What are you doing in the garden now?

17 years ago

Bloom season is over, frost temps are on the horizon here so what have you been doing to prepare for ole man winter. (sidebar - why is it Mother Nature and Ole Man winter?)

I just spent several hours removing annuals. I always plant a few annuals in the spring but by this time of year I have a ton of freebies from seed that Ma Nature gave me and who's seed ignored by the ole man last year. I had two colors of vinca, two colors of salvia, impatiens and moss rose. It is interesting to me that this seed germinates in spite of the Snapshot that is applied. I have same canna that will need to be dug once they get nipped by frost.

Hubby declared after we get through the first frost period we will start cutting the daylilies back - goody - my back loves that job. I am glad he is doing it early so I will have time to get some chemicals up close and personal to the daylilies so the weeds that have been hiding near the clumps won't spend the winter.

I checked the grass seed I put down about 10 days and it is coming up. Between a couple of rains and the heavy dew/fog we are having every day, it is germinating.

The trees aren't ready to drop yet - the color on most are just starting to turn. The exception are the walnut trees and they are bald already. I got whacked on the head by a walnut while pulling annuals in one shade bed. Once the leaves are down, hubby cranks up the chipper/shredder and we eat the leaves. Some of my beds end up looking like a mosaic from the gingko, Japanese red maple and gold leaves. It added interest to the bed with the various colors. During the winter it doesn't take much to amuse me.

So what are you doing now or are you just goofing off enjoying the last good weather for a while - which is what I'm going to do right now.

Brooke

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Comments (23)

kydaylilylady
17 years ago
Blackberries got the old canes pruned out last weekend. The kids are out this week from school and I'm thinking that they can mulch them this week unless it mists every day from Wed. on. I had them trimming the asparagus down and am thinking that that bed will get about 4 inches worth before next spring too.

I'm still doing some dividing. In the next couple of weeks I think the big mower is going to do my foliage trimming. I need to get rid of all the Johnson grass that got away from me plus all the other crap that's out there.

Unfortunately I still have a few shrubs that I need to find a place to plant. Do you ever go somewhere, see a plant that you want at a good price and then go home and wonder where in the world you're going to plant it? Well there's a couple of viburums and something that I don't even know what it is down by the water spigot that fits that category. It's time to either outright plant them or at least dig a hole and sink them in the ground for the winter.

Janet
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laurelin
17 years ago
I've been doing garden clean-up in little spurts - an hour here, and hour there. Not QUITE piddling, but not real hard work either. Cutting back the English ivy on the rock wall by the driveway and pulling its runners out of the adjacent narrow border (a twice-a-year chore; the ivy came with the house, and I will NEVER plant it on purpose ANYWHERE!!). Trimming back the spent flowering stems on the daylilies. Pulling the defunct annuals. Cutting back the centranthus ruber that gets too floppy by September. Adding some extra mulch to the new daylilies, and refreshing the mulch in a few smaller beds. Cutting off the peonies that are looking ratty is next on the chore list.

I've planted some bulbs - narcissus 'Hawera,' crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant' (my favorite crocus), and a few kinds of tulips. Usually I plant more bulbs, but the budget is otherwise occupied this year. I've had to settle for adding a package of bulbs to other miscellaneous purchases at the HD or Lowe's. A handful here, a handful there, etc. I've got a package of white-edged purple lily-flowered tulips out front, waiting for their new home. . . .

We've been painting the awnings, shutters, and window frames on the house, scrambling to use the last few warmish days to finish the task. Next year we need a new roof, so I've decided to totally clean out the front flower beds up against the house in the spring: pot up the keepers, and give away or toss the also-rans. That way the roofers will have less to worry about crunching (DO roofers ever worry about crunching plants??) or maneuvering around. I can redo the planting from scratch, which will be fun. Hmmm, how many daylilies can I squeeze in there?

I picked up a couple clearance hosta at Lowes today ('Brim Cup'); they had very little variety left, and I had their other offerings for the most part. I don't need LOTS of hosta, but these were nice and I can always find another corner to squeeze some in under the hemlocks.

I love the fall. I enjoy the clean-up and making plans for next year. I've got several window boxes of dayliliy seedlings; we'll see which ones survive the transition to the garden in the spring. My 4 1/2 year old daughter planted up her own pot of daylily seeds (my mystery orange TET crossed with heaven only knows what), and they all sprouted - I should have had HER plant the rest of mine!

Laurel
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Here's what I usually do in February: Order seeds not ordered in January. If seed-starting supplies are needed, get them now. Check supplies and begin buying whatever else is needed in advance of the growing season. Fertilize cool-season grasses. Fertilize spring-flowering bulbs. When they bloom, they are using energy stored from the prior growing season. So, fertilize them now for a good show of flowers next year. Supply food and water for the birds. If you help them get through the winter, they'll generally reward you by hanging around your yard and eating bugs the rest of the year. Clean out Purple Martin houses and stick plugs in doorways to keep other birds from moving in and building nests prior to the arrival of the Purple Martins. Remove plugs as soon as first Purple Martin appears, or check migration map and remove plugs when the birds are getting close to your part of the state. 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rsts
17 years ago
I finally just hung it up and went into summer dormancy. Too many days in high 90s and low 100s with a broiling sun. Our weather is now moderating and it is beginning to be rather nice, but only very recently. I have been looking over everything and it is a mess. Have lots of rust. So far, I am just letting it run in the garden. Haven't decided whether to treat those plants, or just go for survival of the fittest.

I have now cut some of the foliage and sprayed for rust on plants going into the greenhouse. Have also gotten interested in what crosses I will make next year. A couple of plants had rust so bad I will not hybridize with them. Will use a couple of borderline seedlings instead.

Weeds, grasses, sedges, etc., got out of control early in my seedlings and stayed that way all year. The seeds were slow to germinate in the spring and everything else was growing great. We had a very hot and dry summer and very surprisingly the seedlings that were covered by things as much as 2' high seem to be ok. Perhaps the shade spared them from the brutal sun somewhat. (I gotta remember that excuse for next year). I thought I might end up with only about 20% of the seedlings living, but I am encouraged by what I see. Still too many weeds to know for sure what I have. I am going to just let cold weather kill the uglies and then mulch with pine needles. Might do a little weeding when temps get quite cool (but not freezing).

I had a well drilled last year and am in the process of building a pump house. Quite honestly, my heart isn't really in this project, but I need to do it. I told my brother that if I ever mention building anything else that he should check my temperature to see if I have a fever. Lol

The following is a picture of my seedling garden taken about a week ago. Most of the green stuff is either nut sedge or grass. The little white dots are my pvc markers. As I said, it is a mess, but as the wise man said, This too will pass!

Royce

{{gwi:636212}}
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maximus7116
17 years ago
I'm doing nothing except watching the hubby work. That, and making new lists for next Spring.

Janet, since you mentioned asparagus, I need some advice. We bought some property that evidently has quite a bit of asparagus growing on it. I don't think it's been harvested for some time, and the plants/spears are about three feet high (but very skinny little things). Should I do something with them now? I'd love to have a crop next year.
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highjack
Original Author
17 years ago
This was the last day for a while and the two jobs I tackled weren't my favorites for fall.

One was to clean the pond, removed one filter and cleaned the other one. We keep it running until it gets really cold before we add the heater to the pond. It's a dirty yukky job.

The other is to cut down all the pokeberry weeds that manage to get in the fence between the yard and field. It is very sneaky and weaves its way in and out of the farm fence wire. My white kitty helped me and he now has pokeberry colored racing stripes on him. Quite attractive. I also found another weed with big seeds (where's Janet when I need her) that got removed and I pulled the bindweed that was wrapped around shrubs, hibiscus with those big seed pods. I have enough bind weed and don't need those seeds dropping in hard to get at places.

Janet I thought everyone bought plants and then brought them home to search for a place to plant them. Are you supposed to plan before you buy?

Laurel you may need to rent your daughter out to be a seed planter if she gets 100% germination rate.

Glad your breaking dormancy Royce - it was indeed a long, hot summer but I see your weed growing ability was not harmed by the dormancy. Heck why work when you can get weeds like those - I had to work hard to get my weeds to grow. I don't know if the plants appreciated the massive water bills I had but the weeds sure did.

Do you realize in two years Mother Nature would obliterate all signs of my gardening effort here? She always wins - I guess that is why she is Mother Nature and winter is the Ole Man.

Brooke
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tweetypye
17 years ago
The days here have begun to cool down a bit, especially in the mornings. I've cleaned out a very large bed in the front yard of all the junk, and have been planting late fall orders of dl's out there. I've almost filled it up. My hubby has been home a week and a half now, and we have totally replaced our field lines, he also took out some unwanted trees and cleaned up the wooded area next to our home. We sowed winter grass seed everywhere on the bare ground, however, if it doesn't rain soon, we may not get any germination. We have a 30% chance tomorrow and Thursday. He has also put a deep well pump in an existing well we have on the property and is now in the process of building a pump house over it. It will sure save me mega bucks next summer in water bills. I've been after him to do this for 17 years!! He said, he didn't want to get in too big of a hurry to do my bidding!!! LOL No folks, he works away from home all the time, and doesn't have much time to do this kind of thing for me. He has really worked his "butt" off (and mine too I might add) since he's been home this time. :) I'm still expecting a few more dl's to come in, and I still have a few flats of seedlings I need to get in the beds, then, lots of mulching to be done and I'll be able to rest up till next spring, hopefully. Ya'll all take care and have a great fall and winter!
Jan
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kydaylilylady
17 years ago
Yesterday I played hooky half a day from work. It was absolutely grand. Somehow it's almost exciting to leave the office at noon, slip out the door and know that all the other slobs inside have to stay until five.

It was time to get those pots in the ground. I planted some of the stuff in a flower bed but couldn't find a spot for the Russian sage and a few other pots. And yes, I had to have them. You see they were only a dollar a pot at Lowes and what self respecting plant lover would have walked past them? Now I probably didn't need the three false indigo I got from Song Sparrow Nursery but hey, I was ordering daylilies from them anyway so I might as well go ahead and get them right? The shipping wasn't that much more. They arrived in 2 quart pots. I ended up planting the shrubs and the indigo in the daylily field pots and all. A sassfrass seedling too. I figured that way they could winter over and hopefully be easier to dig up and move to a permenant spot at a later date. I have two ash trees in a flower bed that I want to pot up to save too. I can't plant them in the yard because hubbie wants to do some major excavating at some point in time. I'm trying to be agreeable but those trees aren't going to wait for him to "get around to it" If I put them in some of those huge pots at least they can grow. Brooke what's the biggest pot you have laying around?

Janet
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highjack
Original Author
17 years ago
BIG so come on over. Some of the trees/shrubs from the last couple of years have been really big - hubby had to unload and move with the front loader - so you could have several choices. Make sure you get something to use as the potting medium so you get fast drainage.

I probably should give you a couple of those Trident maples I've been growing in pots for the last two years to plant at the new place. Hubby also suffers from the "getaroundtuits" too. They turn the most gorgeous orange in the fall and they don't have those nasty surface roots to contend with in planting areas. A Trident has a root system more like a Japanese maple.

Brooke
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mizellie
17 years ago
I have really worked my butt off here. I have cleaned out and mulched all of my dls, moved a few bushes and trimmed everything I could reach. I am on my way to Texas tues and won't be back for about 2 weeks.

Janet my dear, if I had know you wanted sassafras, I sure could have dug some for you. We are over run with it. It makes the most wonderful tea in the spring. However, the Japanese Beatles love it too so there is a problem.

Royce, your grass is lovely. I bet if you wanted to grow it, it would have burnt up from the heat and dry this summer.

It was 32 degrees here last night but is supposed to warm up a little tonight. Upper 30's I think.

I am not as energetic as you Brooke but have really been busy. I have made about 3 or 4 hundred labels since I bought the new printer. The others kept getting washed off.

Hey, and I gave myself a manicure today as a treat and because I was so embaressed about my dirty broken nails.. I didn't want my daughter nagging me about taking care of my nails. How can you do that and garden???? Ellie
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numama
17 years ago
Wow....YOU ALL HAVE BEEN BUSY! Me too, me too! I decided I had way too many DLs and did not need all the extras so I sold a round of em on lily auction then I wanted to see how they would do on ebay and did that too, all the while buying more I didn't have, potting, receiving, shipping SO HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY! I finally got my last listings up on ebay this weekend and that will be it, the rest I will keep. Too much work selling them! I got around 50 more seedlings into the ground this past weekend and about a hundred weekend before last. I still have 70 or so Pink Stripes seedlings to get into the ground. The greenhouse did not go up as planned. My sister's husband suffered a hernia and had to have an operation. He is recovering well from that and may still get the greenhouse up....just don't know. If he gets it up I will plant the 800+ seed I have left from my harvest, not to mention all the seeds I bought from Yugo on the auction. I NEED TO START MULCHING as the weeds have been popping up everywhere amongst the DLs and everything looks so terrible due to my awful buying habits! I see Peace and Relaxation right around the corner....only problem is I am FAR AWAY from the corner! LOL!
Nancy
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kydaylilylady
17 years ago
Ok, one more load of mulch and the blackberries should be in good shape for next year. At least I was able to pull the truck down between the two rows and just fork the stuff directly where I wanted it. Since it's free we are pretty generous with it. Three loads went on this weekend. Perhaps next weekend the asparagus will get it. If I tell all of you what I plan to get done each weekend maybe some of it will actually get done!

It's raining right now and the possibility for more this week. Last I heard we were 11 inches over for the year. Sometimes it's hard to believe that some of you are so drastically short on rain. That's were we were sitting last summer. An Alabama customer told me they were really dry. I tried to send her some rain but apparently it didn't work. Apparently there are other places that are extremely dry too. My husband's Australian cousin told us that farmers in Victoria Australia are starting to liquidate cattle and sheep herds due to the ongoing drought and they're just starting summer. They've been dry for a long time.

Anyway, back to the subject. While not actually in the garden I'm starting to work on getting together a new website. It takes a long time to type out information on over 900 daylilies. Now that it's frosted maybe there'll be a little more computer time as things get less than hospitable outside...

Janet
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highjack
Original Author
17 years ago
Now I know where all of my rain went this summer because it never made it to my house. Three months in a row my water bill was $175 and we have cheap water! Amazing what difference a few miles can make! Thankfully, September and October have been generous with the rain for me now. Usually these are my two driest months so I hope the gardens are soaking up the moisture.

My attempt at gardening this week-end was to rake a couple of hosta beds with redbuds and poplars around them. The rest of the beds with the good trees surrounding them will keep their leaves for the winter.

Brooke
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kydaylilylady
17 years ago
Brooke,
I tried to send you a message about the pots this morning but I keep getting a failure notice for some reason. Hope you haven't gotten 6 e-mails saying the same thing this morning. The pots were great. Those trees could spend the next 2-3 years in those beauties. Don't reckon I'll have to worry about the trees as soon as I get them dug and potted up. That will have to wait until the ground dries up.

How about it, you folks that were dry....Did you get any rain???

Janet
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highjack
Original Author
17 years ago
Ummmm - don't know why the emails aren't coming through because the spider group emails are coming through fine. Maybe I need hubby to send me one from his computer to see if I get it. I don't understand cyberspace and all the strange goings on. Of course I still don't understand electricity but at my age, why learn now.

You said big so I sent big. I have some smaller ones but since you specified big, you got'em!

We've had lots of good rain the last couple of days. Hopefully the daylilies are happy and setting all kinds of scapes for next year. Sooooo nice that our driest month of the year is being nice.

Brooke
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laurelin
17 years ago
I'm watching it rain. The radar is a sea of green over us (and most of the central northeast). No gardening outdoors today! It's like Winnie The Pooh's blustery day up here.

I've done a few more small things lately: I put a new low decorative fence along the dropoff to the driveway (not a big affair, just enough to deter children from walking too close to the edge). I planted another handful of tulips. I finally got those two bargain hosta in the ground. I dug up our one and only potato plant, with the kids watching. They were impressed that we got three LARGE white potatoes and one golf-ball-sized mini from the plant. (They would have been more impressed if I'd made french fries out of them, but I took the easy way out and mashed the spuds. Tasty!) I'm watching more and more daylilies sprout on my windowsills, and I've STILL got more seeds to plant. I'm going to winter sow some of them. I need to dig up and store my cannas, too.

A few of the many dozen daylilies I planted have sprouted up strong, then withered away from the tips of the leaves back to the base. It doesn't look like damping off - they just get pale and frail and die back. Is this just the survival of the fittest in action, and these are the weaklings? The rest are thriving. In some cases, two of the same cross growing in the same pot will act totally differently - one robust, and one that dies off. Hmm.

I was hoping to take some fall garden pictures to share this week - we'll see if the weather cooperates later on. I need to harvest my last handful of pods from 'Ida Miles,' too. We're past peak color up here now - it's getting grayer on the hills, but there's still lots of color and a surprising amount of green in the valleys.

Laurel
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tweetypye
17 years ago
Well, we finally got a bit more rain out of this latest system. My gauge says almost an inch, but hey, every little bit helps. We are still way behind on our total for the year. I had really high water bills this summer also, but now, since my DH got a pump installed in our existing well, maybe next year if it's dry (hopefully not) at least, the water bill won't be so bad. DH left yesterday for his next job, this time in Raleigh, NC. Sure miss him after having him around for a couple of weeks. :( I plan to go to Raleigh and stay with him a couple of weeks next year. Anyone know of any dl farms I need to visit in that area while I'm up that way? I plan to stop off a Paul Owens (Pjinpa on the LA) and hopefully visit our own Jim to, on my way back home.
I have a couple of trees to get planted now that we've gotten some rain, and still have seedlings to get into the seedling beds. Gotta rake pine straw and mulch more beds too. Whew, does it ever slow down? :)
My centipede grass seed that we sowed on the back yard over the new field lines, is up really good. I've been setting the sprinklers on it, but the winter grass in the other areas isn't up. I think that now that it's rained, it will come right up cause there's a little spot down by the well that got wet, and it's up good.
Sounds like everyone is as busy as the squirrels preparing for winter. I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing winter as soon as I've finished all my fall garden chores. LOL
Jan
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gmatx zone 6
17 years ago
Jan - DH is working in Roxboro, NC (just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Raleigh) on a power plant. Know what you mean about missing the old codgers - had mine home about a year this time on a local project. But the big stuff is what he has always loved. As to DL farms - Bobby Baxter (Happy Moose) is in Wake Forrest, which is just about 8-10 miles out of Raleigh. Then there is Marietta's which is in the lower part of NC (if you should decide to come in from the bottom side of the state instead of on I40). We just pulled the travel trailer over the week before last for DH - that job is suppose to last about 18 mos. Maybe we will both be over there visiting next year - have to stay in touch on this. The drive was really beautiful. I know there are several people who grow daylilies that are over in the Asheville, NC area (you can find them over on the Tinker site).

Mary
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highjack
Original Author
17 years ago
Laurel - do you have fungus gnats? If you do then you might have lost some of the roots to fungus gnat larvae. Usually when a seedling is up and growing, it will continue to grow even if it is a weak one. You are providing perfect conditions for it to grow but it might struggle when planted outside. There has to be an outside reason for the loss of the plant - larvae or damp off.

Brooke
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laurelin
17 years ago
Brooke - fungus gnats? Hmm, I'll have to check. (I have no idea what I'm looking for, so a Google search is in order.)

[time passing while I Google. . . .]

Okay, now I know what to look for. Thanks - I'll try the "test" of putting down some peeled potato slices to see if I can attract some of the little stinkers. Then I can treat for it, if that's the problem. Thanks for the suggestion of where to look!!

Laurel
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highjack
Original Author
17 years ago
The adult fungus gnats fly around - think teetiny miniatures flies. Their only purpose in life, besides annoying you, are to hatch out, fly around a couple of days and then lay eggs in the "dirt" so they can hatch out and fly around again. The larvae feed on the tender young roots.

You can use frozen french fries - stick in the medium - pull the fry out the next day and if you have white things eating the fry, then spoon them out. Move the fry around the container so the poor things don't have to travel too far to eat. We do like to treat our pets with kindness - lol. My favorite disposal method is to throw them outside in 10 degree weather.

Brooke
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laurelin
17 years ago
I've never seen tiny bugs around the daylilies indoors, but there's a first time for everything. I'll try the potato test tonight.

I started a lasagna bed for my daylily seedlings today. By spring it ought to be just perfect for them. I need to scrounge the neighbor's yard for leaves, and see if my friend who raises chickens, goats, rabbits, and an alpaca, has some composted manure to spare. I'm paying her 12 year old son to get rocks to edge the bed from their creek - Noah does the dirty work and hauls them from the creek to the driveway in a lawnmower cart. I'll just have to get them from the car to the flower bed (a distance of about 5 feet, since the new bed is by my driveway turnaround). And my friend Becky, God bless her, has offered to let me have some garden space on her property for daylilies if (IF?? WHEN!!) I run out of room in my yard. She knows my dream of having a daylily nursery someday. She's a great encouragement (not to mention enabler if I really want to get more daylilies than I have yard space for next year). . .

Laurel
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laurelin
17 years ago
Hi Brooke,

I didn't turn up any larvae with the potato test, but I did see the adult gnats for the first time this morning, so I need to get some Bt. Thanks for the help!

Laurel
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gonegardening
17 years ago
I am overwhelmed and at what I have to do this fall! You all have been busy! Here's what I've been doing...I'm not nearly through and it's not done correctly, but..(one pallet down):

{{gwi:636215}}

I'd show you a longer view but the weeds are too bad and besides you can see the orange temporary cable...because I, ahem, cut the tv cable digging. No matter, we now, as of Wed, have satellite! Digging can resume!
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What are you doing in the garden now?

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