Scan these tips from gardening expert, Melinda Myers, and follow those that apply to your particular landscape to help increase your success while making gardening easier, less stressful and fun.
• Gather and save left over seeds for next year’s garden. Place in an airtight container and store in a consistently cool place like the refrigerator.
• Empty and store annual, glazed and terra cotta containers for winter. Clean pots now and you’ll save time during the busy planting season next spring.
• Continue to water new plantings and evergreens as needed until the ground freezes. Then drain and store your garden hoses for winter. Proper winter storage can help extend their life.
• Purchase a few spring flowering bulbs for forcing this winter. They’ll need 15 weeks of 35 to 45 degree temperatures. Use forced bulbs to brighten your indoor décor or outside in window boxes, on the patio or front steps.
• Collect, store and clean garden tools. Organize now for a seamless start to next season.
• Enhance your salads and sandwiches with some homegrown sprouts or micro-greens. All you need are the seeds, sprouting jar or shallow container, and a bright spot on the kitchen counter or other flat surface.
• Add a new houseplant to your indoor garden. Try something new if you like to experiment or a long time favorite for gardening ease.
• Wrap holiday plants in paper or plastic sleeves when transporting them from the garden center or florist to your home or from your home to a friend’s house. Warm the car first and never leave the plants sit in a cold car where they can be damaged or killed.
• Mulch borderline hardy perennials and bulbs after the ground freezes. This is usually after a week of freezing temperatures. Cover the plantings with evergreen boughs or straw for added insulation and to prevent frost heaving that occurs when soil alternately freezes and thaws.
• Continue removing fall leaves that collect on groundcover and other plantings. Large leaves tend to mat down, trap moisture on the plant’s foliage and do not provide winter insulation. Gather fall leaves and add to the compost pile, incorporate them into vacant annual gardens or bag and save for mulching your gardens next summer.
• Start applying repellents to plantings that are favored by deer and rabbits. Start before feeding begins. This encourages them to go elsewhere for dinner. Reapply after heavy rains or as specified on the label directions.
• Install wind, sun and salt screens. Burlap, weed barrier fabrics or other barriers can protect new plantings and sensitive plants from winter damage.
• Wrap arborvitae and upright junipers with bird netting. This will prevent the snow load damage that frequently occurs. The netting blends in with the foliage so the plants are secure and still look good.
• Purchase and plant amaryllis, paperwhites, and hyacinths for holiday bloom.
• Keep planting spring flowering bulbs until the ground freezes. Plant bulbs at a depth two to three times the vertical diameter. Scatter bulbs of daffodils, crocus, grape hyacinths, snowdrops or squills and plant them where they fall. This creates a more informal or natural appearance.
• Consider planting an indoor herb or vegetable garden. Leafy crops like lettuce and spinach and root crops like radishes as well as many herbs will survive most indoor growing conditions.
• Gather liquid fertilizers and pesticides from both sheds and unheated garages. Inventory and store these and other pesticides in a secure location away from pets and children. Keep liquids out of direct sun and in a frost-free location. Move granules to a secure, dry space for storage.
• Leave pest-free perennials, especially those subject to winterkill, standing for winter. The standing stems will catch the snow for better winter insulation. This, along with the intact plant, increases winter hardiness.
• Apply winter mulch to your perennial and rose gardens after the ground freezes. This occurs after a week of freezing temperatures. The goal of winter mulch is to prevent the freezing and thawing of the soil. Mulching too early can lead to heat buildup, disease problems and death of plants. Waiting until after the soil freezes also gives the wildlife a chance to find another place to spend the winter – as opposed to under your mulch and near your plants.
• Shred leaves with the mower the next time you cut the grass. You may need to make several passes with the mower during peak leaf drop. As long as you can see the grass blades, the lawn will be fine. In fact, the leaves add nutrients and organic matter to the soil.
• There is still time to fertilize your lawn in early November before the ground freezes and snow begins to fall. Consider using a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer for best results.
• Add a new look to your indoor garden. Fill a large basket or decorative container with a collection of potted houseplants and flowering plants. The flowering plants can be replaced as the seasons change or the plants decline.
• Watch for whiteflies, aphids, mites and any other insects that may have moved indoors on your plants. These pests suck out plant juices, causing the leaves to yellow and eventually brown.
• Plant spring flowering bulbs along the woodland or shade garden’s edge. These areas usually receive sufficient sunlight in spring before the trees leaf out.
• Cut fall bearing raspberries to the ground. This method of pruning eliminates the summer crop, but encourages a larger and earlier fall crop next year. Use sharp pruning tools, which will make your work easier and reduce the risk of injury to the plants.
• Create a changeable planter. Plant several compatible houseplants in a large container. Sink a small, empty pot in one area. Set a small, potted, flowering plant inside the empty container. Replace it occasionally with fresh flowering plants.
• Check houseplants for salt buildup. This appears as a crusty, white substance on the soil surface or as white statins on clay pots. Scrape off the crusty salt buildup on the soil then leach the soil by watering thoroughly. Wait 20 minutes and water thoroughly again. This helps dilute and was the salts out of the soil.
• Purchase a good snow shovel and plant friendly deicing salt. Removing the snow before salting saves you money and reduces salt damage to the lawn.
• Soil preparation can be done until the ground freezes. Spread a 2-3” layer (topdress) of organic matter on the soil of your gardens. Do this every 3 to 4 years to keep your plants healthy and beautiful.
• Leave the stems or place markers by butterfly weed, balloon flower and other late emerging perennials. Or plant bulbs next to these perennials to mark their location and prevent accidental damage in the spring.
• Timing is an important factor in successful winter protection of non-hardy roses. Wait until after a week of freezing temperatures to complete winter protection. Mulching and covering too early can lead to heat buildup, disease problems and death of plants.
• Apply winter protection to trees and shrubs exposed to deicing salts, snow loads and winter wind and sun. Give special attention to rhododendrons and other evergreens. Use a screen of burlap to cut the winter winds and shade the plants from the drying winter sun.
Written by gardening expert, Melinda Myers. Melinda Myers is a nationally recognized gardening expert with more than 30 years of horticulture experience. She is a wealth of knowledge and we are pleased to share Melinda’s monthly gardening tips with you!
