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October 13, 2004 |
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Wishes Granted...
We finally got our wish. Mother Nature showered us with some
much needed rain and cooler temperatures. It sure feels like
fall! I made homemade chicken noodle soup (one of the family
favorites) Monday night. We discussed at the dinner table how it
still might be a bit too warm for soup but it was a nice change
from all of that summer food we've been eating. Not only
does the weather dictate what we do in the garden but the kitchen
as well. Fall weather brings changes to the landscape and the
Marsh family menu. A relief to all -
especially the cook.
I still
have some pansies hanging around that need to
be potted
(photo). Kevin and I are hosting a party this weekend so
I am frantically trying to make sure the gardens are manicured to
look their best. We are entertaining outside so I am hoping that
the weather cooperates. At this point I keep checking the long-term
forecast hoping for dry conditions. It would be silly of me to
think that it is going to be warm. After all, it is the middle of
October and when choosing to entertain outside this time of year
there are certain risks involved.
My dear
friend Jan Olson, General Manager of Family Tree Nursery,
recently experienced a small disaster. His computer crashed (I
think we have all been there before) and he lost the addresses he
had accumulated for his store's
e-newsletter. So if you would like to know what is happening at
all of the Family Tree Nursery stores you can
re-subscribe
here.
~
Shelly
Don't Dig Too Deep...
Planting a tree this fall? Great
idea! Just make sure you do it right. The planting
depth of a new tree is extremely important and often done
improperly. Trees that are planted too deep may not grow as fast
or be as healthy as those planted properly.
Here's what to do. Dig a hole twice as wide and slightly
shallower than the root ball. Roughen the sides and bottom of the
hole with a pick or shovel so that roots can penetrate the soil.
The root collar (where the trunk and roots meet) should be at
least even with, and as much as an inch and a half higher than,
the final grade.
Bedtime For
Gardens?
We are often asked how and when to
"put the garden to bed." The term
"putting the garden to bed" means preparing the garden for winter
and the weather will dictate
when that date is. Our first frost is normally in mid-October
(any time now). How "hard" that first frost is will help
you decide whether or not it is time to cut back all perennials
and rid the garden of all annuals. We
always like to squeeze as much time as possible out of my fall
garden knowing that once that hard frost hits winter is well on
its way. We'll keep you posted on the weather
and when that first hard frost is coming.
Why Isn't My Red Maple Red?
Why do some red maple trees have yellow fall foliage instead
of brilliant red? Although fall color will vary with different
environmental conditions, in many cases the yellow foliage of
these red maples is simply due to the genetics of the individual
tree. Unnamed red maple trees grown from seed are not always
brilliant red. They have highly variable fall color. If you want
a red maple with red foliage in the fall, choose named,
vegetatively propagated red maple cultivars such as Red Sunset,
Magnificent Magenta or Autumn Flame. October Glory has
outstanding foliage color but is late in acclimating for winter
and can be damaged by early cold snaps. However, even these
"good" cultivars will vary in the level of "redness" from year to
year. A number of things can reduce the intensity of color
including extreme heat or drought during the summer and cloudy
days and warm nights in the fall.
Oak Galls?
What are those round bumpy lesions that
are appearing on some local oak trees? Very possibly Oak Galls.
A number of tiny non-stinging wasps, mites and flies
are the culprits behind abnormal
growths that develop on the leaves
of twigs of oak trees. These galls can include growths
that are round, spiny, flattened, elongated or star-shaped.
Generally,
these gall insects do not cause significant damage to their hosts
though some of the leaf galls can cause deformity to make a tree
unsightly. Also, severe infestations of twig galls can cause
twig dieback or, in rare cases, death. However, just because a
twig is covered with galls does not mean that it is dead. Twigs
that otherwise look like a solid mass of galls may still leaf out
in the spring. More details and a photo are
available
here...
Moving The Mums...
Your potted mums can be transplanted into the garden for many
years of enjoyment. For best results, transplant them into
well-drained soil as winter injury is most common when mums are
planted in poorly-drained soils. Potted mums are often grown in
a mix that is very high in organic matter. If these are planted
in very heavy clay soil without first amending it, the difference
between the two soil situations often prevents good root
establishment and increases the chance of winter kill.
After the
leaves have turned brown, cut back the tops and apply a loose
airy mulch several inches thick allowing light to get to the
small basal shoots during the winter. The purpose of this mulch
is to provide wind protection and keep the soil shaded and frozen
so that frost heaving is minimized. This protective mulch may be
removed or pulled away from the crown by early to mid-April after
danger of severe cold is past.
Source
What's Hot On The
Hotline...
Mid-October already?! Yikes! Time to
start thinking about winter. It's hard to get in that mode -
especially when the weather has been so nice. But we need to
plan ahead. You'll find help in this week's
What's Hot On the Hotline...
If It's Growing We're Mowing...
When do Savvygardeners stop mowing their lawns? When the
grass stops growing of course. As long as it continues to grow
keep bluegrass cut to 2 inches and tall fescue to 2½ inches.
Don't
forget to keep the leaves from piling up and smothering the grass
below!
Finally... "We need two homes,
a green one and a brown one, a grown one and a built one, two
worlds in tension." ~
Robert Harbison, Eccentric Spaces |