Take Advantage Of
The Last Warm Months
Your Yard and Garden Are Offering You !
After Labor Day, many folk kind of give up on their yards and garden.
But for most of us, we will be blessed with at least 45 days of good gardening weather.
We've been given a gift of still days warm enough to plant new shrubs and trees
in ideal conditions. The soil is still warm enough to invite a new planting, with
several cool months to afford establishing root development BEFORE next years
hot weather.
The Fall season gives us more time outdoors, affording us the opportunity to
reflect on the successes and failures of the past few months, and make the most of
this marginal period in preparation for next Spring.
" The good gardener, finds every opportunity to make the most of the entire gardening year "
Editor; The Good Gardener
Fall is the time in which we can really enjoy the warmth of the sun as we
COOLING TEMPERATURES and SHORTENING DAYS.
A good gardener always reflects on their experiences of past seasons. What worked? Why?
What didn't work? Why not? they have a plan for repeating their triumphs, and another to avoid previous disappointments. Sometimes the littlest details make the biggest difference. This holds
true for landscaping, tools and even how you did or didn't enjoy your patio.
Success and failure are the roots of gaining and applying
new experience to your gardening ventures.
" If I record it . . . . I won't forget next year !"
This might be the year you turn dreams of Spring daffodils and tulips into reality.
Now is a perfect time to take stock of how your yard and garden performed, or didn't, last spring and summer. By next Spring you may have forgotten some of the little lessons you learned. Grab a note pad and your favorite beverage and slowly walk around your front, side, and back yards. Stroll through the remnants of your vegetable garden. Make notes. What worked? What didn't? What were you most pleased with? And, why ?
EXAMPLE: You missed the colorful blooms in containers set in the corner of your patio! What happened? Why not the tremendous show like the year before? Last year you put up a large market umbrella that blocked the afternoon sun in that corner !! This year, move the pots.
In your journal, make notes of your successes, and failures. Note the new fertilizer you tested and worked so wonderfully. Note too, those plants that might have underperformed in the wrong location. Sketch out a plan for that new, or expanded planting bed, or raised bed. And, don't forget to research what could work best and bring new excitement and interest to your yard, garden, and patio this spring, summer, and fall.
Fall Clean Up. This might be the most valuable lesson I've learned in my years of gardening. Dead and rotting plant debris from last season can certainly be a motivator for the tidy mind. But, more importantly, Fall Clean Up is like a flu shot for your yard and garden! All that debris, dying plant stems and leaves, and the few rotting vegetables that got lost . . . can host to all types of pests that will love to wintered over til next Spring . Many of these insects and diseases played out their last act by depositing the eggs and spores that will "come to life" with the warmth of spring. Even modest clean-up efforts will pay dividends this spring and summer. Plus, the elimination of these spawn will GREATLY reduce the need for pesticides, and wrinkled brows, this next season !