The end is near!

December 2016

 

Pickaway to Garden

 

The End is Near!

By Paul Hang

 

It’s true, the end is near. I don’t mean because of the election, any of the parties could make that claim. You won’t see me standing on a street corner carrying a sign with the warning. I am not claiming any supernatural knowledge of the coming apocalypse or the rapture. The end of fall is coming. The winter solstice occurs this December 21. On that day the end of fall and the end of shortening days will occur. The end of the gardening season is nigh. Annuals in the garden have come to the end.  Foliage on many perennials is nearing the end. The weatherman tells us that here in south central Ohio December has cloudy days 65% of the time. The end of that is near also.

 

The end of the year as we measure it will be this month. December 31^st is simply a day we have artificially agreed to call the year’s end. January 1^st we call New Year’s Day. There is nothing happening in the natural world that marks this seemingly momentous event. One day will be pretty much like the next. Yes, we will celebrate and some of us will nurse a headache, but otherwise nothing has changed. The sun will already be on its way back with a promise of spring and greenery. But for now, for gardeners, the end is near.

 

This holiday season think about gardening gifts. Your favorite gardener will appreciate a gift they can use and one that will remind them that the growing season hasn't ended forever. How about a really good pair of hand pruners? They will cost at least $50 or else they won't perform well or for long. Gloves, boots, hats, trowels or even a package of seeds can stuff those stockings or hide a surprise under the tree. A gardening book will bring many winter hours of daydreaming.

 

The end of this column is near. And, hopefully, the end is near for invasive bush honeysuckle in the MVCH Park on route 188. Volunteers sprayed most of it with a 1% solution of glyphosate. The foliar herbicide will be taken into the stem and roots through the still functioning leaves and, come spring, the plants will not be able to provide sugars for bud break and the plants will die. By spraying the still growing shrubs when other plants are dormant it assures that they are targeted and not the dormant ones. Eliminating this invasive assures that the forest will be able to re-generate and that its end is not near.

 

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. If you haven’t already, clean up crop debris, except for native plants and those you want for winter interest. 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 as much as possible. There will be less to do come spring.

 

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.

 

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. Plant native seeds directly over snow or frozen ground. Go to www.backyardhabitat.info for more information.

 

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 big or 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. Never top trees in any season. When harvesting or buying firewood use only local sources less than 50 miles. This helps prevent the spread of bugs and diseases harmful to trees.

 

In the vegetable garden, write down and/or sketch where you planted what this year, while you can still remember. This will aid in crop rotation which helps yields and eliminates disease carry over. Bugs lay their eggs near the crops they “enjoy.” By not planting the same crops in the same place next year you will foil the destructive insects. A rotation rule to remember is “to follow a root crop by a top crop and vice versa.” Go to ag.purdue.edu/btny/midwest-vegetable-guide for an extensive resource for vegetable gardeners.

 

December conjures up thoughts of dreary, bleak, cold, dark, short, freezing days. Use ice melt, not rock salt, on your walks, it is harmful to plants including grass.