Snug in Their Beds

November 2013 Pickaway to Garden Snug in Their Beds By Paul J. Hang I don’t mean visions of sugar plums, that is next month. No I mean flower and vegetable beds. November always catches me by surprise. Things I intended to get done when it was warmer now have to be done in the cold or not done at all. If you’re like me and haven’t completed all your fall chores it’s past time to put the garden to bed. These warmer times have given us procrastinators more excuses to put off what we know must be done. Eventually however the time comes when it is now or never. Do I hear any calls for never? As I slide towards my dotage I try to do things smarter. I tell myself that one way to avoid long days of exhausting work is to do more, shorter, days. Extend the gardening season by doing some things earlier and later in the year. An example, instead of cutting off the spent stems of all those day lilies (my aching back) I now wait until they are nice and dry and brown. Then I just give them a tug and up they come. If some resist I’ll come back in a couple days. Let’s face it nature is pretty messy. Leaves, seeds and twigs are scattered all over. We are the ones that seem compelled to straighten things out. Honesty requires that I admit I am not a neat nick. For those of you who demand an ever neat appearing garden this strategy won’t work. You will either have to resign yourself to those long days, hire it done, or come on over to the dark side. Extending the gardening season means working in less comfortable weather conditions. An Old Norwegian saying is “There is no bad weather just bad clothing.” Dressing accordingly we can be comfortable as we take care of some chores that only take a short time to accomplish. Some of us attended the State Conference of Master Gardener Volunteers last month in Independence, Ohio near Cleveland. A bus tour of gardening sites such as The Cleveland Botanical Gardens and Lakeview Cemetery and a day of educational programs was enjoyable and informative. Local Volunteer Karyn Brown was nominated as Master Gardener Volunteer and her project, the plantings at the Fairgrounds, was nominated as the Outstanding Master Gardener Project. Our county program also received the Platinum Standards for Excellence Award. Putting the Garden to Bed, Things to do: It’s not too late to plant spring flowering bulbs. Some say November is the best time to plant lily bulbs. Spring bulbs look best in a cluster. Try excavating an area rather than planting them in a single small hole, one bulb per hole. Cut back perennials and biennials and clean up dead materials. Pull out dead annuals and compost if not diseased. Lift tender bulbs (caladiums, dahlias, glads etc.). Sow seeds of hardy annuals (calendula, bachelor’s buttons). Mums can be “tidied up” but don’t trim back until spring. Tender roses should be “hilled up,” mound the soil a foot deep around the base to protect the crowns. Also a wire cage filled with leaves surrounding them as mulch can add protection. Final pruning should be done in the spring but long branches can be trimmed off. Climbing roses or ramblers should be checked and tied to prevent injury from being whipped around by those harsh winter winds. Do not feed. Clean up all dead and diseased materials and put in the trash. If you haven’t done a fall fertilization of your lawn, do it now. Final cutting of the lawn can be done slightly lower than the usual recommended three inches. Rake and compost heavy layers of leaves, otherwise chop them up with passes of the mower to return to the soil as nutrients. Empty the gas tank or run the mower until it runs out of gas. Either have your mower serviced now or write on your calendar to have it serviced in late winter to avoid the spring rush. Make sure leaves and mulch are not heaped against the trunks of trees. Bring the mulch a foot away from the trunks of all trees. You may also want to stake them from the winds of winter and early spring storms. Generally new trees more than 2” diameter don’t need staking. Consult ohioline.osu.edu for staking and other gardening information. Evergreens and shrubs should be watered deeply. Wait until late winter to do any normal pruning. Do not prune spring flowering shrubs (lilac, forsythia, spirea etc.). Take notes and map your garden while you can still see the plants or remember where they were. This is particularly important for the vegetable garden. Clean your gardening tools and put them away. A coat of oil can prevent rust. A light coating of linseed oil on wooden handles prevents splitting due to weathering and drying. Drain garden hoses and store. At the very least disconnect from the outdoor spigots. Remove the dead plants from containers and, if not diseased, compost. Unglazed terracotta pots must be stored indoors or they will be destroyed. No procrastinating here. Synthetic containers can be left outdoors. Weed the vegetable garden and compost all debris. Remove stakes and cages, clean and store. Place diseased materials in the trash. Plant a cover crop. Now your beds are tucked in and settled down for a long winter’s nap.