mxk, I know your not the only one behind, just the first one to admit it. I have mine started but not completed.

Definitely not the only one, lol! I am making some headway, but it seems to be in dribs and drabs.

I've got my annual geraniums stored, and half of my dahlias. They other half of them are dug but not stored.

I kind of cheated - I only bought about 30 or 40 bulbs this year, and potted them up last week. I just knew I wouldn't get around to bulb planting, so I really restrained myself.

My two big chores left are to get my leaves up and to clean out the garage so I can bring in all my pots. The weather is just not cooperating. Either it is raining, or if the sun is out, there are 100 mile-per-hour winds, which are not conducive to leaf-raking, lol!

Once I get the leaves up and shredded, come December or so I will spread them out on the beds as mulch for the winter.

As for the garage... well, no excuse there except who in the world likes to clean out a garage, lol?!

I'm also trying to put quite a large extension put on a bed, using the lasagna method. I'm really, really trying to get that done before winter sets in.

Hasn't helped that I've been sick in bed for 4 days with a dastardly cold! Sheesh, I never stay in bed! This one has really got me down.

Hoping for big things over next weekend, lol. Four days off - no excuses!!

:)
Dee

I'm right there with you. In fact last year I didn't do anything either and to tell you the truth, the plants came back just fine because we didn't have a lot of snowfall so the standing stems and crowns pulled in lots of leaves and kept them insulated. I only cut down any diseased leaves, and my peony foliage, and all that goes in the trash can. In early spring when I start cleaning up and you can rake all the debris out at once and dump it on the compost pile.

I'm trying to convince myself I have lots of time to do everything. Yeah, right! We had snow a few days ago. I have leaves coming out the whazoo, that is my least favorite chore. I'll be raking til end of December. And I hate being cold! I still have some perennials that need to be tended to. So you're not the only one procrastinating.

Jen

I am strangely on track all things considered. Namely that I really did nothing from the end of summer until about two weeks ago. It has been so strangely warm and dry here though my window of opportunity has been greatly increased.

The veggie garden has now been amended along with the pumpkin patch, nearly everything that needed it has been cut back, raked leaves over the weekend and now I need to embark on my first garlic planting (and hopefully growing) adventure.

Aside from that I still need to work compost into a new rose bed for next year and get rid of the Halloween pumpkins! They have become such a bio hazard I think one of them has achieved its own consciouness:)

Overall things are coming along. According to the weather man after tonights rain we are looking at another week of warm-ish, clear weather.

Kate

Jen, you kind of hit the nail on the head when you said you are trying to convince yourself that you have lots of time left. I'm doing the same thing here, and one reason is that last year, it was quite unseasonably warm well into January. I did not pull my potted perennials into the garage until late January last year, because they weren't dormant yet! I guess I keep thinking I have the same situation this year, but that has already proven wrong. Well, my perennials still are not quite dormant yet, but I think they will be well before January. Much colder already, and snow is (and has already been) predicted.

The leaves... well, I have mostly oaks, and even though my lawn is not visible under the leaves already, when you look up all you see is trees STILL full of leaves. So I figure I wait and do it all at once. I do rake some here and there to shred for mulch, but I have way more leaves than I could ever possibly shred and use, much as I wish I could!

:)
Dee

Not only is everything done, I'm actually LOOKING for things to do since we've had such a warm fall and I got started so early.

Don't you just hate people like me?

Kevin

LOL, Kevin, yes, I do!

Just kidding. Too bad you weren't closer - I could use some help!

:)
Dee

I haven't done anything other than mow down the leaves. That's only because i read where you could take a mower to them and just leave them on the lawn for mulch. It worked great and I'll never rake leaves again!

Marcy

Gee, Marcy, you must not have too many trees! I've got about 50 oaks, so my leaves end up being knee deep. And it seems the wind pattern here deposits all my neighbors leaves in my yard too, lol!

I actually tried to use the lawn mower to shred my leaves earlier in the month, since there weren't so many down yet, and it just won't work for me. So it's raking and shredding. Actually, as long as the weather is nice, I don't mind too much. As I said above, it just seems lately it's either been rainy, or if it's sunny it's too windy. Hoping for some calmer weather this weekend to make some headway.

:)
Dee

I am only a little behind. We didn't have any hard frost until friday before last weekend. I pulled the frosted tomatoes on Sunday last weekend.

I did do some trimming of perennial plants, sedum, asters, the Sweet Autumn Clematis on the trellis. The Clematis catches all the wind, so I cut the top off where it climbs up over the trellis, so the whole thing doesn't blow over. I just remove everything above 4ft., must have taken off 25 pounds of vine and leaves.

I tried leaving the tops up last year, watched the sedum turn into mush after freezing. Asters fell over with snow on them. I was out trimming them all off in January cold!! I took off all the Lily stems too, also get mushy in cold. Peonies got cut early, I was right there so I cut foliage off while still green.

My leaf shredder has done a pretty fair job, reduced all my leaves down to about 4 bags so far. Sure does make a huge pile of leaves into nothing. I still have the backyard to rake up, hoping for a couple bags of shreds from there. I also have some Oaks, they make the best shreds, don't get mushy, even wet. Most of their leaves fall in Spring, when new leaves push them off. Our other leaves also have been very slow to fall. The Japanese Maple is just starting, so is the sweet cherry. We also have had the hard wind, couldn't pile the leaves up! I will put some shreds on the garden during the next shredding session, but plan to save most for use on the big bed next spring. Total shred mulch over newspaper, over soaker hoses, for keeping the weeds down. Works pretty well.

I managed to resist buying bulbs, there is no place to plant them unless I put them in the lawn. I still have some Petunias that won't give up, some plants in pots that have blooms. My newest Delphinium is blooming! I am shocked it has not frozen, but it continues to open up the stalk. Determined to set seed I guess. Quite pretty in dark purple. The roses are sending out new growth, some with buds coming. Even with seed hips, they keep coming along.

Husband had the guys over to trim the Oaks. Removed a number of dead limbs, trimmed branches too big over the house. The trimming we did last year really made the tree perk up, lots of new growth. Hoping for the same with these. I am trying to think of it as healthy pruning, but most of the branches were pretty large, still had to come off. Did fill the wood pile back up, have a brush pile for a weenie roast!

Have been watering the new trees and shrubs (on sale stuff) fairly often. We get misty rain, no real quantity. All the willows still have leaves, cottonwoods leaves are gone. Sweet gum still has leaves, as do the small Burr Oaks. I am taking this as a good sign, no wilting or dried up leaves like dead trees have. I think they like their new homes. New grass around them looks GREAT. Got the seed in at the right time, nice rain and sun.

I am doing a little more trimming as I walk around. Fish pond is netted, looks nice. No fish feeding until spring. No visible frogs either, FINALLY seem to have dug themselves into the mud. Had one all last winter that would NOT hibernate, kept turning up every time I did something near the pond.

I have actually been doing most of my outside stuff around the barn, cleaning up and putting away to make chores easier. New working lightbulbs in all fixtures! Darn short days.

I Would have been caught up, if the trees had dropped their leaves when they were supposed to, a couple weeks ago. No, they waited 'til this week, & it's been raining so much I can't mow them or pick them up. Yeah, we're supposed to get snow tonight, too.

21F this morning. I was planning to clean up the garden today. Started a little bit yesterday. Found several things still in bloom: Asters, Clematis, Geraniums. Petunias!

Piles of leaves need to to raked and shredded. We had heavy rain the night before.

Still have some Dahlias to dig up. :-) I am way behind this year with my garden chores.

I planted about 200 bulbs yesterday. And ordered more bulbs today taking advantage of Brent & Becky's 25% off sale!

I too have had no time and have been lulled into complacency by an unseasonably warm, wonderful long fall. I too could probably have counted 20-30 different plants still blooming early in the week. I cut roses and different temperennial salvias to add to Thanksgiving table bouquets. But we also got 20F last night, the first really hard freeze. I spent all day today dragging my good collection of glazed ceramic pots into the garage to unthaw before they get cracked. I felt like an ox or some other beast of burden (and I was...).

None of the garden yet cut down. Will probably wait til a mild day in late Feb. I had cannas that just finally blackened their foliage the past 2 days, so still have to be dug. A month later than normal.

I was traveling for all of October and have only been home for a couple of weeks now. That's my excuse, but I'm not sure how long it's good for, since it's almost December. All I've done, other than cutting down the main peony bed, is the first leaf collection 2 weeks ago; of course now you can't tell it was done at all. I need to be pretty quick with the rake, or the leaves blow across the street and I can't get them into the compost pile - the neighbors don't much like that and neither do I.

All the large ceramic pots need to be taken into the garage, which of course is full to overflowing already - some of the peonies still need to be cut, and the leaves need to be mowed up or raked up and shredded.

There's lots of seaweed on the beaches now, too, and I love bringing that stuff home to use in the shrub borders. It's great for topping off compost piles, too, it keeps them working much longer into winter.

So many jobs, and so little time before "real" winter sets in.