Fall in the Garden

 

October 2023

Pickaway to Garden

 

Fall in the Garden

By Paul Hang

 

I often think of a title before penning these remarks.  “In the Fall Garden” or “Fall in the Garden” were my choices this month. I was going to write about all the chores this season requires but that is covered later. Fall in the garden sounds dangerous. The word fall also connotes a feeling of being out of control as in, falling for a plant such as asters or falling in love with a flower like anemones or a person. This season is the only season with two names. And one of them has many meanings. Other seasonal names, summer, autumn and winter pretty much are univocal and unambiguous. Spring has a few different meanings but fall has many meanings and definitions in addition to naming this season. .

 

The word fall can function as an adjective, a verb or a noun as in, Fall leaves fall from trees in the fall. In the Encarta dictionary there are 18 different definitions for fall. Here are a few examples of fall in the garden:  The season: Fall is between summer and winter when the leaves fall from the trees. The act of falling: The clay pot fell to the walk and shattered. The amount: Not much rain has fallen for at least a month. Become lower: The price of wood mulch has fallen. Be draped: The alyssum falls over the stone wall. Take place: Night fell earlier after the Autumnal Equinox. Display disappointment: The Master Gardener Volunteers’ faces fell when they heard the class was cancelled. Stop to look: Her gaze fell on the display of roses. Begin to be in a specified state: The birds fell silent when I went to the feeder. Slope: The land falls gradually to the garden. Start: The volunteers fell to work pulling the invasive garlic mustard. Geography: We took a trip to Cedar Falls. Hairpiece: She wore a fall which showed under her gardening hat. Plants: The fall on the iris bloom was a stunning purple. Fail: My attempt to grow fennel fell flat. Collapse: She fell to pieces when the frost killed her dahlias.

 

And, there is always, spring forward and fall back. As you go about the things to do in the garden this fall be careful. Don’t rapidly go from vertical to horizontal in the autumn garden.

 

Things to do in the garden:

 

Hot caps and covers should be made handy in case a frost or freeze is forecast. Remember that the coldest temperature usually comes a little after sunrise. The earth radiates heat away and the sun hasn’t climbed high enough to begin heating us. If you can protect your plants now, a couple more weeks of warmth is likely to follow, with more vegetables and flowers to harvest. Average first frost for south central Ohio is October 23.

 

Bring in the houseplants. Make sure you don’t bring in any bugs with them; a good blast of water from your hose can wash most of them off. Bring the pots into a sheltered spot for a week or so to help the plants acclimate before shocking them with the warmer temperatures of your home. Look up how to overwinter geraniums, begonias, coleus and other summer bloomers.

 

In October, and even into early November, you can plant garlic and shallots. Cloves from store-bought garlic may not work as some are treated to delay sprouting. You can also order favorite varieties from seed catalogs. Separate the cloves and plant 4 inches apart. They will sprout a few inches and take off in spring.

 

Dahlias, glads, tuberous begonias and cannas should be dug and stored in a cool dry place. Most basements are too warm. Caladiums, on the other hand, should be stored at 65 - 70 degrees. Go to ohioline.osu.edu and bring up Factsheet HYG-1244-92 to get specific information on storing Summer Flowering Bulbs.

 

You can still divide day lilies and iris. Cut back the iris leaves to four-inch fans. Stop feeding your roses but don’t stop giving them water. Consider cutting back your roses halfway if they stop blooming. If you have dormant roses you can still plant them. Spring bulbs can be planted as soon as you get them. Plant them at a depth three times their length; place some bulb food in the hole with them. For a better display plant them in odd numbered groups, not single file. For more impact, plant them in a triangular shaped group with a point facing the spot from where they will be viewed.

 

If you planted trees this year (it is still a good time, until the ground freezes) protect the trunks from gnawing rabbits and other varmints with hardware cloth or the plastic wrap made for this purpose. Even older trees can benefit from this if you’ve experienced this damage in the past. Research the variety you want to plant. Some trees including evergreens are best planted in the spring.

 

It is still the best time to fertilize your lawn. Use a high nitrogen soluble product. You can still sow grass seed. Leave seed heads of native coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans for the birds. Also leave stems for overwintering insects. You can put off most cleanups (but not in the vegetable garden) until next spring! Add mulch around perennials after the ground freezes, assuming it will. Leave the leaves under trees and planting beds. Rake them off the lawn for mulch or the compost heap.

 

You can have the soil tested and apply the recommended amendments to

be working their way into the soil before spring. Contact the OSU Extension office for instructions and bags for samples. The office can also be contacted with your gardening questions at 740-474-7534.