By Jennifer Fairfield, owner of the Garden Mill
It’s definitely hard not to be happy about the weather right now, especially when there is so much still to do in our yards and gardens before it actually does get cold. We all know that, no matter how “mild” the winter is, it will still be cold around here sooner or later. Before it does get too cold to want to be outdoors, there are a number of things still to do:
Vegetable Garden:
Warm-weather-loving vegetables are probably done or winding down about now. I still have zucchini, sweet and hot peppers, and beans producing a little bit in my garden, but my tomatoes and cucumbers have long since succumbed to disease that I just couldn’t keep up with this year, though that didn’t seem to stop the tomatoes from producing like crazy.
The plants that are still trying will likely be done by next week, as the temperatures look likely to drop into low 60’s and 50’s pretty consistently by then. Once that happens, it will be time to pull those plants.
Some crops, such as kale, cabbage, and broccoli can take a bit of frost, so if you have any of those still, I wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to pull them.Pulling out the warm-weather plants leaves room to plant garlic later this month or early next month. Like our spring-blooming flower bulbs (such as tulips, daffodils, and alliums), garlic is a bulb that gets planted in the fall and comes up in the spring.
When you plant it, break apart the bulb and plant the individual cloves – each clove becomes a garlic bulb, so you get a great return on your investment. Wait until we have had a couple of frosts or some really cool, rainy days before planting garlic – the soil should be cool but not frozen. We have five varieties of growing garlic, also known as seed garlic, at the store, ranging from mild to spicy in flavor.
Once your veggie garden is done for the season, clean it up while there are still some warm days that make you want to be working outdoors. Waiting until it’s really cold will pretty much ensure that it won’t get done until spring and doing it in the fall means you can get planting as soon as the soil warms up in the spring.
If, like me, you had disease issues in your garden this year, be sure to dispose of the diseased plants properly to help reduce the chances of disease taking out your plants next season. Remove all parts of the plants, including as much of the roots as you can get, and put it all in the trash.
Do not compost diseased plant material, as composting does not kill off many diseases, and you could be just re-introducing the problem back into your garden next spring. Next year, treat the soil with a systemic fungicide, prior to planting, to help prevent the disease from taking hold again.
The best way to prevent diseases from infecting next year’s plants is to rotate your plants, which just means not planting the same family of plant in the same area for a few seasons. This allows the disease to die off, because most diseases need a host plant within a certain number of years in order to survive. If you have a small garden, rotating may not be possible, so treating your soil and then also treating your plants during the growing season is your best defense.
Flower Beds:
Late October and even into November is the time to plant bulbs for spring-blooming flowers. Get your bulbs in before the ground freezes, and you will be rewarded with beautiful flowers early in the spring, when not much else is daring to peak up out of the ground.
Our bulbs have started to arrive at the store, with more coming in the next couple of weeks. Come in for a selection of tulips, daffodils, allium, crocus, hyacinth, and muscari. You can plant all of these any time after the soil has cooled down, as long as the ground isn’t totally frozen. Once the ground is frozen, cover the planting area with a good layer of mulch to help keep the soil consistently cold throughout the season.
If you haven’t already, it’s time to dig up your dahlia, canna, caladium, and gladiolus bulbs. These tender perennials can’t survive our winters, so they need to be dug up and stored in a cool, dry place.
The best way to store them is in something loose and lightweight, like Styrofoam “peanuts” or peat, in an attached garage or other cool spot. Keep an eye on them to be sure not to let them freeze during the winter – temps in the range of 35° to 50° F are good.
There is still time to divide and transplant perennials, but do it soon so that your plants have time to get acclimated in their new space before we start getting killing frosts and before the ground freezes. After planting them, give them a good layer of mulch and keep them well watered until the ground freezes.
Make sure your plants go into winter with a good layer of mulch over their roots. With the prediction for a milder winter, we are likely to get freeze-thaw cycles throughout the winter, which can cause heaving, leading to damage to the crown and roots, or even to the death of the plant.
Mulch can help keep the soil temperature consistently cold throughout the winter, helping to prevent these problems. The leaves that fall from your trees are a great mulch options.
It used to be that everyone thought you should tidy up your perennial garden in the fall – cut back perennial flowers and grasses, rake up and burn or otherwise dispose of leaves, and generally get your garden all cleaned up and set for spring planting before winter set in.
Over time, we have come to understand that those activities were not always the best thing to do for the health of our gardens or the birds and beneficial insects that call our gardens home. As The Xerces Society explains in this article, many bees and butterfly larva overwinter in the “debris” of your garden, and your clean-up could mean fewer of them in your garden next spring. Some of your plants will benefit from being trimmed back this fall, but many can be left up.
Leaving plants such as coneflowers, globe thistles, rudbeckia, and others can provide over-wintering birds with a source of food. Do trim back to just above the ground anything that was diseased this growing season, to help reduce the chances of disease returning next year.
The New York Times published a really great article a couple of years ago that offers wonderful advice for what to clean up and what to leave alone.
Trees and shrubs:
There is still time to get new tree or shrub planting done, too – but get them in soon. Make sure to water them well all the way up until the ground freezes, so that they have the best chance of making it through the winter.
Lawn:
Grass will continue to grow until we get a killing frost, so keep mowing. If you leave the grass too long over the winter, it is more susceptible to disease. Mulch the clippings into the lawn to help add nutrients back into the ground, which in turn will help feed the lawn.
If you do bag your clippings, add them to your compost pile.
Too many leaves left on your grass over the winter can cause problems for your lawn next spring, so rake them into your flower beds to provide mulch for the plants and winter habitat for beneficial insects.
Tools:
Keep hoses handy this month, in case we don’t get a lot of rain. Keep watering your perennials, trees, and shrubs up until the ground freezes, as a lack of water causes stress to the plants, making it harder for them to make it through the winter.
This is especially true of anything newly planted. Do be careful that you aren’t leaving hoses outside with water in them when we start getting freezing temps though, as this can cause them to split open when the water freezes. You might even want to disconnect the hose from the faucet when not in use. I learned the hard way last year that even a little water left in a hose can cause the faucet pipe to freeze and crack if we get an unexpected cold snap.
After you’ve cleaned out your gardens and finished your mowing and watering, don’t forget to clean your tools before putting them away for the winter. Doing so will help them last longer, and make them work better for you.
The University of New Hampshire’s Extension Service offers step-by-step instructions for cleaning and sharpening pruners, and the University of Minnesota’s Extension has good advice for cleaning and disinfecting many tools before putting them away for the winter.
Birds:
Cleaning out bird feeders and keeping them filled will help migrating birds make it to their winter homes, and also provide those sticking around with options to help them through the cold months.
Keep your hummingbird feeders full and out for a little longer yet (bring them in at night if we are expecting freezing temperatures). Hummers are still making their way south and could use the boost of energy.
Also keep birdbaths clean and full to help provide a source of water for the birds.
