Garden Maintenance–Late Summer and Fall

Spent a couple of hours in the garden this past week doing the tidy-up. 


Late Summer is a good time of year for some simple maintenance and gives the garden a fresh look.  By removing all the brown, what is left is the green foliage, and blooms that were buried in the debris.


Here some coneflowers and Joe Pye Weed got some help standing tall. They were weighed down by the heavy heads and new bud that are forming. By propping them up, sun light and water can get to the plants, and freshen up the foliage.  Also removed some weeds that were hiding.

 


As I have said before, we lost several large trees last year, and this Caryopteris is liking the extra light.  New shoots and some great blue blossoms are a treat. The Liriope and it’s pale lavender spears are just beginning to bloom.
 



Yesterday, I trimmed back behind the rock border Sweet Woodruff.  The pathway was getting smaller and
needed to be groomed. 


Late summer is a great time to divide perennials.  Here I moved some daisies that were in another bed that is getting turned into lawn.  They do not look fresh at this time, but by keeping them moist for the next couple of weeks, the roots will take hold and will turn into a nice stand of daisies next spring.

Daylilies are another plant that divides and transplants well.  This area is where a Blue Spruce once stood, and is gradually getting filled in with my new plan for a border.  We also put some daylily root sections in these two red containers.  I hope they take hold and survive winter.  They may need some added winter protection which I’ll discuss later.



This is the Solar Eclipse Redbud we planted last spring.  A rainbow of orange, peach, lime, and gold are present in the new leaves as they mature.
The green border of the mature leaf here is certainly living up to my expectations.





Maintenance of the late summer garden includes providing water.  Yesterday, this hydrangea was drooping and blossoms were hanging low.  After a good drink, today this side of the garden is perky and vibrant.


This pile of debris is from the front garden where I cut back Spider Wort, Tradescantia, and dead fronds of daylilies. 


The pathway is visible once again after Lamium was trimmed back.  Just another bit of tidying once in a while.

 
This rose is the Sunny Yellow Knockout® rose.  I choose to leave the rose hips on the shrub.  It is a bit of color in the winter, and besides, pruning it is just one less thing I need to do on the fall maintenance list. 


The spent blooms of Hosta have been trimmed off.  I’ll wait till the rest have faded to remove them.  The Astilbe in this bed will get to keep their seed heads through winter.  As I told a fellow gardener recently, I’m a lazy gardener, and if I can keep from one more chore I will and call it ‘winter interest’.


These tarps of debris will get added to the compost pile.  With visions of future ‘black gold’ ready for the garden in spring.
This large amount of debris is really misleading as to the time and effort it took me to gather it.  Over several days I spent less than two hours in the garden removing the brown and renewing the garden for a few more weeks of beauty.

Watering took a day of moving sprinklers every hour to cover the whole yard.  Even though we have had some more rain this year than during the drought of 2012, our area in Ohio is still about 4 inches below average rainfall for the year. Trees, shrubs, perennials, and lawn all needed this supplemental watering at this time.  And if the rains remain scarce, I will continue to water through the fall and into early winter until the ground freezes.

Thanks for stopping by today.  And enjoy your time among the plants.

ROOTS, SHOOTS, AND MUDDY BOOTS

Gardening is in my blood, and  on the soles of my muddy boots.

 
I like to take any opportunity to get out and make note of what needs to be done in the gardens and landscape. This quiet time, in the throws of winter before everything pops up, is ideal for planning.

I took time to check out the garden today. Temperatures were mild, near 40 degrees. It felt good to breathe fresh air instead of dry heated air. Some hyacinth shoots were peeking up through the muddy mulch, and the buds on the Endless Summer Hydrangea are swollen.

This pre-spring review is also reminding me that I didn’t clean up the fall debris as much as I could have.

I‘ve left seed heads of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) and Coneflower (Echinacea) for the birds to eat . Watching the yellow finches trying to land on the tips is quite funny. They are tenacious and now the stems look pretty ratty. I’ll need to recruit the grandkids for a clean-up party soon.

It seems that  the garden is sleeping. In reality, tree and shrub roots are already starting to take up water. The sap is beginning to flow up into the future canopy. This is the time I normally apply organic granular fertilizers to the ground at the base of trees and shrubs. The freezing and thawing of the ground will help this organic material work its way into the soil. Then when the warmth and moisture of the spring come along, the organic material has worked into the soil and the micro organisms in the soil will be ready to make nutrients available to the roots of the plants as they come out of dormancy.

I 'm getting my order for organic fertilizers ready to submit. I really became concerned about the chemicals we were putting on the lawn. a while ago. I mean, when the lawn care companies have to post warnings after an application,- - what were they telling me? So, we switched to organic fertilizers. I know I'm applying safe and effective products without the  contamination of water, soil, or my family.

With organic lawn products I never have to put a sign in the yard ‘Danger, keep kids and pets off’! These organic products are grains and compost that contains no manures or chemicals. My dog, Shelby can lick the products and no harmful chemicals are present to make her sick. Our 5-3-4 General fertilizer is a good option for established perennials and shrubs in the landscape and our 3-5-4 Starter fertilizer is good for establishing bedding plants and seedlings. 

I use Corn Gluten as a pre-emergent for annual weeds and grassy weeds like crab grass and foxtail. Corn Gluten can go down in March. This is best applied when the daffodils start blooming and when the forsythia bloom. When the ground temperatures are right for the daffs and forsythia, it is also right for weed seeds to germinate. Corn Gluten sets up a barrier through which weeds cannot penetrate. I spread Corn Gluten on the lawn and flower beds for weed control. Corn Gluten is also a good nitrogen source for your lawn with a N-P-K of 9-0-0. Two for one! How awesome is that?

So my plan is: order fertilizers, put down the corn gluten, and call grandkids.....!!!

What are you planning in your yard and garden this season? Have you considered organic fertilizers for your yard? Wonder how organics work? Are they effective? Are they too pricey. Let me know your concerns. Let’s talk gardening, naturally. I've written several articles on organic gardening. Visit my page on Organic Gardening for more information.