Turn, turn, turn.

December 2013

Pickaway to Garden

Turn,Turn,Turn

By Paul J. Hang

“To everything, there is a season” (turn, turn, turn).These lyrics from the song by Pete Seeger were adapted from the Bible, book of Ecclesiastes. They seem appropriate for the month of December when one of the two biggest turns of the year happens. The other happens in June. December marks the winter solstice on the 21st. It is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It marks the time when the sun reaches the tropic of Capricorn, turns, and begins to return. In one month we turn from fall and are ushered into winter and, not apparent but surprisingly, the world turns towards spring.

The leaves turned a month ago and the trees are now turned to stark skeletons stripped of their living mantle of green. But it is all a deception as the trees have already turned towards spring having formed the buds for next year’s leaves and twigs. The December weather can turn at any time, cold to colder and turn back again. The rain turns to sleet and then turns to snow. Our thoughts turn to warmer times. The great accounting has begun. We are paying back for those long days of June with the currency of December’s long nights.

Do December days go by slow or fast for you? December days can barely muster 9 hours of daylight and not much sunlight. In that sense the days are short. If you count those long nights however the days seem slow indeed. We awake and turn out then return from work or other activities in the dark. By my calculation December provides (if you can call it that) 288 hours of daylight. That’s including cloudy days, but not those half-lit times before sunrise and after sunset. That’s a little more than we’ll get in the first week of July!

With so little sun it is no wonder most plants have turned in. Most perennials have shed their leaves as useless sun catchers. Having stored up food in their roots and tubers, they turned to hibernating underground until spring when they will turn over a new leaf. Annuals gave it up completely and produced seed on the hope that they will turn up when the conditions are right. Only the evergreens refuse to turn. They alone remind us of the hope that the light will return and with it life.

My thoughts have already turned to the next season with the return of seed catalogs. Thoughts of warm sunny days are short lived however when my fingers and nose turn blue just going to the mail box. By the end of the month we will turn the page on the year and the calendar. We can turn in the year 2013.

Things to do in the garden:

Thankfully, there are not too many things to do IN the garden as much as there are things to do ABOUT the garden. This holiday season think about gardening gifts.

If you haven’t already, clean up crop debris and crop residue. Shred it and put in the compost heap or till and turn it over to bury in the soil. Get the garden ready for spring planting as much as possible.

On nice days wander about your place and notice how some plants continue to develop. If the local temperature reaches 50 degrees they grow, only to cease when the temperature falls. Those bitter cress weeds are small now. I find them in between the bricks of my walk. They and ground ivy in the beds and in the lawn are trying to gain a foothold now while they have little competition. The bi-ennial mullein with its fuzzy lamb's ear like leaves is growing flat against the earth. Rosettes of poison hemlock and teasel continue to grow. Pull them up while you have the chance or spray with an herbicide according to the directions on the label. Get them before the weather turns warm and they turn tougher.

Once the ground has frozen hard and deep, mulch the perennials to prevent heaving. This freezing may not happen this month. If the ground remains open it’s still not too late to plant lilies, tulips and daffodils. You may find some bargains. Avoid the soft and shriveled ones.

Check houseplants for insects. Move clay pots inside to prevent breaking.

Wrap young tree trunks with hardware cloth or the plastic wrap made for that purpose. Protect them from ground level to about 18 inches.  This also goes for newly planted shrubs. Place fencing around them. This prevents mice, voles and rabbits from using the bark as lunch. If they girdle the plants, no matter how woody they are, the plants will die. While you’re inspecting trees and shrubs a little light pruning while they are dormant won’t hurt. Damaged, rubbing or simply inconvenient small branches can be removed.

I hope your holidays are happy ones. Turn on the lights and turn up the thermostat.