maintenance/Improvement |
|
Garden Work In The Fall Makes For A Beautiful Spring |
| A litle work in the Fall makes for an effortless Spring. |
|
Garden Work in the Fall Makes for a Beautiful Spring
By Victoria B. Rosendahl
The Frugal Garden Guru
http://www.money-saving-garden-tips.com
Whenever I'm talking about gardening with friends and the subject turns to the best things to do in the fall to prepare for the next growing season, we talk about what areas of the country they live in. For me, while I know there are many zones and sub-zones for gardening, I typically look at gardening in America as cut into thirds.
First, there's the northern third of the country and this area has the shortest growing season. Montana and some of the Rocky Mountain states get a good bit of snow as early as October. The northern third’s growing season usually lasts from the beginning of June until about September.
The next section of the country is the middle (or central) third where the growing season runs anywhere from early May through about the end of October. This isn't to say that gardeners in this region can't get some good growing accomplished into November, it's just starting to get cooler and, therefore, harder to get a bumper crop. Obviously, if you're still growing vegetables in this part of the country, you’ll want to focus on the cool weather crops like lettuces, broccoli, spinach and winter squashes. Herbs also hang around for a while longer, at least until the first hard frost.
The southern third of the country enjoys a growing period all year long. For hot weather vegetables like tomatoes and peppers and melon, the southern third of the country ends its growing season in October or early November. Gardeners can then move on to some of the other cooler weather crops but, for the most part, should be able to grow something all year long.
For those of us living in the northern and central sections of the country (including me in my Virginia garden), fall is the time to cleanup and prepare for next season's growing. This is the time of year when I like to divide, thin and transplant plants like daylilies and hosta. Also, fall is the premier time to plant spring flowering bulbs.
One of the other things I make sure I do in the fall is gather up all of my tools and gardening supplies and take them inside for the winter. I clean my tools and store them. And, for those folks who hate fall raking after the leaves have dropped, don’t. I usually don't worry about removing fall leaves from flowerbeds because I’ve found them to be a good insulator in the winter and they're just as easy to remove in the spring.
Dividing, thinning and transplanting
This is something you're going to want to do to some of your perennials every couple of years. In particular, you'll want to divide plants like hostas and daylilies as soon as they start spreading out. There really is very little you can do to kill these plants so please be brave, go get your shovel or tining fork and dig in.
The best time of year to divide plants is in the fall after it has gotten cool but before any frost or freeze. If you live in the South, you can divide plants in the wintertime without hurting them.
Once you've dug up your plant, take an old serrated knife (I keep one in my garden toolkit) and start cutting it into segments. I know this sounds drastic, but trust me. It will be fine. You can divide a large hosta or daylily into as many as 10 to 15 pieces and you'll have that many more plants.
It's best to transplant the segments the same day you divide the plant so the roots aren't outside the soil for too long. Give them a good drink once they're back in the ground and expect them to be "shocky" for a while. They'll droop and look pathetic but they'll bounce back.
Planting bulbs for spring color
One of the joys of gardening is to see what comes up in the spring. And bulbs are just the thing to clue us in that warmer weather is on the way.
Now, for the most part, great bulb gardening is done in climates that experience a cold winter. This would be from about Zone 3 to Zone 7. The Southern states really don't get cold enough in the wintertime to have super successful bulb gardens (all you Southern gardeners prove me wrong if this isn't the case).
Bulb Forcing
One of the neat things to do in the late fall is something called forcing bulbs. This is when you take bulbs like daffodils, paper whites, tulips and amaryllis, put them in the pots that you intend to have them bloom in, and store them in a dark, cold place (like an unheated basement or garage refrigerator) for about 12-16 weeks. Start this in November just before Thanksgiving and then pull them out sometime in February.
The bulbs will think it's winter and when you take them out and give them some warm water, sunlight and warmth, they'll start to grow.
Bulb Timing
For a good spring garden, you'll want to plant bulbs in your garden beds in the fall. That's why all of the bulb garden catalogs are mailed over the summer so that people can make their selections and get them in the ground before first frost.
Now, there are many who avoid bulb gardening because of the way the bulb is planted. Why? Because not everyone is comfortable planting on their knees for an extended period. Remember, bulbs want to be planted eight to 10 inches deep and that's why commercial bulb planters are so tall.
Last season, I found great bulb planter that allows me to get my bulbs in the ground without having to bend over: it's called Ground Hog and it's a tall bulb planter with a gripping mechanism that allows me to replace the ball of soil right back into the hole after planting the bulb. I tamp the soil down with my foot and move on to the next victim.
What kinds of bulbs are there? Daffodils, tulips, snowdrops, crocus and iris just to name a few.
Daffodils
Daffodils are probably one of the most popular spring bulbs around. They come in a variety of colors and textures and can be grown just about anywhere in your garden. You can also grow daffodils successfully in containers.
It's a good idea every few years to dig up your daffodils and separate the babies from the main bulb. After digging up the bulb, if you see what looks like a little clove of garlic growing on the side that's a baby and you can separate it from its mama and plant it somewhere else.
My favorite daffodil is called a narcissus. It is one of the most fragrant daffodils and is the sub-species known as paper whites.
Tulips
By far my favorite bulb and favorite flower is the tulip. I love the deep, tall red ones the best. The only problem with planting tulips in the garden is that they are a tasty treat for squirrels, moles and voles. They tend to be eaten before they ever have chance to bloom.
So here's the trick: when you plant tulips in your garden bed, make sure that you plant them in the center of a ring of daffodils. Daffodils are in not a critter favorite.
Snowdrops and crocus
These are usually the very first spring bulbs to flower in February. You will frequently see them pushing up beautiful petals in the midst of a patch of snow. When you see them, you know you're almost home free for spring.
Iris
There's bearded iris and dwarf iris. Bearded Iris has a very prominent "beard" that sort of looks like a tongue in the middle of the bloom. Dwarf iris usually comes up early and has no beard.
If you'd like a nice spring bouquet, go for the tall bearded varieties.
Summer and Fall Bulbs
But bulbs aren't just for springtime. They're also for summer and fall. A beautiful bulb to plant in the spring for summer and fall growth is a gladiola. They stand very tall -- so you'll need to remember to stake them -- and come in a variety of colors for a beautiful summer and fall bouquet. If you don't give them some support, though, you'll find them on the ground with one hard rain. Glads are annuals and need to be planted every year.
There are also several species of lily (canna and calla), which are beautiful in the summer garden. Dahlias are also a gorgeous addition and come in a wild array of colors including black and lime green.
Try growing elephant's ears and caladium in the summer, too. They don't bloom but have beautiful foliage that will enrich any shade garden.
Geraniums and houseplants
For those of you who have taken my advice and given your houseplants some time off by putting them in the garden for the summer, fall is the time to bring them back in to spend the winter indoors. The best time to do this in the northern part of the country is in September; the central third can do this in October and November. For those lucky gardeners who live in the South, you may never have to bring your houseplants in unless you're going to have a frost or freeze.
Just as you did when you took your houseplants outside for the first time late last spring, gently spray off the leaves of your plants before you bring them inside. This eliminates any dust, dirt or insects that may have decided to take up residence in your plant.
If you're concerned that there are insects still living in your plants, pick up something called Safer Soap at your local home center. It comes in a spray and this is how you use it: place the plant you want to bring in into a brown grocery bag, spray Safer Soap all over the plant while it's in the bag and then close up the bag using either a chip clip or a paper clip. You're going to want to leave the plant in the bag for about 24 hours. Then open it up, take it, rinse the leaves again, dry them and bring the plant inside.
If you'd like to over-winter geraniums, this is easy to do. First, cut geraniums back pretty severely. You'll want to have just a couple of stems showing off the main shoot. First, use the Safer Soap method I detailed in the paragraph above for houseplants. Then, put the geraniums into a brown grocery bag, mist them with a bit of water and store them in a cool, dry place like a garage but make sure that the temperature does not fall below freezing.
A temperature somewhere in the forties or fifties is great. Every couple of weeks to a month or so, open up the bags, mist the geraniums again and reseal the bags. In the springtime, when it's warm enough, remove the plants from their winter homes, take them outside, give them a good water, and feed with a water-soluble plant food like Miracl-Gro. They should come back and bloom nicely for you.
Fall is a great time to get your garden in order, collect and store your tools, and start dreaming about next year's garden. For more tips, tricks and techniques for the cost-conscious gardener, visit my web site at www. money-saving-garden-tips.com. Also, sign up for my free monthly newsletter, The Frugal Gardener, and snag some freebies.
See you the garden.
##
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Victoria Rosendahl is a freelance copywriter, novelist, and passionate gardener. Visit her website, www.money-saving-garden-tips.com, for tons of great money saving ideas for your garden or email her at www.money-saving-garden-tips.com, victoria@money-saving-garden-tips.com.
Article Source: www.activehowto.com
| Share this article with others. Bookmark it at these sites: |
         
         
      |
READ NEWEST ARTICLES HERE
Posted 2006-01-19 00:00:00 By Victoria Rosendahl
Views: 888
Submit Article
 ? |
|
|
